Well today I was cleaning out the cages, changing the paper, feeding everyone. I noticed the female Ambilobe was not out on her bio vines like normal to take food like she does everyday including yesterday. So while cleaning her cage I looked around for her and found her laying eggs in the hanging pothos plant in her cage. Normally she will stop eating and become restless when she is ready to lay eggs. I knew she was gravid and close to laying but was not expecting eggs for another two weeks. So she threw me off her schedule to be moved to the egg laying cage. It has a HUGE pothos plant and a large tub of soil that covers the bottom of the cage that she has laid her 3 other consecutive clutches in.
So when I saw her laying the eggs I backed off from her cage and stayed out of it. Hours later right before the lights go off she popped out on to her bio vines. I removed the pothos plant to get the eggs out, and took a few pictures.
There was a total of 45 eggs all are pure white and well calcified. I just thought I would share these photos of the egg clump with the soil,roots, and plant. Normally she lays the eggs in about 12" of soil on the bottom of a tub. This looks more natural although the depth is not. They are interesting photos with the way they are laid and where they were laid. Enjoy!
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John W. Lucas
Feeding Baby Chameleons
Caging Baby Chameleons
F. pardalis
Ambilobe Locale
Nosy Be Locale
Sambava Locale
Rhampholeon uluguruensis
Eggs Incubating-
F. pardalis - Ambilobe Locale
Photo © Chameleon Paradise 2003
