helpwith gravid panther and advice on incubation please

suzanne

New Member
hi all,
this is my first attemp at panther breeding so any advice please would be great , my female is approx 3weeks since mating and has been going up and down constantly for the last few days and wanting to come out of her cage , she has a bucket about 9-10" deep with soil in it she has completly ignored until earlier and she was sat in it not for long though only prob 15 mins max didn't really see her dig it just looked like she wassat on it , didn't want to lookmuch though , and now she is back pacing again , should i use sand aswell or instead or give her more buckets am worried she won't get them out.

hopefully allwill go well, can you advice me exactly what to do when the eggs arrive, shall i use perlite or vermeculite in what sort of container and how do you know how much water to add to the substrate and temps at the begining and then thru out the incubation ,

please any detailed advice i don't want to muck it up

suzanne
 
Hey Suzanne,
Panther are like Veiled.... they usually have gestation period of around 30 days. So, be patience... 1 more week to go. My panther start digging on day 28 and digs for 3 days until she found suitable nesting site. My panther usually digs about 7 -8 inch deep before deposite her eggs. A 9 - 10 inche deep bucket might not works.... i used a 15 inch deep bucket and place about 7 gallon of moist coconut shread (available at petstore). Make sure when you place the nesting material... possing soil, sand or coconut shread... make sure they are moist and not overly wet.... and try to compact them down as compact as possibly... loose soil and dry will cause "landslide" and burying ur chameleon.

After she laid her eggs, will comes the archeologist work... try to remove top soil about 1 inch at a time till you see the eggs. Remove the eggs and place it into the rubbermaid/ glad/ tupperware/plastic container... whatever is readily available containing moist perlite. Use your fingers to make an indentation onto the perlite and place the egg half buried in it. I prefer perlite because perlite absorb more water and release them slowly... as for vermiculite... usually will water logged and causes the embryo to drown. Try to place the cover of the plastic container back (make sure you punch some air holes to help ventilation). Incubation is around 68'F - 74'F sometimes it might peak up till 78 - 79'F during hot summer days.

Oh yeah..to prepare the perlite..some literature said.. a 1:1 mixture of water and perlite or vermiculite.... i tend to just soak the perlite in water for 5 - 10 minutes and drain the well... then using my fist i try to squeeze and compact the perlite till excess water is drained.... I weigh the container with the eggs and keep a record of them. When the weigh decreases drastically and no water condensation can be seen in the container i would add water to it.. i usually check them once a month.

Hope this will help!! Good luck!!:D
 
thanks alot for your help thats really great all the info on pearlite etc..
do i incubate at the same temp thruout the time or have a displause at the begining and then up temps


suzanne
 
I agree that you may need a larger deposition site. Also, she may not be looking for a site that begins at a level higher than the floor of the cage she's used to. When it's definitely time you can try a couple methods I used for years. I've excavated "test holes" in the nest box, gently placed due females near them, walked away quickly, and had them finish out the holes and lay several times. Another simple method is to set them up in a temporary cage consisting of a 55 gallon trash can, 12+ inches of potting soil, and a couple plants and branches.

I've always used vermiculite without any problems. You can pick it up and squeeze it between your fingers. You don't really want to feel moisture until you gently squeeze it for the right water balance. Mist the material (not the eggs) or use an eyedropper to replace any moisture lost to condensation on the lid occasionally. Again, have half the egg exposed and half surrounded by verm or perl for proper air/water exchange. Unlike many other species of reptile eggs, these can tolerate a wide range of temps but take a long time to hatch. When I first got into breeding them the standard recommendation was to incubate at a constant 82 degrees! I wanted to try something "different" so my first clutches were incubated at a range of 78-80 degrees. It's not natural and I don't think anyone is still incubating like this today, but many breeders including myself had great success with constant, higher temps back then.
 
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