In-ground incubation periods

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Greg T

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Somewhere along the way I missed my leopard lay a clutch of eggs in the backyard and they recently hatched out. I'm trying to figure out when she may have laid this clutch, but the numbers are off when compared to being incubated indoors. Does anyone have experience with hatching from the ground and how much longer it may take due to lower temperatures? It was summer here in Houston, so the ground was pretty warm with highs in the 90's and lows in the 70's. I'm not sure what the ground temp was though. She laid her first three clutches 42 and 40 days apart, then this clutch in the ground, then another one which ended up in the incubator. It was only 61 days between clutch 3 and laying clutch 5, so either she laid the in-ground clutch quickly or they hatched faster than the 100 days it normally takes inside.

Any insight to help me solve this dilemma??? :(
 

Tom

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Here's what I know. If they are laid in the ground, they can just sit there for a long time until temps are good. So it doesn't matter when they were laid, they just need those 100 or so warm days. Eggs laid in January will hatch at the same time as eggs laid in May for me. They hatch in late August to late September. Being that deep in the ground averages out the temp extremes.
 
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