How long before picking the eggs?

skybird

New Member
As you might know, i'm waiting for my female Furcifer pardalis ambanja to lay the eggs.

She is digging alot today in the laying bin. I might expect her to lay the eggs any moment, and was wondering how long you let the eggs stay in the substrate before you dig them out and put them in your incubator?

My plan is to incubate the eggs at 24 celsius and aboute 80% humidity.
As a incubator substrate i'll use vermiculite that's moisted just enough to not be dripping when i squeze it in my palm.

:D
 
Bring the eggs out as soon as it is convenient. The only dangers are 1) flooding due to no drainage or 2) other creatures getting at the eggs (viking feeder insects) or 3) the laying chamber substrate drying out.

Within the captive cage environments I am used to, none of these are really a danger within 24 hours of the egg laying. So take your time, take care of the female and make sure she is stable, do a little celebratory dance, and then sit yourself down for a slow, careful dig out session that is better than unwrapping any christmas gift and is eclipsed only by the excitement of when they hatch.

Best of luck to you! And make sure you let us know how it goes!
 
Thanks for the advice DeremensisBlue.

I was asking this question because i'm thinking that she might have some emotional fealings aboute the eggs. I'm thinkin that she might look at me as a predator if she sees that i'm digging them up from the bin?
 
First of all...do not let her see you watching her while she's digging.

Let her lay the eggs, fill in the hole, tamp the soil down and return to the branches before you dig the eggs up. When digging the eggs up try not to rotate/turn them.

Do you know how to set them up in an incubation container??
 
First of all...do not let her see you watching her while she's digging.

Let her lay the eggs, fill in the hole, tamp the soil down and return to the branches before you dig the eggs up. When digging the eggs up try not to rotate/turn them.

Do you know how to set them up in an incubation container??

She took me in the act of looking at her while she was digging, and every time I met her gaze, so she gave up digging each time and climbed up into the branches of the tree.

Because of this, I have covered all routes in the terrar so she does not see me. I've hooked up a video camera and follow her on the big screen with HD quality at the same time I make recordings of the session.

I bought an artificial intelligent incubator that I've prepared in 24 degrees Celsius and 80% humidity.
Moreover, I have somewhat dampened vermiculite as substrate that is ready for the eggs. I understand that I should press in the vermiculite with the thumb which then makes a pit for each egg so that half of the egg is covered with vermiculite. Furthermore, it should be about 1 thumb width between each egg so that they are not too close together.
 
You said..."I have somewhat dampened vermiculite as substrate that is ready for the eggs. I understand that I should press in the vermiculite with the thumb which then makes a pit for each egg so that half of the egg is covered with vermiculite. Furthermore, it should be about 1 thumb width between each egg so that they are not too close together."...to test the vermiculite for dampness take a fist full of it and if you cannot squeeze out more than a drop or two of water, it should be right. The indentations and spacing sound fine. I don't make the thumb prints deep enough that the eggs are half covered even.
The containers should not be full of the vermiculite...you want to leave some "head room" for the chameleons to move around in when they hatch IMHO. There will be beads of moisture forming on the underside of the lid and sides of the container you put the eggs in...this is normal. If at any time during the incubation you have to add water don't put it over the eggs but rather along the sides of the container.
 
I use this one, so it should be more than enough space as this same incubator is also used for chickens and other birds as well.
As for adding the moist, this is regulated by the artificial intelligence of the incubator. This will not be sprayed over the eggs, but drip into a spunge that makes the liquid to viporize inside the incubator.

RX-02.jpg


http://www.rcomincubators.com/produc...productid/1393
 
If you do rotate an egg while trasnfering dont freak out. At this stage Ive found that rotating the egss is not going to do any harm. What you dont want to do is turn the eggs after theyve been incubating for a cpl of months. If you do candle an egg to check development make sure you keep the egg from turning/rotating during the inspection. Personally, i dont move my eggs at all during incubation its not going to make them hatch any faster so just check on them weekly for the first six months. After that I check on them every few days until I begin to see them swell and the shell thin out and show windows. At that point I check evry other day until they hatch out.

I have a clutch of falys hatching as we speak. It was about 3 days short of 9 months for the incubation time.
 
Hey there, and thanx for your advice. Congrats with the clutch. I guess you'll be very buissy now :)
 
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