Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have looked it up in seven different books and have read some articles that were recommended but I can't find the correct temperature gradient for newborn veiled chams. I am worried I will overheat or dehydrate them. Can anyone who has raised them before share what temps worked for them? I only have hands on experience with adults and so far I have seven babies and 20 eggs left to hatch. They started hatching Saturday and some have hatched every day since then. Any tips or information would be greatly appreciated.
Sonia

Hi Sonia,

Wasn't that info in the article from Cham News? Here is another from AdCham - check out the heading under temperature.

lele

>>I have looked it up in seven different books and have read some articles that were recommended but I can't find the correct temperature gradient for newborn veiled chams. I am worried I will overheat or dehydrate them. Can anyone who has raised them before share what temps worked for them? I only have hands on experience with adults and so far I have seven babies and 20 eggs left to hatch. They started hatching Saturday and some have hatched every day since then. Any tips or information would be greatly appreciated.
>>Sonia
>>
AdCham Baby Care

Somehow I missed the temps in the Ad cham article. I reread it and found it. basking should be 5 degrees less than for adults.

Hi Sonia,

We have been doing the same procedure for many clutches over the past several years, with great success, so I will be happy to share.

When the hatchlings emerge from the egg, we gently brush off any vermiculte with a sable brush (I sacrificed a lipstick brush) and place them in the "incubator tub"... This tub is a 60qt or 108 qt Rubbermaid/Sterilite. The tub has paper towels on the bottom, and miniature house ivy (4" size) plants (1 or 2 in the smaller tubs - depending on bushiness - and 2-4 in the larger tubs). We place lots of thin branches (corkscrew willow work great) for walkways in and around the plants. Be sure not to have anything too close to the top (they are escape artists).

Next... dampen the paper towel with warm water - and keep it moist. This provides humidity. For the first few days, I keep the tub warm - about 80-84F (you can use a heating pad under the tub). We have a digital themometer/humidity gauge that sits in the tub.

Use a fine warm mist to dampen the leaves for drinking, and supply fruitflies (after misting). To keep the fruitflies in the tub, we place fruit wedges (orange, apple, banana) on thin wood skewers - stick in the plants near the walkways (provide several for less competition for the food). We keep our tubs "bug escape proof" by using Bug Barricade (a product you paint on the rim - and the fruitflies/bugs can't walk over it - its like teflon). When the chams are 1-2 weeks old, we supply 1wk crickets too.

After a few days, we start lowering the heat source from the bottom and focus on the basking lamp over the tub. Be careful not to use too hot of a bulb (we use 60 watt regular light bulbs) and be sure to use your reptile UVB bulbs (we use the 4ft tubes over the tubs). This provides the temperature gradient that they need as they start feeding and growing. But the ambient room temperature is never below 74F while they are just tiny babies. If the room gets cooler at night - use a red heat lamp to regulate the ambient room temp.

Keeping the hatchlings a bit on the warm side seems to add to their appetites and growth. Be sure to use a good digital thermometer (Radio Shack).

Hope this helps...
Morgana - Reptayls, Ltd.

Morgana,
Thank you so much for sharing your method. I had read articles with conflicting information. Your methods are so much easier. First of all I was having a hard time keeping the fruit flies in the screen cages, and I think the babies were too cold at night.
Also when do they usually start eating? Some started hatching last Sat. but most hatched yesterday and today. I have not seen any eating yet, though there seems to be less flies in there. It's hard to tell because of the way I was keeping them the flies were getting out. I do not see any poop in there so I am assuming they have not eaten yet. Should I be alarmed? Will they start eating soon or should they be eating already?
I am going to redo everything and switch to your method.
Do you keep them at 80-84 night and day for the first few days?
Also do you have any kind of screened lid on the top?
Thanks again any info is greatly appreciated, my babies thank you too (all sixteen and climbing). The eggs look like little cham pods with those little heads sticking out.
Sonia

Hi again Sonia,

To be honest... we read conflicting stuff too (in the beginning when we were just learning). So, I consulted with some local breeders and one guy (10 years of chams) told me that it was easier to "tub" them when they were small. I took it from there, improving a bit on some of his methods, and have had great success.

The fruit flies - well, I hate to admit how many we "lost" before we found "Bug Barricade"... and it's getting hard to find (not to mention pricey). You might try other forms of liquid teflon - if you can find it in a hardware/plumbing place. If not - I will be happy to send you the info. If you have lots of babies, it can pay for itself easily.

The babies most times do not eat for the first 36-48 hours - and sometimes need to see others eating to catch on - but feed just in case. The paper towel on the bottom of the tub will let you know when they are pooping.

Yes, we keep them warm at night - no drafts. We have a special room to put the baby tubs in, and keep the ambient temp in there warmer. After a few days, we allow them to gradually (over several days) cool down to the normal house temperature.

We thin out the population in the tubs as they grow - splitting the clutch into more tubs (this prevents aggression for food, etc.). When they are fat and sassy (about 1 month), they are sorted by size and put into screened enclosures. Use bushy plants (for hiding places) and keep an eye out for sibling rivalry. Tail nips are common with veiled!

We hope this works for you - we have very good luck with this method (for most chameleon hatchlings).

Good luck with your precious "kids"
Morgana - Reptayls, Ltd.

I think one or two have started pooping because I saw it on the leaves. I am using tanks with screened lids because that is what I already have. I am feeding fruit flies and pin head crickets. The crickets can't climb the sides of the tank and the flies can't either so it is working out ok Thanks for all the help. The temps were too low at night the second I changed that they started pooping and look much better. I have 21 so far and six eggs left to hatch. the toothpicks with fruit on them works great too. It keeps the flies on the plants.