Breeding Advice

Shaner

Shaner

New Member
Hello All,

I swear I posted this yesterday but can't find it even by searching by my username, but anyways I am looking for Breeding Advice.

I am looking into breeding Ambanja's, but I don't know anything about breeding chams, so I am looking for posts, or documents, help, how to's etc...

I figured there are quite a few people on here that have done it more than once and can help me out. The more I know the better.

I need to know the basics so can someone answer these for me please?

1) How old do they have to be before breeding?

2) What time of year do Chams normally breed?

3) How aggressive will the male be, and what are signs that he may be too aggressive?

4) When do I remove the Male from the cage?

5) How do I know when the Female is ready to lay her eggs?

6) How to make a home made incubator?

7) Eggs, what temps are they kept at, and misting them?

8) How often do I check on the eggs?

9) How long do they take to Hatch?

10) Should I use an under heater as an extra heat source for the eggs?

I am sure there are more but I just can't think of any others at the moment. Please let me know of anything else I may need to know, the more I know the better. I want to know what I am getting into way before I even begin.

Thank You everybody who helps out.

Shane
 
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Here is my 2 cents. Have lots and lots of money. You will never get it back. I am currently selling off a clutch of 69 Veileds that started hatching 07/08. Only 1 has died and they are now 2.5 months old. Crickets are the same price no matter what size. They eat about 3000 crickets or more a week. That is oh-about $55.00 a week plus the time it takes to care for them plus the cost of paper towels that you have to change every few days plus the 3 plastic totes they are in plus the 48" UVB light and fixture that is over the bin, PLUS finding good home for them. Unless you sell to Petstores-which I think in 99% of cases is just cruel, no one is going to buy from you until and unless you spend a few years building a good reputation and selling problem free animals. Not trying to dissuade anyone that has a passion-just have LOTS AND LOTS OF $$$! Oops-forgot about the potential VET BILLS!!!
 
Brad, Thanks for the threads I will definatley look into this stuff.

Evantor, I love how you just assumed I was a rookie and that I have no experience with reptiles, when in actual fact, I have a healthy Beardie, an healthy Frilled, and 2 Panther Chameleons. A 3 year old Maroansetra, and a 3 month old Ambanja. Please don't make such assumptions when you know nothing about me. Googling stuff fine, but don't tell me not to ask questions about stuff as that is what forums are for. If you are just going to ream me out...DON'T REPLY!!! I was asking for information, not a reaming. I am not in this for Money, just the experience and enjoyment of bringing more Panthers into this world. I know it can be expensive but I am willing to try hence all the questions. My Avatar picture is my 3 Year old Maroansetra and he is quite healthy thank you.

Julirs, thanks for the heads up, Money isn't an issue, and I am up for the challenge with all the babies. I have quite a few people that will buy them off of me and are all local to me where I am from so I can help them out with setups and questions. I am good at raising Chameleon's, I am just a beginner for breeding. But I thank you for the heads up.
 
Shaner - you came to the right spot to get these questions answered. Brads stuff is awesome. I too am moving into the breeding aspects of the hobby soon. All the information here is spot on. Please don't be discouraged when asking questions. There are some passionate people on here that mean the best. Sometimes coming off a little harsh "happens". Not intently but it does.

Evantor, That was a little harsh. I know your intentions are good. I do like seeing someone that cares enough about Chameleons and reptiles to respond so passionately. I can respect that.
 
Hi Shaner
If, after checking out the links and suggestions already provided, you have any questions DO feel free to ask. Breeding for the joy and experience is indeed worthwhile (and yes expensive and time consuming and not easy). I've only bred a few times (panthers) and it was exciting (and expensive and time consuming and anxious making and not entirely easy).
I'm also in Canada and might be interested in one of your offspring if you are breeding the Maroansetra - he's pretty!

Sandra
 
Thanks Sandra,

However he will not be partaking in the breeding, I will be breeding Ambanja's, but if you are still interested in one of those I will let you know when they hatch, won't be for a while though...at least a year, I am just reasearching first to see if I want to do this, and I am 95% sure I do.

Cheers,
Shane
 
you can breed the ambangas if you want too.once you have their cage setups for 2-3 panthers its only the feeders and the vet visits that are gonna cost some money.as far as a incubator and hatchlings that will cost some more money for their cages feeders etc.even if your thinking you can make some money its worth it for the experience,its a process.for me it keeps me busy during the spring and summer when the baby chams hatch.i hatched 1 clutch last summer and it was awesome,this summer i hatched out 2 clutches.they are veileds and i am breaking even as far as money goes.
i have a nice collection of chameleons now veileds,panthers and i dont ever see me making the money back that i spent over the past 3 years i realized that last year.
i am hoping that if my sambavas mate i will have panthers hatching next year some time but even if they do im not gonna make much money.
the other thing i wanted to tell you is that if your buying chams to breed to hopefully make some money or break even buy from popular bloodlines that people know of that will help you sell your animals faster,even if its only the sire from known bloodlines you will do better because most people want pics of the parents.
 
