Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey yall, it's your yankee friend from upstate New York : ) anywho, just want to thank kinyonga for the advice and info on his breeding of panthers (since my female had a major attitude) and the info from willhayward also on the garbage can technique I've been reading about and size. It will be put to use soon since, IT WORKED ! She finally gave in and seemed to have no issues with him this time. The entire "session" took about an hour and a half to two hours. Only can hope that that was long enough. I'm now preparing her nesting "can" for her. I will post pics as soon as I can. Thanks again for the advice and looking forward to beautiful babies to care for

What nesing can? Are you referring to taking them out of their cage to put them in a garbage can, or puting a small garbage can into their cage?

-Adam.
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Glad to hear that they finally mated! Now you have the "fun" of waiting for the eggs to be laid and the whole egglaying process. How are your nerves??

I feel really awful that I didn't realize that I hadn't answered one of your posts below. I have been offline and online and off again in the last little while and for some reason I missed it....so I apologize....and here are the answers.

You asked..."Is this still too young?"...I realize its a little late to tell you this now....but I don't mate mine until they are about 1 year old or full grown. I have heard of others mating them younger though and it was okay.

You asked..."Should a laying box be kept in her cage in the event of unfertile eggs?"...I always keep a container of washed playsand in any egglaying female's cage so that she can show me when she's getting ready to lay her eggs. The container (when empty) should be big enough and deep enough that she fits into it with a couple of inches to spare on all sides.

I have a modified 65 litre rubbermaid container that I move them to when they are intent on laying. The modification is to the lid...I cut the center out and replace it with screen so that when I put the lid back on the container I can place a light over it so that the chameleon can see. I fill the container about half full of washed sandbox sand and add branches so that she has something to climb on. You can add a plant or a rock, but be sure that the rock is sitting on the floor of the container so that it won't collapse on her when/if she digs under the edge of it. I put the female in the container and put the lid back on and the light over the top. I can feed and water her while she is in there....just make sure that you don't leave any uneaten insects in with her because they can nibble on her or the eggs. I let her dig the hole and lay the eggs and fill the hole in and go back up into the branches before I take her out and dig up the eggs. Don't let her see you watching her while she's digging or she might abandon the hole thinking that its not a safe place to lay her eggs and if she abandons it too often she can become eggbound. Be aware though that she might dig more than one hole or dig the same hole for more than one day anyway before she actually lays the eggs.

You asked..."Also, if you don’t mind telling me your cycle of temps/seasons you have been successful at?"...the females I've had would breed about every two months or so. There's no definite set cycle, so I would just show them to each other at about that time. There was no season...they would reproduce all year in spite of the slight fluctuations in temperature and light cycle.

Once a female is gravid you can feed her well and make sure that you give her enough calcium.

Hope all goes well and that in a few weeks you will have a clutch of eggs!

Kinyonga, Thanks so much for all you have helped with. I truly appreciate the forum and all the help everyone is willing to share. As far as apologizing for not responding, don’t sweat it ! I also am on and off all the time and find it hard to sit and view everything, so I can relate. Nerves? You have no idea; I try to read everything I pick up and prepare weeks in advance but it never seems to settle me down. Thanks though and I will definitely keep you posted.

You said..."Nerves? You have no idea; I try to read everything I pick up and prepare weeks in advance but it never seems to settle me down"...welcome to the world of chameleons! Even after years of keeping/breeding/raising chameleons they still make me nervous!

You said..."Thanks though and I will definitely keep you posted"...hoping to hear soon that you have eggs!

Yay! Congrats, I wish you good luck!