Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I am expecting my first clutch of veiled eggs soon. I have a Hovabator incubator that I use to hatch tortoise eggs, but I never hatched chameleon eggs in it before. What setup do I need? How should my egg container be set up? Should the lid be on the container? Should I have a sponge or a dish of water in the incubator as well?

Thanks

I use shoebox sized tupperware like containers to incubate my eggs in, but you can use other containers if you want to. I punch two or three very small holes in the lid. I fill the container half full of barely moist vermiculite. You should only be able to squeeze a drop of water out of it when you squeeze a fistful of it. I only fill the containers half full so there is room for the baby veileds to roam around in the container when they hatch until they can be removed.

I place the eggs in rows in the container so they are spread apart about an inch in all directions. This makes the eggs hatch individually instead of all at once. Most people recommend that you don't rotate the eggs when you are digging them up and moving them. Put the lid back on once the eggs are in the container and incubate them.

I don't use a hovabator, so I can't tell you how to keep the eggs in one....I use a screen/wood frame that is placed over a people's heating pad set so that the temperature is right. Due to my method, the temperature in the container fluctuates with the room temperature to some extent. I incubate the eggs at about 78-79F. For a long time now I have had 100% hatch rate of fertile eggs doing it this way.

You asked...."should I have a sponge or a dish of water in the incubator as well?"...as I said, I don't use a hovabator, so I don't know.

What kind of turtles do you hatch? I hatched two three toeds this year.

Thanks for the info.

I hatch out Russian tortoises. Those eggs are a lot bigger than chameleon eggs.

Cute little tortoise! How many eggs do they lay?

I hope you have good luck with the chameleon eggs too!

They lay 3-4 big eggs.

That's not a lot of eggs. Do they only lay once a year? What species are they?

They usually lay 3 clutches a year. They are Russian tortoises (Testudo horsfieldi).

k- my little side-blotched female will be laying withn the next couple weeks (and I said I would never breed) and do not want to go to the expense of a Hovabator so your setup sounds ideal. How do you monitor temp of soil?

thanks,
lele
lele's blotchies

-----
Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - swifty and blotcha for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Cute little lizards!

You DID say you wouldn't breed! LOL, its hard to resist, eh??!!

You said..."How do you monitor temp of soil?"...assuming you mean substrate in the incubation container(correct me if I'm wrong). With chameleon eggs (well, all of the eggs I hatch for that matter) they aren't buried in the vermiculite (I never use soil for incubation any more)...they just sit in indentations that I make in the top of the vermiculite. To monitor the temperature in the substrate, you can lay a thermometer on the surface of the substrate. I usually use one that gives the highest temperature reached. Its more important not to go too high than it is to go too low...and it can't go too low because my house is always at about 74F. You can also use one of those thermometers that measure the highest and lowest the temperature goes. (They sell them for your house, so you can measure the outside temperature and the inside temps. at the same time.)

My frame is made of 2" x2" pieces of wood so that it fits over the people's heating pad. I then add a piece of 1" x 1" wood down the middle of the frame so that it will support the screen when the screen is added over the wooden frame. I turn the heating pad on (ususally low is hot enough to get the temperatures right) and set the half-filled container of moist vermiculite on to test the temperature. If the temp. is too warm, I raise the frame on shims and if its too cool, I use a higher setting on the heating pad...and continue to fiddle with it until I get the temperatures right.

I hope all goes well for your blotchie eggs! How many do they lay? How long do they take to hatch?

Did I say soil? Shame on me...that's like saying "dirt" for "soil" to a horticulturist(me)

These were my impulse buy at the show a few weeks ago! I NEVER impulse buy at a show, but I fell in love with the color of the male and when I found out they were desert lizards, stayed small and would eat "the basics" I went for it. I had everything at home and did not have to buy anything new.

My trouble was finding answers to the very questions you asked! Eve has been a big help b/c she keeps other desert lizards (not these) and I also emailed Gary Ferguson (of panther cham fame) b/c he showed up in google as I searched for info! He kindly replied. He said 2-4 weeks after mating (they mated on 4/19 - at least that is the only time I witnessed it. Did you see that pic?) 80-85degrees for incubation temps, they lay 2-6 eggs a few times a year and incubation time is 40-60 days. The lizards have a short life (2 years) and are communal.

I can't believe I got a pair! Even the 12 y.o. down the road gave me greif about impulse buying AND getting a pair! He goes to the show with me, but couldn't make it this time and was shocked when I told him what I had done! lol!!!!

Tyler gave me grief b/c they are all over the SW - at least they are indigenous to the states, though I am sure they were WC (another no-no in my book - what is UP with me? That tank was going tohouse brevi's! Guess that will have to wait a while...)

Thanks for the info on the thermometer. I will have to check with Gary or Eve if they need to be buried or if sitting on soil is OK. I have a wood frame setup with heat pad, etc. I had to make an emergency ICU for my rose hair that just died.

here's a pic of my little girl in the morning. They sleep burrowed in the sand and this was her peeking out before coming out for the day

thanks!
lele

-----
Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - swifty and blotcha for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Boy...I better be careful to say soil instead of dirt or my lack of a green thumb might show, eh??!!

I remember you impulsively buying them! It never happens to me! (Blatant lie). Sometimes impulses are good!

Glad you got some answers to the questions I asked. I expected that they would only have a few eggs and that the hatch time would be short. (Of course, any hatch time is short compared to chameleons!) I hope you find out whether they need to be buried or not. (I'm guessing not.)

My polychrus lizard is digging today. She has laid eggs three times before now. Twice the male ate them before I could stop him and last year we had a heatwave and it did the eggs in. I really hope that this year everything will be on my side. I'm dying to see what the babies are like.

My cordylus lizard had 3 babies a couple of months ago and looks gravid again. She has never double clutched before. (This is live birth not eggs.)

You said..."they mated on 4/19 - at least that is the only time I witnessed it. Did you see that pic?"....yup! I did! Too bad they live such a short time...but you can keep some of the babies.

You said..."I am sure they were WC (another no-no in my book - what is UP with me?"....I still get WC's....sometimes it works out well, and other times its a nightmare.

You said..."Thanks for the info on the thermometer"...you are welcome.

Sorry that you lost your rose hair.

Cute the way your little girl is peeking out of the sand! I had a frog-eyed sand gecko for about 12 years that used to do that.

Hope all goes well with the eggs!

Boy...I better be careful to say soil instead of dirt or my lack of a green thumb might show, eh??!!

yeah, we cringe when someone says "dirt." Even on here when folks refer to the "dirt" in their plants it's like scraping fingers on blackboard to me!! Weird how those things develop. It's like thinking in latin/greek - I often forget the common name of a plant and can only think of the scientific...speaking of which...

My polychrus lizard is digging today. My cordylus lizard... what are they? Do you have pics? I suppose I could google them but want to see YOURS

...but you can keep some of the babies. that's the plan - the rest I'll be offering here! :-O
-----
Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - swifty and blotcha for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

I'm moving this up to reply (under attention: lele)