Just finished digging up 68 veiled eggs!!

[sarahog]

After so much worrying and waiting (37 days) my veiled has finally laid her eggs! I carefully dug them up and there are 68 of them, one looks like a little white raisin though, so I'm thinking that one is no good. The rest look great and how neat it was to dig them all up and place them in their little vermiculite fingerprint beds My Cham is doing great, gave her some liquid calcium (thankfully she loves the stuff!), misted and ran the dripper until she moved away from both, and have offered her some Dubias which she doesn't want at the moment. Left them in her cup in case she changes her mind. Whew I was getting so worried as the days passed by and she wasn't searching for a "spot". Then around 1pm today after once again sticking her in the laying bin with no way out, she started digging and about a half hour ago she stopped covering them. Well, the wait begins..how exciting!

 

[melric]

That is exciting! Congrats, I hope they all hatch.

 

[sarahog]

Thank you

 

[djfishygillz]

68 eggs? that is from what I have read is to big of a clutch, that can realllly stress out a female. maybe reduce her food so she doesnt produce such a big clutch. It doesn't negatively effect your cham if you don't let her gorge every meal, it actually can lengthen their life spans if they don't produce such huge clutches from over feeding.

other than that good luck, and i hope this post doesn't come off as rude because i only say it to maybe help as a reptile enthusiast also.

 

[thephotoprincess]

congrats!! can't wait to see babies!

my girl laid a very large clutch too - even with food reduced. I've cut back even more and we'll see how the next clutch goes.

 

[jannb]

Congrats Sarah! I'm glad to hear that your female is doing well and that she finally laid.

 

[KTown333]

68! Holy moly that is amazing. I have never heard of a clutch so big. Good luck with the babies. I hope they dont eat you out of house and home

 

[Ekproject]

Wow. Thats alot of little life. So exciting.

 

[Trundy]

Congrats! There is nothing more rewarding than when our pets decide that the care we've provided them is sufficient enough for them to reproduce. It's quite a compliment to the care you provide.... Please keep us updated... I've never bred chams before and I am fascinated by the process. So ill selfishly ask you to keep us up to date ... best of luck

 

[laurie]

First congratulations, the waiting seems to go on forever, but at least you have something really good to wait for.

68 eggs? that is from what I have read is to big of a clutch, that can realllly stress out a female. maybe reduce her food so she doesnt produce such a big clutch. It doesn't negatively effect your cham if you don't let her gorge every meal, it actually can lengthen their life spans if they don't produce such huge clutches from over feeding.

other than that good luck, and i hope this post doesn't come off as rude because i only say it to maybe help as a reptile enthusiast also.

68! Holy moly that is amazing. I have never heard of a clutch so big. Good luck with the babies. I hope they dont eat you out of house and home

Just wanted both djfishgillz & Ktown, to know that we have had forum members with clutch sizes up to 103 eggs. That is a big clutch. Now 68 is not at all a small clutch but it is in the upper range of normal.

 

[sdheli420]

First congratulations, the waiting seems to go on forever, but at least you have something really good to wait for.







Just wanted both djfishgillz & Ktown, to know that we have had forum members with clutch sizes up to 103 eggs. That is a big clutch. Now 68 is not at all a small clutch but it is in the upper range of normal.

i was gunna say somthing on that..lol

68 really isint that huge..not small but not huge..now 100 is starting to get huge...

 

[djfishygillz]

Wowzers, didn't know veilds clutches could get that large. Well then it seems like everything is going good.

SORRY lol

 

[sarahog]

68 eggs? that is from what I have read is to big of a clutch, that can realllly stress out a female. maybe reduce her food so she doesnt produce such a big clutch. It doesn't negatively effect your cham if you don't let her gorge every meal, it actually can lengthen their life spans if they don't produce such huge clutches from over feeding.

other than that good luck, and i hope this post doesn't come off as rude because i only say it to maybe help as a reptile enthusiast also.

Not rude at all I don't get offended easily. The thing is I DID reduce her feeding believe it or not. I fed her every day prior to her carrying eggs, only fed 3 insects per day, dusted with calcium. However when she was carrying eggs I fed her 4 per day but then 3 times a week I gave her an extra 3 worms. So that would be 37 insects for the week. Is this still too much? Can someone give me a better recommendation to prevent this large a clutch in the future I know that it's hard on them. The basking light is only a 60 watt as well so the temp in her cage is not high I read that helps. Suggestions?

 

[sarahog]

Congrats Sarah! I'm glad to hear that your female is doing well and that she finally laid.

Thank you for your helpful advice along the way jannb!

Ktown- I'm most certainly thinking they are gonna eat me out of house and home It'll be so worth it though...better start shopping around for the best pinhead prices lol

 

[Texas Panther Man]

First cpl of weeks I'd start with ff's. Then after I see them eatting I switch it to pins. You dont want hundreds of cricks in the bin if they arent eatting yet. Ff's dont bite your babies. And you can put a small dish with a piece of fruit in it too keep the flies contained in one area. If all those eggs hatch get ready your gonna be feeding 700 cricks a day!

 

[sarahog]

First cpl of weeks I'd start with ff's. Then after I see them eatting I switch it to pins. You dont want hundreds of cricks in the bin if they arent eatting yet. Ff's dont bite your babies. And you can put a small dish with a piece of fruit in it too keep the flies contained in one area. If all those eggs hatch get ready your gonna be feeding 700 cricks a day!

Thanks Texas I do know about the fruit flies to stat out with, those I plan to set up but the pinheads I'll need a supplier..700 a day is a lot of bugs for sure, I better make sure the container they are in doesn't tip over lol can you imagine?! I'm getting everything else ready as far as baby bins go, it's early but if I do a little at a time I'm not looking at a small fortune in supplies all at once. I've seen some great baby bins on this site..looks like I'll be devoting my spare room into a Cham nursery with as many bins as they'll need. How many do you all recommend per bin (thinking rubbermaid storage bins)

 

[Miss Lily]

It was my first female, Lily, that laid the enormous clutches - both were infertile clutches though I might add. Her first clutch was laid when she was 14 months old and consisted of 104 eggs and her second clutch followed 4 months later and consisted of 102 eggs. I will admit that when I got her I was told to feed her all she wanted! Big mistake, which I learnt from, but not before losing my sweet girl. I have been much more strict with Amy's food and keeping her cooler, yet she still laid 81 eggs (her first clutch that was laid at 20 months of age) back in November. These were infertile too - I believe that fertile eggs are slightly larger than infertiles. Amy is now 2 years and 3 months old and hasn't laid her second clutch yet, although she is showing unreceptive behaviour to Tommy (my male), so she could be working on that second clutch.

 

[kinyonga]

IMHO...no scientific proof that I can site...if you feed the female well for a couple of days after she has laid the eggs to get her back in shape and then its my theory that if the feeding amounts are cut back it should make less follicles ovulate so she should produce less eggs. Once you know she is producing eggs its not the time to cut her back...you want her to be able to put what is needed into the eggs without depleting her own system. Just my opinion.