Awesome Cainschams,

Thanks for the money saving tips, I plan on building a few cages, the adults will have their separate cages, the Male when it is big enough will be in a 260 gallon Flexarium. The female will be in a home made 4'x2'x2' cage. and I plan on building tons of little cages for the little ones, alot easier than buying lol.

Thanks for the cost saving measures, I will definatley look into that.

Keep the info coming people, like I said anything helps.

THANK YOU ALL!!!
 
cainschams said:
1 breed your own feeders. Roaches are easy, im finding silkies are easy, crickets stink like hell but I buy the box of adults and give them a laying bin. Leave it in there for a week and 3 weeks later you will have tons of free pinheads, FF are easy but none of my hatchlings ate them.
2 You can save on lighting also. [...]
Click to expand...

Great suggestions.

The nymphs of some roaches are small enough, but not all. Maybe better for when they're a month or two old.

Pin heads definately cheaper to "make your own" than to buy, but crickets do stink. I'm glad it was nice weather so I could keep the crickets in the green house or garage or outside instead of in the house!

Fruit Fly cultures have the potential to stink, but I found them to be the best and easiest cheapest feeder for the very young chams. Not hard to dust fruit flies either, (I thought it would be until I tried it).

Also very very small kingworms work great and are also cheap and easy to raise yourself (and stink free).

At first I used several fish tanks and one enclosure I made for my babies. The made one was a glass, wood and screen enclosure. The bottom and back and two ends were glass (painted the glass green to avoid possible reflection issues). I made temp partitions out of acrylic and wood (with a few tiny holes drilled through), to divide the tank cage into three. The front was glass on the bottom half. The top of the front and the top/lid was one piece, screen. Used a long single UVB tube over top. I housed three chams in each of the three sections. plus Three in each tank. Until they got a bit bigger and were separated out. Basically I'm saying have plenty of space LOL

I also changed my work shifts so I could come home mid-day to feed and water. They were never more than three hours without me during the day :) over protective mommy! :)

They are so darn cute.

Here's some advice - dont fall in love with them all, and resist naming the babies. I ended up keeping five babies when I had originally intended to keep two. LOL
 
Thanks Sandra. Sorry I did forget to say that I started feeding dubia nymphs no more than 1 to 2 weeks old to my1 1/2 to 2 month olds. Basically when I took them out of the containers and put them in screened enclosures
 
Back on track...
1) How old do they have to be before breeding?
I never mate a female until she is a year old. I like to make sure they are done growing their bones before they have egglaying demands put on them.

2) What time of year do Chams normally breed?
In captivity, panthers will breed several times a year...not really a set time for the breedings to occur.

3) How aggressive will the male be, and what are signs that he may be too aggressive? Can't really answer this one easily. I show the female to the male holding her outside the cage. If they both show that they are interested in mating then I place the female inside the cage. Any male panthers that I have had have not been aggressive to the female once it is realized that she is receptive.

4) When do I remove the Male from the cage?
I remove the male when the female starts to show that she is not receptive and is aggressive to the male.

5) How do I know when the Female is ready to lay her eggs?
Its usually about 30 days after the mating. She will likely roam the cage more, especially at the bottom. She may stop eating a couple of days before. She will drink a lot more than normal generally. I always have a place for them to dig in the cage to show that they are ready. The clues are sometimes subtle.

6) How to make a home made incubator?
I have used a human heating pad (the type with three heat settings) with a wood and screen frame over it. The frame can be raised to get the temperature required.

7) Eggs, what temps are they kept at, and misting them?
You don't want to get water on the eggs.
This site gives incubation/temp. information...
http://www.adcham.com/html/taxonomy/species/fpardalis.html

8) How often do I check on the eggs?
At first I check every few days. After a couple of weeks, I check once a month. Near the end I check more often again.

9) How long do they take to Hatch?
See the site I provided.

10) Should I use an under heater as an extra heat source?
For the eggs??

Its difficult to make reproduction into a profitable business...but its a good experience and a learning experience to have them reproduce.
 
Thank you very much Kinyonga,

I will definatley keep this posting near by when it comes time for breeding and egg laying.

I thank you all for helping me out

If anyone else has stuff they would like to say I would love to hear it.
 
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