Amount of Prenatal Visual Stimulation Alters Incubation Times and Postnatal Preferences in Leopard Geckos (Eublepharis macularius )

The authors exposed gecko ( Eublepharis macularius ) embryos to patterned visual stimulation beginning at either 1 week or 2 weeks prior to hatching. Embryos exposed to the substantially augmented amount of prenatal visual stimulation hatched significantly earlier than the embryos either exposed to the moderately augmented prenatal visual stimulation or not exposed to any prenatal visual stimulation ( p < .01). Hatchling mass was not affected. Embryos exposed to substantially augmented visual stimulation demonstrated a postnatal preference for patterned light in a simultaneous choice test at 24 hr of age ( p < .01). Control embryos demonstrated a preference for normal light conditions ( p < .01), whereas experimental embryos exposed to lesser amounts of prenatal visual stimulation did not show a preference for either stimulus. At 1 week of age, geckos in all conditions failed to exhibit a preference for either stimulus.