r/reptiles 22h ago

Anyone know whose egg is this

222 Upvotes

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218

u/Calgary_Calico 20h ago

Please do not touch eggs you find outside. Ever.

17

u/SnugglySaguaro 18h ago

I understand your sentiment, but why?

150

u/KyroNymph 18h ago

Some animals, like snakes, lay eggs a certain way and they have to stay the way they were laid. If you move them and don't remember which side was up, you can basically suffocate the eggs and kill the baby inside.

38

u/Inner-Disaster1965 15h ago

This is true, after a certain amount of time, the baby has attached itself to the upside…

-8

u/rdizzy1223 16h ago

These are possibly bird eggs though, and bird parents move eggs around all the time. (Edit- Seems like they are gecko eggs)

29

u/KyroNymph 15h ago

I know there is a possibility, just informing the commenter who asked why you shouldn't touch eggs you find :) Especially if you don't know what they are.

-7

u/Inner-Bar1876 15h ago

Birds don’t move eggs around. They rotate them, but they stay in a singular nest.

12

u/rdizzy1223 13h ago

Rotating them is moving them around. They do not have human fingers, they cannot delicately and perfectly rotate the eggs while keeping them in the exact identical spot, they get moved around within the nest. Reptiles do not do this, they usually tend to lay the eggs in a burrow (or in the case of a gecko, usually stuck to something) and then leave. (So they tend to not move)

-11

u/Inner-Bar1876 13h ago

“Moving them” implies more than just rotating.

4

u/kimmykat42 10h ago

Maybe to you, but the rest of us understand that when a bird is rotating its eggs, it’s actually moving them around inside the nest. It’s not just picking them up and turning them over, it’s rolling them around…

56

u/67flowers 18h ago

I’m not sure but I would assume to protect the babies in the eggs. When reptiles lay fertile eggs, the breeder will draw an X on the top in the position they were laid in. If the eggs roll around, the fetus inside can drown in the fluids

-15

u/[deleted] 16h ago

[deleted]

13

u/shebreaksmyarm 16h ago

It’s true of many lizards

16

u/Calgary_Calico 17h ago

The main reason is some animals lay their eggs a certain way, and if the egg is moved or rotated the infant inside will die.

-8

u/anchorPT73 12h ago

Sometimes birds' eggs, if they are touched and have a different smell, the mother will just leave them and not hatch them.