Incubating Veiled Eggs

Hi there, can anyone advise me here? I`m new to chameleons, and want to know if I`m doing this right. I got a plant propagator, thermostatically controlled at 78 degrees during the day, dropping to 74 at night. The eggs are half buried in vermiculite, and a dish of water keeps the humidity high. Is this ok? I`ve read soome of you saying you put a shoebox in a closet, but I live in the north of england at almost 2000 feet, and Man it`s cold! Also, the eggs are in plastic containors, half of which have lids and half don`t. The ones with lids though, are forming large drops of condensation, which can then drop on the eggs. Am I right in thinking this will kill them off? Sorry if this all seems very basic to you guys, but we all have to start somewhere, don`t we? I got four books when I started with chams, all recommended by the vet, but they all tell different ways to do it, temperatures etc. I`d appreciate any help...Thanks

if i am not mistaken the temperature drop is not necessary.
as far as temps go i would shoot for 76.
if you have lids on your containers make sure you poke holes in them.
this will allow for ventilation. all of them should be kept this way.
make sure you egg bedding is moist. you should weigh all the containers
and as they lose weight add more water.
proper water ratio is if you grab a handfull of bedding and squeeze it should
be moist and only one or two drops of water should come out at the max.
i have yet to experience this for myself, but am goin off of several pages of notes i have.

You said..."I got a plant propagator, thermostatically controlled at 78 degrees during the day, dropping to 74 at night"...I don't know exactly what this is...is it a closed unit? Can you post a picture please?

You said..." The eggs are half buried in vermiculite, and a dish of water keeps the humidity high"...what I do is half fill shoebox sized plastic containers with barely moist vermiculite. I put one or two tiny holes in the lid of the container. I lay the eggs in rows spaced about 1" apart in all directions. I incubate the eggs at about 78F.

You said..."the eggs are in plastic containors, half of which have lids and half don`t. The ones with lids though, are forming large drops of condensation, which can then drop on the eggs"...if you have no lids on the containers then the eggs will likely dent in, shrivel up and die. (I can't be 100% sure that this will happen in your setup since I don't know what you mean by a plant incubator.) My containers always have moisture on the sides of the container and on the lid and it causes no problems as long as the container was set up properly to begin with.

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping you would respond as I have seen where people say you`re the one who knows these things! The propogator is basically an 18" by 16" seed tray with a clear plastic lid. I can`t send a picture as i don`t know how- I`m not exactly computer literate, or barely!! It has a heater incorporated in the base, which as I say, I have connected to a thermostat. It is, then, a closed unit. I was fairly confident about the unit, but my concern was lids on the egg containers or not, and you`ve answered that question, for which thanks a lot

yea, she is very knowlegeable in breeding. well in everything!lol

Something like this??
http://www.antag.co.uk/m/1491_00001491xh828.htm

What I use to incubate the eggs is NOT an incubator. I use a people's heating pad that has three temperature settings. I built a rectangular frame of 2" x 2" wood pieces that fits over it. I put screen over the top of the wood frame and place the shoebox sized containers of moist vermiculite and eggs on top of it. The height of the wood frame can be adjusted with shims and by choosing the appropriate setting on the heating pad until the temperature in the shoebox containers is right.

I have hatched several species of chameleon eggs this way as well as conehead eggs, various gecko eggs, water dragon eggs, 3 toed box turtle eggs, snapping turtle eggs, etc.

BTW...I live in Canada so its too cold in my house to hatch veiled eggs on a shelf....or at least I would never risk it when the above method works so well.

Thanks for the comments bigjimbear and JustinIgor...but there is a lot that I still have to learn. I will never know it "all". Some things still frustrate me and confound me about chameleons!

Good luck with the eggs! Hope you are patient....its a long wait until they hatch!

I have just successfully hatched my first 22 Yemen Chameleons without any deaths (so far!!). I read books and got as much advice as possible but in the end we decided to try something more simple and it worked wonderfully.
We used some old ice cream tubs and along each long side get a pin and prick holes (about 100). They should be on the upper half so that they are above the vermiculite. We mixed vermiculite with warm water (1 part water to 3 parts vermiculite) and placed the eggs about 1 inch apart in the vermiculite. Place the lid on firmly.
We then put our eggs in our airing cupboard with a thermometer resting on top. Luckily our airing cupboard was the perfect temperature and didnt have a drop of a nightime. We checked on the eggs about every week and just drizzled some water on the vermiculite to bring the dampness back.
I am fully aware that this method is not exact and not as the experts may advise but it worked well for us and not one egg was infertile or didnt hatch.
I hope that helps.

Nicky

Wow, That is very Interesting. I might try that with Deremensis eggs.

IMHO, its not important if the method of hatching the eggs is "conventional" or not...its important that they hatch properly and that the babies do well after!