Chameleon eggs denting after 6 months

cathyf

New Member
Hi Everyone, does anyone know why my chameleon eggs are starting to get dents after 6 months of incubation? When I looked at the dented egg, it looks like it has broken open but inside is a perfectly formed chameleon?
 
Welcome to the forums, I see you are also from South Africa.
Your eggs are of veiled chameleons I am guessing?

6 months is usualy the time when they start hatching, did you open the eggs up or what? Were the babies alive or dead?
Im sure they are starting to hatch, hopefuly they are strong enough to get out of the eggs.
Are the eggs sweating? Are there slits at one end of the egg, in like a star slit kind of look? Then they should be hatching.
How many eggs do you have?
 
Hi, thanks for the welcome and yes they are veiled chameleons. This is my first viable batch, only 3 eggs survived, but I assumed that because it's my females (moniques) first clutch that the survival rate would be low. There is slit on the side, I opened it up and the baby was dead. Should I open the other two?
She has subsequently layed a second clutch of eggs approx 42, it's been 3 months and looks as though 30 odd will survive this time.
 
I also had a female lay 35 eggs and only 4 seemed fertile and as the months went on I lost all eggs but it seems they were infertile too they just somehow still grew and did not go off until close to the 6 month mark.
I cut mine open and there was no embryo or any signs of development.

If it looks like it burst at the side your humidity might be too high in then.
The slit should be right at the top of the egg, or at the bottom. Which is basicly the same thing...
I would not cut the others open, if they look fine then leave them, they should hatch out..
Are you sure the baby was dead though?
Last year I had an egg slit but the baby wasnt coming out so I cut it out and the baby just layed down curled up, it stayed like this for almost 2 days then it started un curling and walking around like a normal baby.
 
Thanks for the advice, baby was definitely dead - totally white and started to smell. I will wait for the other two to hatch, I will let you know what happens (I hate this waiting..... I feel like an expectant mother)
 
Glad I can help lol.
The wait is unberable, though with the second clutch time seemed to fly by, just too bad I didnt get any babies.
Hopefuly I will have better luck with my Panthers.
 
I'm curious what you did with the chameleon that lay curled up for two days. Just in case this happens with my other two. Where did you keep it ?:confused:
 
I left it in the incubator with the eggs.
I only removed the babies out of the incubator once they were out and running around with their yolk sack full obsorbed.
Sometimes the babies will start coming out and just lay in the egg with their heads poking out.
You need to watch them nicely. With mine I had a problem where the babies would slit the egg then their yolk sack would come over their face and they could then not get any air and died, so with the rest of the eggs I had, I would cut the egg open further down the slit and I would just push the back of the egg very gently to get the babies face to come out, and then I would get the yolk away from its face if it did have it over the face... then they wiggled out a few minutes to hours later.
The babies that I saved were very healthy.

Just a random question, but how old are your adult veileds, when and where/whom did you purchase them from?
 
My male chameleon (Ivan) I got when he was 3 months old from Reptilians in Bryanston (he's now 2.5yrs old), my female is approx 1,5 yrs old (I also got her from Reptilians). She's my second female, my first one mated at 6 months old and only survived for a month after she layed her eggs, none of her eggs survived. I had no idea that "Ivan" would do the makareyna the minute he saw the female. Unfortunately she was too young to breed with.:cool:
 
If you are using vermiculite for the substrate it should be barely moist. If you take a fist full of it you should only be able to squeeze a drop or two of water out of it.

The eggs should slit at one end...usually ones that don't have split because there is too much water in them (at least I've never heard of another reason for it happening).

Was the baby's tongue hanging out?
 
I am using vermiculite as a substrate, it's not that moist tried squeezing it and not much water comes out. Egg did split at the one end and when I took the baby out it looked like a still born (it was totally white). Do you think it was a weak batch? it looked extremely thin and scrawny at six months. It was quite heart breaking to see it
 
You're not supposed to take the baby out. You may have broken the "umbilical cord" or prevented it from absorbing the yolk. They should get out of the egg by themselves.
 
I only took the baby out once I had seen that the egg had collapsed. two days had passed before I removed the top section of the shell. Baby was already white before I removed it:(
 
Im pretty sure the baby was dead before you removed it.

It could be that they are a weak batch. You can only hope for the best with your remaining and future eggs.
 
Ok i have a question the same as his. But mine are panther. Small dent on top dont see sweating. Been in incunat for 5 months..whats up with the dent???
 
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