Panther incubation.

[chameleonneeds]

Hi all.

As my panther chameleons are getting older and near to maturity I started to do some research on them, I know alot about their breeding but this is my first time breeding panthers and I would just like to know some stuff about the females and incubation. . .

So would a homemade incubator be ok to incubate the panther eggs, and at what temperature would be the best at?
I am using this incubator for veileds but am worried it will fail for panthers, if the temps fluctuate by accident.
Since it is the 2010 soccer world cup in S.A our electricity supplier (Eskom) will be under to much pressure to supply us with electricity and still keep the soccer stuff going on. So they will be cutting out our power in the peak of winter (it will be cold) on planned occasions, so like in a particular part of the country they will cut off power supply on a tuesda friday and sunday at a specific time, and it will be the same for each province (state).
I dont know how long the power cuts will last but Im thinking the homemmade incubator will be best (the incubator that is a tank with polystyrene around it with a fish heater in water. . .etc) because it doesnt loose its temp fast. Its either that incubator or the hovabtor?


And how many crickets should I feed the female per day if she is gravid? Should I dust the crickets everyday? I use the TREX chameleon dust.

Kind regards

Tyrone

 

[sandrachameleon]

The first time I had panther eggs, I knew very little (it was a long time ago) about proper incubation. I put the eggs in damp vermic in a tupperware container, poked a hole in the top of the container, and put it in a box on a bottom shelf near the chameleon cages. At that time I lived in a very old house, no insulation, no central heating. It got very cold at night during the winter (as low as 8C/46F). The temp fluctuated a great deal, because some days I had a roaring fire or a space heater going, and other days I wasnt home so there was no heat on during the day or night. I checked the eggs bi-monthly, not really knowing how long it would take to hatch them. After 13 months, 100% of the eggs hatched. Clearly some luck was involved. But I think your having a few cold days will probably not kill your eggs either.

 

[chameleonneeds]

Thanks Sandra. The temps here will go down to about 5-15C during the day and maybe down to -2 - 6. I really hope they dont cut out the power when the temps are that bad as then I will be really freezing, but I will use the homemade incubator for the panthers then, so the temp will only drop about 1 degree per hour. If things get extremely bad then my friend told me it he will take all my eggs and put them in his incubator as he will have a UPS system for his incubators.

Im glad those panthers of yours all hatched out.

 

[sandrachameleon]

For short durations, you can keep a hotwater bottle near the eggs.