57 pardalis eggs

[Chameleon Company]

Dug them up today, from one CBB female Ambilobe, her first clutch. Only the third time we've gone over fifty, in 7 years, and in both times past, the eggs were of lower quality. This batch looked good ! While veileds and Oustalets can certainly exceed that number, can anyone beat 57 in a panther ? Some of you own siblings sisters to the girl that laid them. Yes, we are boasting.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Not even close- most we get here is maybe around 34 for a high. Average is 24 per clutch.

Does the Dam eat like a pig? Is she big-bodied?

 

[Kent67]

Do I have her sister??? She's about a week away from laying her first fertile clutch, too.

Biggest I've had was 34, also. It was a 2nd clutch from an earlier breeding and only produced about a 50% hatch rate. 57 is outrageous! Would love to hear how the clutch eventually hatches.

 

[Dean Pulcini]

It's an unusual number of eggs for a panther you know as well as I the only thing that matters is how many actually hatch out.

 

[Chameleon Company]

She is large as dams go ....

And we don't monitor consumption by individual, although she has access to all the food that she wants. Just one of those oddities. As she was the first of her siblings to lay, we will have to see how the couple of her sisters that we still have do. We have seen genetic patterns before in egg quantities among siblings. While I never calculated it before, my guess would be that less than 5% go over 40, and only a fraction of a percent over 50. Huge clutches are not something we would want to breed for, as my instincts tell me that it is pushing the stress envelope on any chameleon to produce quantities at the limits of what is possible. 35'ish is usually a bigger clutch here.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

I had a girl lay 41 back on 9-22-07 / started hatching in May of 08 - 230 days. It was a mass hatch, and all but 3 eggs hatched.

 

[Chameleon Company]

Dean and Kent,

I agree fully with the measure being in the hatch and the ability of the female to rebound, as both would be areas where we would expect more trouble with such a large clutch. All of my experience with large clutches lends iteself to being pessimistic, although I think I have gotten 100% hatch from as many as 45 before.

For those who have the record of bloodline numbers purchased, it is our 2033 bloodline. Eat your hearts out, as below is one of her brothers, who is performing well as a stud here. And I have SIX of his sisters on the breeder line !

While the eggs look good, I am still pessimistic because of the clutch size. For those who have not experienced it yet, as quantity goes up beyond the 30's, you should expect quality to go down. And you should always spend on the side of quality.

 

[lbesok]

Nice looking Ambilobe!
We've had one female Ambilobe, Sarabi, lay 52 but with ~10 or so initially infertile. Makes me wonder a lot of things about large clutches taking a more significant toll on the females. Like how many clutches on average does the given female panther have during her life span, and what are the chances that the female will die because of egg complications? The younger the age the higher the chances I'd assume.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

WOW 57

I have a female that has laid 45, 41, and 40 over the last 7 months

 

[christopherlaw]

thats a massive clutch.

I have only dug out 15 clutches in my time, but 32 was my biggest. How does the egg size compare to your smaller clutches??

 

[ciafardo 4]

thats a massive clutch.

I have only dug out 15 clutches in my time, but 32 was my biggest. How does the egg size compare to your smaller clutches??

good question i know larger veiled clutches tend to have smaller eggs.

 

[Chameleon Company]

Christopher,

What made this particular clutch all the more unusual was that the egg size was very good ... at least what we would expect with a healthy clutch half this size. The females from this clutch do rate in the top 20% when it comes to size. 7 months from now we'll see if there's really "gold in them thar hills". Despite all initial appearances, my expectations need to stay rightfully diminished. The female looks great, btw !