Best incubation method for veilds

[Django]

Hello everyone! My female veiled chameleon is laying fertile eggs for the first time (she is digging as we speak - a little earlier than I anticipated) I am just wondering if you all could help me out with what has worked for you as far as incubation goes. I have read a lot about varying temperatures - and using an incubator vs. not (I'm definately leaning towards not). My chameleon room is very hot - average daytime temp of 30 - 35 Celsius - and 20 - 25 at night (this is controlled). Lot's of literature suggests higher temperatures are better - while some say that putting your containers in a closet works well too. I'm sort of at a toss up of whether to keep the eggs in the room with the chameleons - in a dark place - or to keep them somewhere else. Any feedback you could offer is great. I'm going to ask the vet aswell - who is scheduled here for a house call today (kind of a fluke that Kali just happens to be nesting today!).

Thanks a lot!

 

[Canopy Chameleons]

Good to see you made it here. I keep mine in a dark place at room temp and they seem to do great.

 

[kinyonga]

Don't let your female see you watching her when she is digging or she will likely abandon the hole. If she does it often enough it can lead to eggbinding. You can feed and water her when she is back up in her branches. Be aware that a female may dig several test holes before chosing the one she wants to lay the eggs in when not being watched. She does this to select a site that she considers suitable.

Once she has laid the eggs, let her bury them completely and return to the branches before you dig them up. Dig them up carefully and when moving them to the container you are going to incubate them in try not to rotate/turn them. Its a good idea to have the incubator and container that you are going to put the eggs in set up ahead of time.

I incubate them at about 78F. They are not in a closed in incubator so the temperature fluctuates a bit at...lower at night. (My incubator consists of a people's heating pad with a wooden frame (rectangle) that I have put screen over. I raise it to the height that puts the temperature in the container at 78F by using shims under the wooden frame. I have used this method for over 15 years and had good hatch rates not only with several species of chameleon, but also water dragons, several species of geckos, coneheads, three-toed box turtles and quite a few other reptiles. (The temperature has to be adjusted for some species by raising or lowering the frame.)

I use the coarse type of vermiculite, barely damp. I use shoe-box sized tupperware-type containers with two very very tiny holes in the lid. I fill these containers about half full of the slightly damp vermiculite and lay the eggs in rows in them in slight indentations that I make with my thumb. By only filling the containers half full there is "head room" for the babies when they hatch until they can be discovered and removed from the container.

By placing the eggs an inch apart in all directions the eggs will hatch almost individually. In my experience, it seems to produce a better survival rate.

Good luck!
(You are lucky to have a vet that makes house calls!)

 

[rob1468]

Help please

This is mine i threw together
its a glass tank with a mesh top , a heat mat underneath the tank and the tubs with the eggs in , the heat mat isnt touching the underside of the glass as the bottom is raised , tems inside the tubs are both at 76f , and the other tub of eggs i have tried putting ontop of the gecko viv which has a mesh top so in the day the temps are 77f in the tub but at night it will drop a few degrees
what do you think ??
would these work ??
its my first attempt so need guidance

rob

 

[rob1468]

sorry wont let me edit the post
here is the pic

 

[dodolah]

I might be wrong about this... but is the tupper ware supposed to have condensation like that?

 

[rob1468]

I might be wrong about this... but is the tupper ware supposed to have condensation like that?

i dont know ?
its my first time but in theory if you have a damp substrate and apply heat you get moisture , you need the moisture to help the eggs to grow show the humidity
thats my understanding lol but im not sure thats why i thought i would ask before the eggs get ruined lol
cheers rob

 

[boothy]

i start off with lower temps personally , i use 24 to 26 for the first 3 months then i use 25 to 27 for the last 3 months and abit and iv had 2 batches of 40 eggs hatch in 188 days and the other was 196 days so they forsure worked out great for me so if yea wana try it out giver 90! ahahah and good luck

 

[kinyonga]

I always keep my eggs in the dark.

My veiled egg containers always have moisture on the lids and even the sides of the containers. If this condensation was happening with panther eggs I would be concerned, but for veileds it doesn't seem to hurt.

Sorry that I can't tell you if your set-up will work or not since I have never used it.

 

[Ren]

i dont know ?
its my first time but in theory if you have a damp substrate and apply heat you get moisture , you need the moisture to help the eggs to grow show the humidity
thats my understanding lol but im not sure thats why i thought i would ask before the eggs get ruined lol
cheers rob

I think you are going to get way too much moisture, you may drown your eggs....
I use vermiculite and put the eggs up on a shelf in the closet at about 72-78 degrees... worked for me..