Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well this was unexpected as the other 11 eggs from this years 3 clutches never hatched. I had several neonates fully formed in their eggs, but alas, one hatched this past week.

One is still pretty exciting for me at this point. He's been eating baby lobster roaches with gusto for the past two days.

cheers,

Jason

Hes just adorable, so very cute, I'm HAPPY for you , hahahaha !

I know the feeling buddy, out of all my C. Vestigium eggs this season ONE also hatched, so I understand your EGGCITEMENT !

I sure hope the little guy THRIVES , hes a beauty already !

Keep posting , let us know how he does!

Oh and of course MORE pics
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Eve / PHEve

you waited two days to tell us about this cute thing?!? he/she has such a cute, sweet face! good job
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vonnie
***Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet. Mae West ***

Thanks guys!

Here are a couple pics of Dad and Mom...and one in there of an Aunt. I love these guys for their temperment and their beautiful colors. (The male is from Brock Nelson's CB's.) I kept these guys in a 5 ft. long by 2 ft wide and tall enclosure with plenty of floor space, lots of hide spaces and rocks to climb on, and a good size "nest box" in the cooler corner of their enclosure. They have a 160 watt (active UV heat) flood light on one side of the cage, along with a stack of rocks and a large hot rock, which provides multiple heat gradients for them to use.

I'm still off with something though because 10% isn't a great hatch rate.

JW

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Fabián Aguirre
Zookeeper/ Freshwater Aquarist
Department of Herpetology and Freshwater Biology
The Dallas World Aquarium
(214) 720-2224
fabian@dwazoo.com
www.dwazoo.com

My goodness they are a picture of lovliness.

Should be a gorgeous child,

Ever need a lizard sitter, I'll send my addy ! Of course dont expect to seem them anytime soon after, heheheheh
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Eve / PHEve

That female is the purtiest thing I've ever seen. Is she really chartruese or is it the lighting?

another shot of Dad in different lighting. Cute little Aunt in the background, should produce next year (fingers crossed)

I need to take some digital photography lessons from Will to get crisper shots, but you get the idea.

She's such a nice animal!

JW

Wow...that female is SWEET! Great looking lizards you have there!

John E.

be able to get a much better look !
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Eve / PHEve

Glad to see that the male Dickerson was successfully able to fulfill his duty in the breeding process... I, too, have experienced the frustration of having fertile eggs fail to hatch, although thankfully that wasn't a problem this year. You may have mentioned this before, but under what conditions were the eggs incubated? Did you notice any dimpling and/or discoloration along the way? Although there could be a number of contributing factors here, I'm trying to get a better grasp of how we can improve our hatch rates with selected species of Crotaphytus in captivity...

Brock

Hi Brock,

Nice to hear from you! Yes your male turned out to be a very nice animal after his tough start. On incubation, I re-read Scott Patterson's article for the CO herp society on incubation of Dickersonae eggs as a guide. I used 170 grams (oven dried) perlite, and 140 grams water mixture in a large plastic conainer with a circular lid, and about 5 pin holes in the top.

My home-made incubator has an upper incubation compartment and a lower heating compartment (powered by two 100 watt incandesent bulbs), with a chimney that carries heat into the upper chamber and a cold air return on the floor so the upper chamber is temperature controlled through convection. The upper chamber is also lined with 1 inch thick styro foam to help maintain a constant temperature. I have a large open basin of water in the lower chamber to help maintain a level of humidity and not create a dehydrater. I used this set up and dialed the thermostat to 83 degrees.

Most of the eggs seemed to discolor to brownish tones, but went dark almost black when they were actually spoiled. Some were just unfertelized, but most had neonates formed inside. They all looked viable for 60 days, but most didn't hatch. The one hatchling that you see in the picture emerged from the egg at around 75 days. I say this because I hadn't checked the incubator for a few days while were gone over labor day weekend so I don't know the exact hatch date.

those are my notes...thoughts? What kind of hatching success did you have this year?? I know you had a promising looking group of animals from when we spoke in the Spring. Email me if you like.

Jason

I've always had to use larger vent holes than tiny pin holes. I have resorted to using one large hole (about the size of a nickel), or just leaving the lid slightly cocked.

Keep in my I do not reproduce dickersonae though...only a few collaris, when they feel like mating LOL

John E.

NT

Wow! those are some nice dickersonae. Keep up the good work.