How long should you have a male before breeding

[Nicca90]

Hello! I have a female veiled, she is just over 3 years old, I bought her as a baby in January 2015 and I have been thinking of possibly breeding her or in the future with a different chameleon, it isn't something I would want to do in the short term, but if I were going to, what would be a good time as far as getting a male? She is the only cham I have had, I don't have a ton of experience, but I was curious if I were going to move forward with this I am thinking, it would be best to have the male for a somewhat significant amount of time to have them accustomed to our home to not stress him, am I correct in my thinking?

What would be an acceptable amount of time to get a male before introducing to a female? Would I only introduce if she is gravid in an attempt to see if she is accepting, let them see each other occasionally even if through the screen, what is best here?

Like I said, I do not plan to do this any time soon I feel like it is more of a lifetime goal, but it has just been on my mind!

Thanks for any help you guys can provide.
Nicole

 

[CJ's Exotics]

A male should be a recommended of 1 year before breeding. It would definitely be a learning experience, and you can learn tons from breeding them. It also means lots of work. Would you be prepared for having 90 babies? Definitely do plenty of research, and whatever you choose, have fun!!! Happy Chameleon Keeping, and Happy New Year!!!!

 

[JacksJill]

Any new animal you add to your collection should be quarantined for 45-90 days depending on source. That should be enough time for him to acclimate. Breeding is more stressful for the females but the mating probably stress the males was well.
There is a section on quarantine on this page. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/purchasing/
As mentioned above be sure you have the resources for up to 90 babies. One breeding will usually produce three clutches of ~30 eggs.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..." Would I only introduce if she is gravid in anattempt to see if she is accepting, let them see each other occasionally even if through the screen, what is best here?"...if you show him to her now it will likely start her producing eggs. Has she laid any clutches yet? If so how many and how many eggs in each?

To mate them I usually hold the female outside the make's cage so they can see each other. If the female hisses, rocks back and forth, turns a dark color, lunges at the male, etc then put him back in his cage. She's not receptive and likely producing eggs. If he reacts aggressively to her put him back in his cage. If she remains calm and he is too you can put him in her cage but keep an eye on them...sometimes things go south quickly.
If they mate expect eggs in about a month but depending on where she is in her cycle it can be sooner. Out an egglaying container in the cage and leave it there. (You should have one in there now anyway.)

You do realize that the females only live to be 6 or 7 as a rule?
Hope this helps.

 

[Nicca90]

A male should be a recommended of 1 year before breeding. It would definitely be a learning experience, and you can learn tons from breeding them. It also means lots of work. Would you be prepared for having 90 babies? Definitely do plenty of research, and whatever you choose, have fun!!! Happy Chameleon Keeping, and Happy New Year!!!!

Thank you! I can definitely see from the little bit of research I have done so far that it would be a HUGE endeavor, I could see myself completely changing my mind, but it is interesting to learn about regardless.

 

[Nicca90]

You said..." Would I only introduce if she is gravid in anattempt to see if she is accepting, let them see each other occasionally even if through the screen, what is best here?"...if you show him to her now it will likely start her producing eggs. Has she laid any clutches yet? If so how many and how many eggs in each?

Yes she has already endured 5 clutches and should be laying another, the first three were 47 eggs exactly, in her two most recent, she had some eggs that were larger and some smaller, with somewhere around 57 eggs I want to say. I used to think she had huge layings, but upon my reading hers are much smaller than some. She is ready for another by the end of this month.

You do realize that the females only live to be 6 or 7 as a rule?

I am glad you brought this up, because this question is kind of a timing thing..My thinking process

-I have been tossing the idea to get another Chameleon sometime in the fairly near future
-I have previously decided I would be getting a male
-If I get a male soon enough, she could have at least one fertile laying before she dies which would be incredible, but maybe not feasible
-I could wait until after she is gone (approximately 3.5-4 years hopefully!) and get a different female
-I might have changed my mind by this point anyways
-I would have plenty of time to figure everything out and not feel rushed into learning about everything, male Cham to get used to us, buying supplies, figuring out where babies would go, etc.

 

[kinyonga]

You have lots of options for sure!