Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female quadricornis seems to be gravid, but she has not been bred. I know chams will cycle even if not bred, but I was curious to know if quads store sperm. Will this clutch be totally infertile, or will there be a chance for a few fertile eggs? She was an adult when imported 5 months ago, so it is likely that she had bred before. Thanks in advance.

Anthony

I think I remember discussions about quad cycling from an old ADCHAM forum. I think they do store sperm, but the percentage of viable eggs drops a lot after the "first" clutch. Andy Breveridge who may be on the ADCHAM core membership list has worked with quads quite a bit. Maybe you can get his email contact from the site and ask him directly. He's in England and was the keeper of the famous Sprocket who survived a caeserian and a later spay.

Thanks alot. I tried e-mailing susan james from the adcham site, but there was no response to my e-mails. I will try Andy Breveridge. I believe he has a website that I've been to, I remember sprocket, I think its called quadricornia.com . Thanks again.

Anthony

Andy tends to be a lot more helpful than Susan. But, he's a busy guy too. I didn't know Sprocket had a website! She's famous!

Sprocket is famous indeed. Andy replied within hours of my e-mail. He told me that susan didn't answer because she forwarded my e-mail to him. But either way, I got the info I was looking for, and I am really grateful. the female has gone off feed and is hanging around the bottom of the cage, so I feel the eggs are coming within the next couple days. Andy said once the female becomes "lumpy" and and the eggs are visable, laying is near. He also said it is possible that these eggs may be fertile. He only breeds his females once and gets 3 fertile clutches out of them, granted they are smaller, but due to the high risk of egg bindng, this is a much better approach. I just hope all goes well. I will keep you guys posted. Thanks again.

Anthony

She is digging as we speak. I placed some wire mesh on top of her laying bin, and within minutes, she was digging. Fingers crossed, I hope all goes well.

My female Quad has laid her clutch. I have 11 beautiful eggs (average clutch, I'm just happy she didn't get eggbound). They all seem to be fertile (Fingers crossed). they are at 70 degrees in a dark closet for now. I may have to move them into an incubator when the house warms up (as summer is coming). Just thought I'd share the good news. Thanks

Anthony