URGENT: Need Help with Incubation without Incubator...

I have a Female Veiled Chameleon. This is the 2nd time she has laid a clutch. The first time I knew she was 100% infertile. So, it was a learning experience for both of us. She did very well the first time. She ended up laying 55 infertile eggs. And oh boy.... she was THIRSTY after that first clutch!! However, she HAS BEEN MATED this time!! Unfortunately, I am not aware if the mating "took" or not.... obviously. She is currently laying at this time. She has one of the 5 Gallon buckets filled with moist sand. This is the same way she laid the last clutch & she's very familiar with it, and seems to prefer this method.

However, I do not have an incubator/hovabator available this minute. My friend is supposed to bring me his tomorrow. I looked in on her not long ago, and I'm pretty sure she's laying RIGHT NOW!! She spent most of the evening digging her tunnel and now she has turned. She is now sitting outside of the tunnel with her hind-end IN the tunnel. I assume she is laying, but I will NOT disturb her to find out. My question to any EXPERTS out there would be..... How safe will the eggs (if they ARE FERTILE) be in just the sand??? If I am unable to incubate them, do I need to keep a heat lamp on the sand or not?? If the sand is cold, will they still incubate SAFELY?? I have never had to do that, so I really need some input on this issue. I have read that people have done it, but it just takes longer for them to hatch. ANY ADVICE IS MUCH APPRECIATED!! I just know that WET SAND gets COLD if there is no heat source!! IS THIS SAFE FOR THE EGGS?? If the eggs are Fertile, I really DO NOT want to lose them. I'm a totally animal lover and that will kill me if the eggs go bad!! FYI... I sound like a total pussy, but I have a hard time killing a spider!!! LOL!!! I ALWAYS try to pick them up FIRST & take them outside! So, you can imagine how much I want to save these eggs if they ARE FERTILE!! So, PLEASE HELP!!! Thanks Everyone!!

You can leave them right where there are until you get the hovabator tomorrow.
The eggs will be fine.

Cool... Thank you so much for your reply. I've never had to leave eggs like that, so I was worried.

why do you need one?

I am learning from others that if you just place you're eggs in a container with a few pin holes and place them in a drawer or closet where its dark and the temps remain constant, (75-78) that they will do fine. I'll let you know if thats true. Mine are in my drawer and due in about 1-2 months. So far I just looked and saw one baby cham inside the shell, so I know they are growing. Not to say an incubator would make it a lot easier to control their temps, but dont panic if it doesn't show, there are other methods if worse comes to worse. Meanwhile hes right leave them where they are, and remember the date when they were layed, so you have an idea of when to expect them. Good luck!

Mary... Thanks so much for your response. The incubator did show up the next day!! YEAHH!! I also left the eggs exactly where they were & didn't disturb them until the minute they were transferred to the incubator. They were perfectly fine when I transferred them. My friend & I used to be roommates & he bought one of the more simple incubators for his reptile eggs. He had great success with it, so I just prefer to use that method because it's easier to control the humidity and temps. I know what you mean about "learning from others" on certain issues. I do not understand why there's so much contradictory information on Chams out there!! It's basically a "Learning Experience" on some issues. This is the first time my Female Veiled has been fertile, and I want to make sure I do everything correctly!! I do not want to mess anything up! LOL!! She ended up laying 69 fertile eggs... and I'm really hoping to have a good hatch rate. All the eggs look great.... except for 3-4 of them. They were much smaller & "softer". So, they may not do well, but I'm hoping for the best! Thanks again for your help!

thats great!

I can see how much love and devotion you put into you're chams. A big hurrah for that alone. glad you're incubator came and hope you hatch every single one!!! lol good luck and maybe put up a pic to show you're incubator and eggs?. I too would love to try an incubator one day. are they expensive?

Mary.... Yes, I very much love my Chams!! Like I said in my original post... I can't even kill a spider!! I always try to catch them & take them outside. I really should be a Buddhist!! LOL!! I just love all creatures!!

The incubator I'm using is the same that we used for our Bearded Dragon Eggs. This Incubator IS designed to incubate Reptile Eggs. When I first saw it, I was very skeptic because it "looked too simple"!! However, it works PERFECTLY!! My friend hatched about 12-15 Dragon clutches with it, and had a very successful hatch rate. I was very surprised because of how "basic" it looks. When it comes down to it.... all you need is a way to control the Temperature & Humidity. With this incubator, you can control the temp with a gauge, and you control the humidity by putting a little water in the tray they provide. It's really easy to use! I should mention though... you will have to buy a small temp & humidity gauge. But, you can get those cheap at any pet supply store.

The incubator is from LLL Reptile. I believe they actually have ads on the homepage of this website. However, I'll give you their web address so you can look at the different incubators. The model that we use is the one of the least expensive. I believe we paid less than $60.00 for the model we use. We use the "Thermal HovaBator Incubator (Model 1602-N)". I looked it up and they have it now for $45.99, plus shipping I assume. Then the prices go up from there. Their web address for the Homepage is... http://lllreptile.com/ ..... The webpage that has the Incubators is... http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/reptile-incubators/.

As you requested, I will post pics of the Incubator (HovaBator) & Eggs after this post. If you have any other questions, please let me know. You can also email me at [email protected] !!

Thanks again for your info & interest!