Baby Carpets

[tawny]

HI again, Sorry for not responding to replies of late, I have been very busy . Latest update is now 15 hatchling carpets from 2 clutches and 1 clutch still to hatch.What has suprised me the most- apart from the fact I have been incredibly lucky- is the incredible size differences between siblings.I have been asked how I incubated the eggs, so here goes, but please bear in mind I have never bred any Cham apart from Pygmies before so if its all been done wrong I apologise.
I dug up the eggs almost as soon as she had laid them and was recovering with food and drink, The eggs were planted in moist vermiculite in vented tubs. A small piece of aquarium tubing was half buried in the substrate with about half an inch left protruding.
Eggs put in incubator set to 25c for 42 days. The incubator (Lucky Reptile heating/cooling type) was then lowered to 15C for a further 42 days, then raised again to 28C untill hatching ocurred.
Moisture (warm boiled water) was added sparingly when needed using a syringe to inject it into the protruding tubing.
It may sound all very unscientific and in all truth I never in my wildest dreams expected so many eggs to come through but they did and no one more suprised than me.
The interest here in the UK about these babies has been amazing. I posted about them on a forum and within hours was being asked to reserve them for people. I did have a lot of requests for pairs but as the pairs would obviously be siblings I declined as I dont want them bred from.I am now trying to find another bloodline but think it will mean looking more to Europe than the UK.
I have tried to enclose a photo of one of the babies , hope you dont mind as I am so proud of them.
Love Tawny

 

[tawny]

baby carpet

the pic didnt work for last post- sorry.
love Tawny

 

[Trace]

I merged your two threads in case you are looking for the second one!

Thanks for the incubation info; it was perfect! Scientific or not; it worked and that's the main thing. You may have mentioned on previous threads, but what when were the eggs laid so I can have an idea of total incubation times? I'm at the F2 stage with the Furcifer lateralis major and currently writing about them so having your data is of great interest to me. Thank you so much.

That's one good looking little chameleon; you should be proud! It's not something that happens every day.
Cheers,
t

P.S. More pics of the babies are also of great interest to me! The Carpets (both varieties) are a seriously underrated chameleon IMHO.

 

[tawny]

HI Trace,Thanks for the help with the pics I do have a lot of the babies but most are too big to post and Im rubbish at resizing etc!
The 1st clutch took 10 months in total to hatch, 10 months to the day from laying to hatch, the 2nd clutch took 9 months 18 days.
I did make an interesting obvservation of the female, 48 hours prior to laying she literally hugged the UV, the tube lays along the top of her terrarium- outside on the roof of it, she hung upside down as if she was absorbing as much UV as she could onto her swollen belly. She did this with every clutch.
I didnt provide a laying box for her, mindful that this species can be a egg scatterer I put 8 inches of moist steralised peat into the bottom of her terraium and planted it with mini Ficus plants, one in each corner and 2 near the middle, she always chose the roots in the vack left corner as the laying site. The peat being 8 inches high meant that she literally vanished underground for several hours, at one time she was down the tunnel overnight and I thought I'd be digging up a dead cham, but by dawn the next day she was out and covering the eggs with real care.
I agree this species is very underated I wonder if its the short life span and the tricky egg incubation that puts owners off? I was so lucky even finding my pair in the first place, but going on the interest my babies have generated here I think they just might get popular!
Your at the F2 stage? Wow I am impressed, maybe you could help me sex my babies at some time please?
Love Tawny
Love Tawny

 

[Trace]

Hello again

So your incubation times and temperatures pretty much match what I've done here. Mine usually hatch about the 11 month mark and I move the eggs between cooler and warmer closets to achieve and break diapause. No incubators for me. I don't poke holes in my egg containers or have any air exchange during incubation, so because of that my vermiculite stays moist for the duration.

And the scattering? I have yet to have a female do that for me, but I've seen it in others. Moreso with the nominate lateralis lateralis, not so much the lateralis major though. It's great that your female is a "digger" to me it's a sign that's she's comfortable with her surroundings. Did you happen to notice the time between clutches at all?

There's a few of us working with the majors so I'm sure one of us could sex the babies for you. Besides, it's a cheap excuse to get you to post some more awesome baby pics.

Thank you once again for the info. Any observations and tidbits on the majors are welcome. Now I really need to focus on finishing up the articles I'm writing about the majors and whatnot else. Have fun with your little ones - they look great. Congrats again.

Cheers,
t

 

[Mcfluffin]

Hi Tawny...

Where are you besed in the UK? Did you get your carpets from Rick Bass? I have a female lat. major from him which I'm hoping to breed soon, so perhaps we should do some swaps some time in the future if I have any luck with eggs?

Congrats with hatching your babies

Best wishes

Joe

 

[TXcham]

Hope to breed carps

I am housing 2 carpets which I believ are a male & female. I hope to breed them when they settle in. Keep posting about your experiences. I have veilds and a pygmy and I really like the carpets