Herd Update

[VerteX]

CALCIFER
Let' start off with Calcifer. I'm sure you all know this guy:

When he was 4.5 months old:

Here he is today... I think he's leaning towards being an orange veiled. He's around 6 months old.

EGE
Here is Ege (Aegean). Our Ambanja. This is the day he came to out home. He was around 4 months old.

This picture is taken around 1 month after his arrival.

IRIS
As you might remember, I posted his arrival picture in this thread: https://www.chameleonforums.com/lets-see-pics-your-7910/

As you can see, he didn't wait 6 months for a show off. He's around 5 months old today. Born in Septermber 2007:

FOOD
Here's their home grown, just hatched food. These guys have been in diapause for 3 months now. I've had much better results this time than trying to hatch them after 1 month of diapause. My chameleons also munch on superworms and home grown crix.

Thank you for looking and I hope I didn't kill your dial-up. Sorry for the post-warning

 

[Nicodemayo]

Vertex those are some of the sickest pictures ever. I absolutely love your ambanja. What kind of camera and lense do you use?

 

[VerteX]

Thanks Nico. I use a Canon Rebel Xti with kit lens. However, the second picture of Ege was taken with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens. I'm in the market for some lenses actually. I'm debating between that 100mm macro or Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM Lens. But, for the versitality, I'm probably going to go with the latter.

 

[Cameochams]

Great pictures

 

[DarkElve]

Luv pictures that are showing evolution of our animals

 

[Maxim]

Really good pictures! I like them!

 

[VerteX]

Just wanted to post an update on the silkworms. Here are a couple pictures of them after 1 day. I was not expecting this much yield. They were not fed in the pictures to allow most of them to hatch before introducing moisture to their environment.

The close up picture is best I can do with kit lens and a couple of (14x) magnifying filters. Oh the chromatic aberration and the DOF!

Thank you all for your kind comments above...

 

[Chameleonboy]

vertex those picks are really good i liek like like alottttt

 

[Nicodemayo]

Vertex the more i look at the pics the more i want a nice slr camera. So those pics were taken with the stock lense? Btw, what temps are you subjecting to the silkworm eggs before they hatch?

 

[Jordan]

Looking good Vertex. The silkworms look a little gross from that up close distance.

 

[VerteX]

Vertex the more i look at the pics the more i want a nice slr camera. So those pics were taken with the stock lense? Btw, what temps are you subjecting to the silkworm eggs before they hatch?

Yes stock lens. If you are in the market for an SLR and willing to wait, Canon Xsi is coming out in April. It has bunch of neat little upgrades.

Answer to your question:

The surface that those guys are at 84.7F while the room temp is 75F. Usually the room temp is 68F. Their optimum temperatures are between 77-85F. Unfortunately I don't have any video or audio equipment that can also be used as a heat pad but a router works just fine for this purpose...

The padding of plastic deli cup is put there to prevent subjecting the eggs to too much heat since the surface of the router is 102.7F.

 

[Nicodemayo]

Great idea! Who would have known a router would be used for both internet and hatching silkworms.. I have an infrared temp gun so tomorrow evening im going to shoot some temps around my apt to find a good warm place to keep them without adding any additional lighting or heating. How many eggs is that in the petri dish? I was about to order 500 eggs cause theyre the same price as 250 but i wanted to learn more about how to hatch them. In terms of the slr if i end up getting one i'll be shopping on a budget so the newest models wont be for me. I'll probably end up tracking down a used one if anything.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Another nice place to keep a tub of insects is on your cable box .... great for dubias ... unless you have a cat

-Brad

 

[VerteX]

How many eggs is that in the petri dish?

My guess is around 1250 +- 200 once all hatch.

The router is for the silkworms and the cable modem (110F) is for crickets.

 

[spatulars]

That's a really awesome idea. That's something that almost everybody has that they could use. A laptop on charge would probably work too, although that can and does set fires in some instances.

 

[Todnedo]

Vertex, is that the ambanja I sold you at the all Ohio reptile show in Columbus?
If so he looks great!!!
Good job raising him up!!

 

[PardalisGirl]

Very Fine Pictures........

Those are some very fine photos. The close up of the silkworms hatching out of the eggs is amazing. I need to drag out my SLR camera again. I haven't used it in years. I want your male Ambanja.........he is a perfect example of what I like best in color. Todnedo..............if this male was from you..........do you have any siblings hidden away somewhere?

 

[Todnedo]

This clutch has produced blue on blue, blue on green, blue on yellow and purple on green!!
I have many available.

 

[VerteX]

Vertex, is that the ambanja I sold you at the all Ohio reptile show in Columbus?
If so he looks great!!!
Good job raising him up!!

Yes he is. Thanks to you. I should come over and take individual pics of all your ambanja offspring. That would be a really fun day. I still can't imagine how you feed this many mouths...

Those are some very fine photos. The close up of the silkworms hatching out of the eggs is amazing. I need to drag out my SLR camera again. I haven't used it in years. I want your male Ambanja.........he is a perfect example of what I like best in color. Todnedo..............if this male was from you..........do you have any siblings hidden away somewhere?

Thanks Pardalis... I'd like to take a true macro shot of the silkies sometime.
Tod had really nice girls and boys at the show. Some of the males had very nice red coloration under the chin and around the eyes. Me and my wife did NOT plan on getting a chameleon at all on that day. So we stared at Tod's cages for about half an hour then we decided to get one. From that point on we stared at the chameleons 15 minutes more and finally decided on getting Ege. I really liked the blue coloration on him. If you want a babies from him, I'm sure he doesn't mind a female

 

[PardalisGirl]

I got his brother

I just bought a brother from Todnedo. It's a blue on blue male similar to your Ege and from the same clutch. I really like Ege and I have a spare wild caught female that will be ready to breed at the time this male is ready. We will have to compare these brothers as they continue to color up. So.......your posting a picture of Ege got me into trouble today