Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Although this does not involve a chameleon, it's a good depiction of what happens to the eggs of many species of lizards before they hatch. The egg loses permeability, allowing moisture to exit the egg membrane, while softening the leathery surface to facilitate a successful escape.

This is one of four conehead lizards hatched on tuesday.

Enjoy!

Fabián

Notice the droplets and discoloration on the top egg...

Congratulations! I hope they will all hatch for you!

How many times have you hatched L. longipes? Which species of
longipes is it? What temperature have you been incubating them
at? How long was the female in captivity for before she laid the
eggs? Have you ever hatched any of the other species of
laemanctus?

I have been interested in these lizards for years and chameleons
too for that matter.

Thank you. The species is L. longipes; the other one, which I have never seen in person, is L. serratus.

The incubation period lasted a little over 2 months, and they were incubated between 81 and 86 F, with a slight drop (of no les than 7 degrees) at night, much like chameleon eggs. Others recommend a constant temperature throughout the incubation process, but I have yet to experiment with that. The female was in captivity for only a few months. Fortunately, all 4 neonates hatched successfully.

Regards,

Fabian

Glad to hear that all four hatched for you! I hope they will
thrive!

There are three species of serratus and three species of
longipes. It isn't easy to tell which is which for all 6 kinds.
I have not seen all 6 kinds in person myself....but have seen at
least 3 of them.

I incubated them at slightly cooler temperatures (75 to 78F) and
they all hatched. I'd have to look up the number of days...can't
remember.

They were as easy to hatch as veiled eggs....and showed similar
signs to veiled eggs before hatching. Even the egg size was
comparable at hatching time.

Thank you for your note. I'm glad others are having success in breeding them! How well did they survive? And I agree, you could probably compare their incubation parameters to those of some* chameleons.

Regarding their taxonomy, I'll have to disagree with you. There are only two species. There are, however, 3 "subspecies" of each; all of which have not been accepted by the ICZN, and are said to have a "Tentative position in taxonomy." The subspecies in question are:

Laemanctus longipes longipes
Laemanctus longipes deborrei
Laemanctus longipes waltersi

and

Laemanctus serratus alticoronatus
Laemanctus serratus mccoyi
Laemanctus serratus serratus

I suspect that those in favor of the many subspecies are basing their results on morphological data, but hopefully, phylogenetic advances will show whether they are, in fact, full subspecies, or just locales or "morphs."

Regards,

Fabian

Thanks for the information about the ICZN not having accepted the
subspecies yet. I made a mistake by putting species instead of
"subspecies" when I posted that email. Oops!
I was aware of the three (unaccepted) subspecies of longipes and
of serratus that you listed.

You asked..."How well did they survive?" All 5 batches of eggs
(25 in all) hatched and at the end of two months all were still
alive and doing well. I would assume that none of these came from
retained sperm, since all the adults were in captivity for over
two years before they reproduced. I have raised a few other
laemanctus hatchlings into adulthood in the last few years.
I have more clutches of eggs in the incubator now.

I have two different looking "kinds" of laemanctus (don't know
how to put it now that you are saying that the subspecies
aren't accepted) and I had a third "kind" (different looking than
the other two) once too.

You said..."I suspect that those in favor of the many subspecies
are basing their results on morphological data, but hopefully,
phylogenetic advances will show whether they are, in fact, full
subspecies, or just locales or "morphs"...what will it take to
prove that they are full subspecies? Do you know what the
differences are reported to be so far?

There are definite differences in the two "kinds" that I have.
The babies of one "kind" have the dark stripe (lighter/darker
bands)down the spine while the babies of the other have that
same stripe but also have a solid dark stripe along the
sides...and the parents/adults keep this solid side stripe
but it pales as they mature. The spinal stripe remains dark.
There are very different arrangements and sizes of scales on
the tops of the heads of both "kinds"...and there are more
differences too.