K Matschiei Female Lays!

CNorton

Avid Member
K Matschiei = Matschie's Two-horned Chameleo = East Usambara Two-horned Chameleon = Monkey-tailed Fischer's Chameleon = Giant Fischer's Chameleon

I got Bella from a petstore down in San Diego. Yes, the one Kent visits from time to time! The shipment of Giant Fischer's that came in June '09 brought in many unhealthy specimen but when I saw this little girl in the store...I had to have her. The cage she was in was littered with her poop which told me that at least she's eating and pooping which really is saying something because these guys have to make it all the way to California from Tanzania.

She came to me in good health. No parasites on first fecal. How'd I get so lucky?

Unfortunately, I did not have a male waiting for her at home. Tylene has a beautiful male name Malachite and remarkably, he agreed to conjugal visits. In late November, Bella made a 3 day visit with Mal. He head bobbed and approached slowly...she made no objections and remained the same color. Mal never got too close under observation!! We never observed any copulation or any noticeable coloration that would lead us to believe there was any copulation. But then again, who can observe a chameleon closely for 3 days?

Now fast forward to late January and someone's getting fat.
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I was reluctant to reduce her feedings by too much but I also didn't want her to become obese. She would voraciously consume any and all feeders in sight. During Feburary, I racked my brain thinking that if she had at all "done the deed" she would have laid by now. But she was not digging and I could not see any bulges on her belly that looked like eggs.

Now fast forward to mid-March. After I observed some dirt on the floor of her enclosure I got the hint.
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After 4 days of digging, she finally laid 26 eggs!
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I am now going to have to play the waiting game to see if they are fertile or not. I will candle after a few weeks to see if I observe anything.

Noticed the dates I took her weight:
9/30/09: 45grams
2/1/10: 65grams
3/1/10: 68grams
3/15/10: 64grams
3/17/10: 45grams (just after laying)

I am trying to record everything I do and take notes as I am not aware of any successful keepers of this species other than Tylene (ponders) and Peter Kraemer (in Germany). If you have a Giant Fischer's Chameleon, please let me know!
 
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This is really great! :) I wish you the best of luck with the eggs!

I would like to say that i really like the way you take notes, to make sure that if it goes well (or wrong), the next tries will adapted if needed! The more information you post, the better it is! :)

Grats again!
 
Congratulations!!! I hope they are fertile, keeping my fingers crossed! Have you ever had a fertile clutch before?
 
Those eggs look nice, I think you are going to have some cute healthy babies in the futrure. GoodLucK!!!
 
Congratulations!!! I hope they are fertile, keeping my fingers crossed! Have you ever had a fertile clutch before?

This will be my first fertile clutch of Matschiei if they are in fact fertile.




This species is so fascinating! They are very active. Throughout the day, they will walk up and down...not just on the "highways" of the cage but also on the other branches that are a bit out of the way. They are fast when they want to be!

I have never been bit or even gaped at by a Giant Fischer's! They are very docile and you literally have to pry their mouth open if you are administering meds. All of the chams of this species I have kept will calmly avoid you if they are upset...unlike most other species that might sooner take your head off. I have raised multituberculata (commonly: Fischer's) and they seem to be much more aggressive.

For more on Giant Fischer's and what I've learned so far, visit this thread.

For more pictures of some Giant Fischer's, visit my albums, ponder's Giant Fischer's album, Peter Kraemer's Fischer's, and Chris Anderson's post on the Fischer's Chameleons.
 
Congrats Chad! Hopefully they are fertile, they look really good. Since no one really knows much about them maybe 4 mo gestation is normal. Fingers crossed! After Bella's recovered, they'll have to try again.
 
Congrats! I love these guys and I really wish you the best of luck with the eggs! Here's to hoping we are looking at some baby pictures in the future!:D
 
Hi Chad - Congratulations to you and Bella!!!!! ;)
She is so cute and looks good. Hope you get much babies......


I wanna have a Matschiei-girl too for our male!!!! :D
Last week he took the first sunbath at the balcony door....
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Greetings Peter


.... my fiancee has seen the pictures of your Bella - she loves her and want a girl too. :cool:
 
Absolutely amazing photo, Peter!!!!

Chad, I wouldnt candle any of the eggs. Just seems like too much fooling with them to me. I candled a few pardalis eggs from the first clutches I had and those eggs never hatched:eek: I would just wait to see what they do.
 
Thank you Cain. :D



Chad - try to incubate the eggs at 72° Fahrenheit by day and 63° F at night. After 6 months you have to raise the temperature by 5° F.

Try to split the clutch in 2, 3 or 4 parts and incubate them at different places. Maybe you can breed not all eggs with this way, but in my opinion its better to get some babies than none.

Peter
 
Bad news...out of 26 eggs, only 7 have resisted molding over. I am not very hopeful that these will be viable but I will continue to incubate. I have no idea how long a Matschiei can retain sperm or even if there was a mating during the visit in late December. Hoping for better luck this summer.

On a positive note, Bella has rebounded quite well. She took another day after laying to begin eating and drinking. It was a serious patience test for me because I was beginning to get frantic with all the weight she had lost. Her energy was down to ZERO and then...all of sudden she started snagging flies, mantis, crickets, and phoenix worms. Now she acts like nothing every happened. :rolleyes:
 
What a bummer Chad, will just keep hoping for the rest to survive. I had the same issue with my quad from Elisa. There was no data available on retained clutches. The first was fertile, the third molded over and I am hoping for clutch # 2 to start hatching any day.:cool:
 
Bah....that's bad news, but if you don't know if there was a mating then you can't be too bummed out about it. This might be the first clutch of many in her long life AND those 7 eggs might still thrive.

Are we gonna see any of this species imported this year?
 
Bad news...out of 26 eggs, only 7 have resisted molding over. I am not very hopeful that these will be viable but I will continue to incubate. I have no idea how long a Matschiei can retain sperm or even if there was a mating during the visit in late December. Hoping for better luck this summer.

On a positive note, Bella has rebounded quite well. She took another day after laying to begin eating and drinking. It was a serious patience test for me because I was beginning to get frantic with all the weight she had lost. Her energy was down to ZERO and then...all of sudden she started snagging flies, mantis, crickets, and phoenix worms. Now she acts like nothing every happened. :rolleyes:

We can still have hope for the 7 though! Out of the 10 tenuis eggs I got only 3 are still viable. Lets keep our fingers crossed for the both of us!!!! Glad to hear the female has bounced back!
 
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