mommy cham eating her babies

[dodolah]

just wondering for my future reference.
would mommy chameleon will be eating her own babies as soon as the egg hatch (kinda like a praying mantis)?
does it happened in the wild?

another question: is chameleon breed indifferently or does he stick with one female for the rest of his life.

(i'm talking about veiled chameleon)

Thank you

 

[SuperRad]

chams have been known to eat smaller chameleons so probably yes. You should take out the eggs once they have been laid. and house the hatchlings together for a couple of months when there born.

 

[Will Hayward]

Theoretically, if we are talking about Veiled chameleons in specific- It would be highly unlikely that the female would even be present when the eggs hatch. In the wild I'm not sure what the more common lengths of incubations are for veiled chameleon eggs, and I think it would depend on what climate the female was living in as far as how long it took. Either way though it would be something in the range or 6-10 months later that the eggs hatch and the babies unearth themselves. I think it would be highly unlikely that potentially a year later that same female would be there (since they don't sit on the eggs , rather abandon them as soon as they are deposited).

(And yes I'm aware of what happened in the National Geographic video: Dragons of Namib- but like I said we are talking about Veiled chameleons only... before anyone says anything )



For interests sake though. Chameleons are opportunistic feeders, and if they haven't had their fill, they probably wont hesitate to gobble up a scrumptious little morsel- chameleon or not. Beyond that, most chameleon species are quite solitary and do not tolerate others being close, let alone in their sight sometimes (of course this varies by situation and species). Take for example Hannibal, a chameleon belonging to Jim F:

...he had emaciated the female by the time we realized it was a breeding gone horribly wrong. She could not be saved, so we watched the behavior and took pictures. Never seen if before or since like this. He would drop the carcass, and then move 12-24 inches away for 5-10 minutes. Then he would return, pick her up at mid-body, and hold her up in the air, like a trophy almost. Chomp down once or twice. Then drop her, and move away. This went on for the better part of an hour. Then we finally put him back in his own cage...

From thread: https://www.chameleonforums.com/bonaparte-aka-hannibal-4856/

Now this isn't really an example of eating another from hunger, but it just goes to show that some chameleons will absolutely not tolerate other chameleons. And this example was just so incredible- though it isn't common for unreceptive females to attack flirting males, or males to be aggressive with the females, but this is something that hadn't been heard of before to my knowledge.


If we look at other species of animals we could look at frogs and toads for example. There are several species that are able to eat prey their own body size. (Crazy isn't it...?) These frogs and toads can potentially produce 10,000 eggs all at once. And you might think you didn't get any attention being the middle child at home?!! When these tadpoles hatch and develop into little froglets or toadlings, it is possible for them to reach substantial sizes, or even close to sexual maturity in some species by consuming a diet of mostly their little brothers and sisters! Talk about competition and sibling rivalry... This is interesting... a way of providing food for the babies, though the food is other babies.


Lastly you asked about Veiled chameleons being monogamous. No is the simple answer. Males will roam and could mate several or many females during one breeding season. Not likely the same female the following year, but that would depend on the population density in that region I suppose- though I doubt they would even realize that it was the same or have the recognition or intelligence to do so.

Very few animals are truely monogamous. Though some may be monogamous in the sense that they live in pairs, but the majority aren't strict about it and will be polygamous in mating if opportunity arises.

 

[cquest]

Is it possible for a baby cham to think of its owner as a mother?

 

[kinyonga]

Egglayers would never even see their mothers. I doubt live born would either since she drops them from the branch and wouldn't likely even see them.