Diapause for panther chameleons

[Charles 0822]

my female Ambanja panther chameleon is has mated and is pregnant. She has not yet laid the eggs but I’m curious to know how I can start diapause and how it works. I have seen a few people saying start it at a lower temp and the raise it. If anyone could help that would be amazing.

 

[MissSkittles]

I don’t believe diapause is used for panther eggs, but let’s ask @Motherlode Chameleon

 

[Charles 0822]

I don’t believe diapause is used for panther eggs, but let’s ask @Motherlode Chameleon

It can be for sure. Just don’t know 100% how to do it and what temps exactly.

 

[SteveH]

It can be for sure. Just don’t know 100% how to do it and what temps exactly.

Diapause isn't needed for panthers. Just a container with damp perlite /vermiculite in a dark place at room temperature and check the dampness occasionally.

 

[Charles 0822]

Diapause isn't needed for panthers. Just a container with damp perlite /vermiculite in a dark place at room temperature and check the dampness occasionally.

I know it’s not needed and I know how to hatch them without it. I’m just wondering the temps for diapause because it would be better for them to hatch much sooner. Thanks.

 

[SteveH]

I know it’s not needed and I know how to hatch them without it. I’m just wondering the temps for diapause because it would be better for them to hatch much sooner. Thanks.

For my Calumma brevicorne I started diapause at 65° and gradually dropped the temp to 55° and kept for 50-60 days then gradually raising to room temp until hatch.

 

[Charles 0822]

For my Calumma brevicorne I started diapause at 65° and gradually dropped the temp to 55° and kept for 50-60 days then gradually raising to room temp until hatch.

Are you starting immediately or waiting a few days after being laid?

 

[SteveH]

Are you starting immediately or waiting a few days after being laid?

I started roughly a week after being laid

 

[Charles 0822]

I started roughly a week after being laid

Okay thank you. Do you think these temps are adequate for panther chameleons eggs?

 

[SteveH]

Okay thank you. Do you think these temps are adequate for panther chameleons eggs?

I have no idea

 

[kinyonga]

You said…”I know it’s not needed and I know how to hatch them without it. I’m just wondering the temps for diapause because it would be better for them to hatch much sooner”…why do you think it would be better for them to hatch sooner?

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

I don’t believe diapause is used for panther eggs, but let’s ask @Motherlode Chameleon

As stated above a diapause is not required for incubating Furcifer pardalis clutches.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[kinyonga]

IMHO…it would likely be best for the health of the hatchlings to hatch at the appropriate number of days (like nature should do) to have properly developed, healthy babies.

You might find this interesting…
“These results support and extend ideas regarding a constancy in the number of degree-days needed to complete the developmental process(Trudgill et al., 2005). The concept of the total effective heart beat provides a functional explanation for the relationship between incubation temperature and developmental time.”…
https://journals.biologists.com/jeb...eterminants-of-incubation-period-do-reptilian

 

[kinyonga]

You might like this thread…
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/egg-incubation….195822/

 

[Maximus_Cham]

Are we, as enthusiasts, making things more complicated than they need to be? Sometimes it feels like life finds a way and perhaps letting nature take its course is the best approach.

Here's a personal example. I repurposed an enclosure that had previously housed a female panther chameleon for my monitor lizard. I didn't realize there was a clutch of eggs buried in the substrate. The monitor's husbandry requires much higher temperatures than a chameleon's, yet one by one, the eggs hatched and the hatchlings emerged from the substrate. I ended up with 15 healthy babies.

By contrast, from the eggs I collected and incubated myself for eight months, only four hatched.

For what it's worth…

 

[kinyonga]

@Maximus_Cham said…”from the eggs I collected and incubated myself for eight months, only four hatched”…what happened to the other eggs in the clutch? Were they fertile? Did they mold? Rot? Shrivel up? How did you incubate them?

 

[Maximus_Cham]

No mold or rotten eggs. Some have shriveled. The rest might still hatch. Will just have to wait longer and see. 4 have already hatched so I assume the clutch was fertle. The eggs are in container with moist vermiculite kept in the closet.