Curious on in breeding on panther eggs

[Dennis21]

Hey everyone please help me out this is my second clutch of panther eggs and it seems everyone in South Africa has trouble to hatch panther eggs. Can it be from in breeding at the breeders we get our chams from cuase I have 2 different bloodlines. So I'm just curious on this

Thanx

Dennis

 

[zlew]

It might be something to do with temperature or humidity. I've never bred any before, but inbreeding could cause issues. With different bloodlines you should be fine though.

 

[NHenn]

What are the specific troubles you are having with them? Hard to say exactly what could be wrong without knowing your process and problems.

 

[Dennis21]

Well my first clutch was more than 7 months in the incubator my temps was perfect 24 to 26 degree celcuis and they didn't even started to get veins. And my friend told he know a bloke and he's eggs are doing the same as my first clutch so I just wanted to know if that can effect the eggs

 

[NHenn]

By that time there should be some development but if they are not molding over you could still very well have good eggs that are just taking longer to develop. I personally don't keep mine above 24 and I also diapause my eggs but I know a lot of others who keep them at one temperature and they hatch between 9-12 months.

 

[Dennis21]

Ok so it could be temprature wise and probably humidity that can make the eggs take longer to develop

 

[fluxlizard]

constant temperatures like that can cause long delays before development begins sometimes. I've incubated at all sorts of temperature routines. A couple of times constant temps in your range resulted in hatch times of 13 months for me!

It is better to let them get a bit cooler at night if possible, so you have a temperature swing. 5 degrees C cooler at night and you will have a better incubation time. Even better is if you do a cool period for several weeks near the beginning of incubation, then a day/night temp swing for the remainder.

Quite possibly your eggs are still good. You can start temp swings day/night any time during incubation.

The other thing I would point out since you say many in SA are having problems with pardalis- When herptivite came on the market I stopped using reptivite and switched to herptivite. The next year out of many clutches of eggs from multiple females, I had zero hatch- all failed. I switched back to reptivite and never had a problem like that again. I believe strongly it was a lack of vitamin a in the herptivite. I don't know what supplements you have available there, but if herptivite is popular there, I'd say you might want to try reptivite or another multivit that has vit a and not merely beta carotene.

As for humidity- if the eggs are holding their shape and not collapsing from lack of water or not weeping from too much, I wouldn't even worry about humidity. If the eggs look good, your humidity is fine and will not be a problem.

 

[Dennis21]

Ok awesome. What temps did you use for your eggs. I use multivitamins from exo terra. I'm waiting for the reptile expo to get some more. We don't have many reptile shops in SA

 

[Dennis21]

My eggs second clutch there's 21

 

[kinyonga]

What form of vitamin A is in the exo terra vitamins?

 

[fluxlizard]

What form of vitamin A is in the exo terra vitamins?

Beta Carotene as per here:http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/powder_multi_vitamin.php//

Might be the problem Dennis...

 

[Dennis21]

The vitamins is in a powder form. If its the problem I'll check for other vitamins for my chams

 

[fluxlizard]

The vitamins is in a powder form.

It isn't powder vs non-powder that may be the problem- it's beta carotene vs real vitamin a. There is some evidence that lizards cannot always convert beta carotene into usable vitamin a. So if you go looking for something else- try something with real vitamin a. Reptivite may be a good place to start if you can find it there.

 

[Dennis21]

Ok will go and check this weekend that's coming for the reptivite and I'll ask some of my friends if they know where I can get it

 

[kinyonga]

Please be aware that beta carotene (prOformed) sources cannot build up in the chameleon's system but vitamin A from prEformed sources like are in Reptivite can so don't get carried away with the prEformed one.

 

[junglefries]

My eggs are all incubated in styrofoam fish shipping coolers. Eggs are removed from laying bin within 1-3 hours, depending on females location in cage. No added heat. Individual tupperware containers per clutch using an organic vermiculite and perlite mixture. Temps are 74-77°f daytime and 74-76°f nightime. Consistent 6 month hatching periods. Never has it gone longer than 6 1/2 months. Coolers kept at room temperature. Usually 100% hatch rate, minus a couple that might go bad the first month. Hope this helps.

 

[bobcochran]

Thank you Kinyonga, I couldn't agree with you more. Betacarotene takes energy from the cham to convert to a usable form: therefore only as much as is needed is converted. Preformed vit. A is readily used and is stored in the cham because there is no energy cost to the lizard, too much stored vit A will become toxic. Be careful how much preformed vit A you use!