Hatched 12/19

Hey all,
I'm new here so I figured I'd post these to say hello.
Hatched 32 mellers 12/19/9
All 32 still doing great as of 2/4/10

Wow! What an introduction

Well done on your not so little brood

Welcome to the forum

YAY!!! That's fabulous! Can you tell us a little more about the incubation process, what temps, what medium you used, etc.? (and where you are located?) Those of us who have been working with the melleri would love to hear more. I had a confirmed melleri mating just a couple of weeks ago and am tracking her progress. Do tell..... (and we would welcome more pictures, too....)

chams1 said:

YAY!!! That's fabulous! Can you tell us a little more about the incubation process, what temps, what medium you used, etc.? (and where you are located?) Those of us who have been working with the melleri would love to hear more. I had a confirmed melleri mating just a couple of weeks ago and am tracking her progress. Do tell..... (and we would welcome more pictures, too....)

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They are in the US, see post here! https://www.chameleonforums.com/turkistan-roach-blatta-lateralis-14633/index2.html#post331953

Yay!

Incubation Medium- perlite (as you can probably see lol) equal water to perlite by weight.

Temps- mostly low 70s, some upper 60s.

I just tried to keep between 65 and 75. The eggs were laid August 19 so timing of hatch was kind of weird- exactly 4 months incubation. Had some problems finding some place cold enough during first 2 months (keep thermostat in house at 77 summer)- so sometimes incubation temps would climb to 76 or 77 during day. I had them in my bathroom under the sink and if kept door closed most of the time temps stayed below 75 (I have an air conditioner vent in the bathroom if door is closed it cools much more than rest of house). Then fall kicked in and temps dropped and a few weeks temps were closer to 67 nights, 71-72 days. Once temps dropped and stabilized to 68-70 for winter in my home, I put them in an incubator at 74 for the final several weeks.

Strangest thing about this clutch since you are talking about yours mating- my adults mated from mid february through early June every day or two. By June I wondered what was going on (I actually bred these guys a couple times in late 90s- courtship did not last that long), but remained hopeful. By July I had given up hope. By August it was obvious the female was gravid.
So go figure lol.

I had the pair about a year before they started breeding, and it's about that time of year again, so I'm interested to see what they do this year. Meanwhile babies are doing great.

That is awesome! It's nice to hear other people's experiences with courtship, mating and then incubation. I know that none of them are exactly the same, expecially for the Melleri, but it sure is nice to hear other people's accounts of it. Thank you so much for sharing!

Beautiful work!!! Mellers babies are so freaking cool looking

I love chameleon babies!! You should post some more pictures

Congrats! I know we have been PMing a lot but i just love this thread

Wow, great read. I didnt realize that mellers had that short of an incubation period. I always thought they had longer incubation times than panthers or veileds. Thanks for the info. And congrats on the new additions.

Your babies are beautiful. I have wanted a meller baby to raise almost forever. I have given up that dream so I can have more montane's. I still can't see a mellers and not want it.

laurie said:

Your babies are beautiful. I have wanted a meller baby to raise almost forever. I have given up that dream so I can have more montane's. I still can't see a mellers and not want it.

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Laurie your time will come to raise one up think positive

that is awesome!!! i have a female meller i found by complete luck on craigslist without even knowing much about her i got her and now im looking for a mate for her shes old enough she deserves love ha, but its awesome that you were able to do that successfully! i hope one day i will have my chance too

ack another grave digger