# Gecko found in chicken egg. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828 "2008-05-19T11:56:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/1 "2008-05-19T11:56:05Z")
Yes a gecko has been found in a chicken egg. [Here’s an article on it.](http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/15/2245496.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/2 "2008-05-19T12:00:34Z")
Someone call Tony Bourdain and have him prepare a new delicacy. ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/3 "2008-05-19T12:11:21Z")
Geico ads… it’s amazing how they just keep finding new levels of penetration. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/4 "2008-05-19T12:12:07Z")
1.) First chicken to second chicken: “What crawled up inside YOU and died?” 2.) Maybe this can form the basis for some new insurance commercials 3.) Hey – I wonder if this can explain anything about Basilisk eggs? (The basilisk was supposed to be born of a lizard’s egg incubated by a chicken, or lain by a rooster, or some variation of that). ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/5 "2008-05-19T12:24:34Z")
There were reported incidence of reptiles in chicken eggs before. I like that we have a case right now that shows the medieval myths might have a basis in an actual event. This also might spark an entrepreneur to start selling real surprise eggs. A engagement ring in a chicken egg for the bride perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/6 "2008-05-19T12:27:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Gecko found in chicken egg. :eek: [QUOTE=CalMeacham] 3.) Hey – I wonder if this can explain anything about Basilisk eggs? (The basilisk was supposed to be born of a lizard’s egg incubated by a chicken, or lain by a rooster, or some variation of that). [/QUOTE] :eek: :eek: Could be, especially if they find this is a not-a-one-time occurrence, but common enough to be the salmonella in eggs culprit. My mind, it is blown. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/7 "2008-05-19T12:31:07Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] :eek: :eek: :eek: Could be, especially if they find this is a not-a-one-time occurrence, but common enough to be the salmonella in eggs culprit. My mind, it is blown. [/QUOTE] I think of that line as ridiculous. I think if it was happen enough to cause the salmonella, we’d have heard about Geckos in chickens from the processing plants. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/8 "2008-05-19T12:36:49Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] I think of that line as ridiculous. I think if it was happen enough to cause the salmonella, we’d have heard about Geckos in chickens from the processing plants. [/QUOTE] Amphibians carry salmonella on their skin and can leave it behind on things that they touch (or that touch them), though. According to the docent at the zoo, anyhow. So perhaps they crawl into the cloacas occasionally, and most of them are smart or lucky enough to find their way back out again, but now they’ve infected the reproductive tract with salmonella, which gets into the eggs. Only the young/stupid/unlucky ones stay up there and get caught in the egg production and come out in eggs. (Note: this is all hypothesis, of course. I assume this is the sort of idea they’ll begin investigating, if the experts don’t already know about it.) Only a small percentage of eggs test positive for salmonella inside the egg, as I understand it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/9 "2008-05-19T12:41:03Z")
From the link: _“(Dr. Beaumont) believes the discovery is a world first and has handed the egg shell over to health authorities”_ “What…you wanted the actuall egg to test? Well, I was hungry, and so…” ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/10 "2008-05-19T12:41:55Z")
Nature keeps coming up with disgusting things I never knew about. Maybe I should have been a biologist; thought about it a lot as a child. Who knows, maybe somebody will find a genuine fireproof salamander species to account for first-hand reports by people like Cellini. (Probably not.) ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/11 "2008-05-19T12:44:33Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] From the link: _“(Dr. Beaumont) believes the discovery is a world first and has handed the egg shell over to health authorities”_ “What…you wanted the actuall egg to test? Well, I was hungry, and so…” [/QUOTE] If it were me, eggs might just be off my menu permanently. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/12 "2008-05-19T13:29:08Z")
The percentage of eggs with salmonella is not always a small percentage. [One report here.](http://www.bfr.bund.de/cd/7997) Geckos certainly can cause the contamination, but it can’t be the major source around the world. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/13 "2008-05-19T13:30:59Z")
PETA is calling for the head of the scientest that killed the gecko, and the head of the chicken’s owner for serious negligence. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/14 "2008-05-19T14:24:56Z")
Is it possible that the gecko and chicken were having sex? I wonder which came first? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/15 "2008-05-19T14:31:33Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] PETA is calling for the head of the scientest that killed the gecko, and the head of the chicken’s owner for serious negligence. [/QUOTE] I’m sorry, but this had made me laugh and laugh. Still laughing, sorry… ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/16 "2008-05-19T14:51:54Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] Is it possible that the gecko and chicken were having sex? I wonder which came first? [/QUOTE] I’m so ashamed I didn’t think of this. (And this thread is the first time I ever came across the phrase “crawled up inside a chicken”. You just don’t hear that very often.) ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/17 "2008-05-19T15:11:22Z")
if a gecko can crawl inside a chicken this way, who knows what else had managed to call the chicken home? for some reason i’m imagining an infected gecko, host to baby overlords from OUTER SPACE which spends its alien incubation in birds before they return to their host, we homo sapiens. i mean, why else would anything want to crawl up a chicken chute? because it’s warm?! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/18 "2008-05-19T17:03:53Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] If it were me, eggs might just be off my menu permanently. [/QUOTE] Gecko will save you $500 on your dairy bill. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/19 "2008-05-19T17:16:37Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] [Here’s an article on it.](http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/15/2245496.htm) [/QUOTE] “Chooks”? ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828/20 "2008-05-19T17:44:49Z")
I think the important question here is: Why the hell are geckos crawling up chicken’s butts? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gecko-found-in-chicken-egg/449828.md?page=2)