Hatchling size, trade-offs, etc...different incubation temperatures...

[kinyonga]

"Differences in hatchling phenotype were mostly explained by clutch identity, although it was also affected by incubation treatments, with bigger and heavier hatchlings in colder treatments. Incubation conditions did not affect hatchling growth nor survival rates, but survivors were differentiated by their higher increase in egg mass during incubation"....
https://www.researchgate.net/public...of_common_chameleon_Chamaeleo_chamaeleon_eggs

"Incubation treatment also affected a chameleon's activity level and its unique foraging tactics. Cold-incubated animals were more sedentary, caught prey faster, and extended their tongues farther to reach prey than did their warm-incubated counterparts"...
https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2006&context=smhpapers1

https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/catalog/7109417

"The highest incubation temperatures were disruptive to development; eggs had high mortality, developmental rate was low, and hatchlings grew slowly"...
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18512704/

"An increase in ambient temperature initiates development of diapausing embryos of C. calyptratus"...
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jez.a.56

"It was noted that the chameleons that hatched in from eggs in the 29°C incubation were much more active, immediately post hatching, than hatchlings from either the 26.5°C or 24.5°C temperatures. In addition, the individuals from the higher temperature had a greater appetite immediately after hatching than those of the other two groups"...
http://www.chameleonnews.com/08FebLong.html

 

[Lindasjackson]

Kinda sounds like the lower temp ones did better

 

[kinyonga]

But don't go too low.

 

[Mis_chameleon]

Hi guys,
My incubator went on the fritz last night, i religiously check them to make sure all is ok, at 8pm last night temps were 73°and holding nice, this morning the temps inside dropped to 43°f and looks like the egg containers also dropped when I checked with a temp guage to 50° f
Did this just kill all my babies? I'm so sad right now, they were expected to start hatching in a month or so. I have opened the door as my room temps are currently around 74°f. Please help i need to know if there is a chance they will survive

 

[kinyonga]

@Mis_chameleon ...what species? Panthers?
Assuming the eggs are in a container in the incubator, just take the container out if the room temperature is at 74F until you can fix the incubator.

As to whether you killed them or not, it's hard to know. I would just keep incubating them at the right temperature now and hope they are ok.

 

[Mis_chameleon]

@Mis_chameleon ...what species? Panthers?
Assuming the eggs are in a container in the incubator, just take the container out if the room temperature is at 74F until you can fix the incubator.

As to whether you killed them or not, it's hard to know. I would just keep incubating them at the right temperature now and hope they are ok.

Yes Panther chameleons, yes thats what I did, I am going to be praying that these babies survived the cold dip. Thank you for your response

 

[kinyonga]

Good luck. They can be tough!