Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female in the photo is gravid and has been since 10/27. I've read that they will lay their eggs 20-30 days after copulation. I'm getting my incubator this week. I'm looking for info on incubator temps, for example, the temp/s used to help determine the sex of the eggs etc...

There is no documentation on the sex of veiled chameleon hatchlings being determined by the temperature that the eggs are incubated at. That works for some species of reptiles like turtles and geckos....but I have never read of it applying to veiled chameleons. Nor have I experienced it in the over 10 years that I have been hatching veiled chameleon eggs.

As for incubation temperatures, I have had good luck hatching them at 78 to 80F. You also need to be concerned about the substrate that you use for incubation and the moisture level of it. I've always found the coarse vermiculite moistened only slightly (so that no/little water comes out of it when you squeeze a fist full of it) works well. I use a tupperware type container about 3" deep with a lid (that I've put two or three very small holes into). I fill it half full with barely moist vermiculite and lay the eggs into it when I dig them up. The space above the vermiculite is so that the babies will have room to move around when they hatch until they can be moved to their own cages.

A few words of advice....I always provide a container of washed sandbox sand in any egglaying chameleon's cage so that she has somewhere to start digging as soon as she is ready. That way I don't risk her becoming eggbound from having no place to lay the eggs. (Its not really as simple as that since some are fussy about where they dig...but it usually works.)

Also, once she is digging, don't let her see you watching her digging or she may abandon the hole thinking that its an unsafe place to lay the eggs. IMHO, if she does this often enough she will likely become eggbound.

Good luck with the process...and get your patience ready for the long incubation time!

I've got here all hooked up with the sand box. I've got a very large container of sand in her cage, it held a 50 lb bag of sand. I purchased a clear container figuring I may be able to see the eggs or her tunnel marks better. I made markings on the top of the sand so I could help tell if at any point I was gone and she laid her eggs and covered in the hole already.

Sounds good! One thing though....most veileds do dig down along the side of the container or at least seem to end up along the side. If you can see into the container, then she can see out and may not feel that she is really digging a hole. I have used clear containers too, but I put a piece of cardboard or something along the sides so that she will still feel that she is in a hole. You can remove whatever you use when you know/think she has laid the eggs and you want to check (and when she is not still in the hole....if you know what I mean).

Good luck!

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

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