Quads Due To Hatch Soon

[jajeanpierre]

My first clutch of eggs, T. q. graciliors, are due to hatch soon. The clutch was laid four months ago.

When are they likely to hatch? My incubating temps have been mostly at 69/70F.

Until I actually raise some babies, I don't really have an understanding of what my concerns are.

I think my biggest concerns are humidity. My chameleons are in my office with a window a/c unit to keep the temps really low. The a/c unit dries out the air although my ambient humidity levels in the room (using a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer) are about 50%.

I have three options for housing the neonates--Dragonstrand breeder cage, Exo-Terra, and totes.

I'm leaning to the totes for their ease in cleaning and solid sides to keep humidity in.

What kind of a misting schedule do breeders use for quads/montanes? How do you do it--by hand or with an automatic system. I imagine the automatic mister would drown them no matter how many towels I have at the bottom.

Do you put a screen top on, or just leave the top open and make sure they can't escape?

Laurie recommended I not use much UVB. What SolarMeter number is a good number to aim for?

What else am I missing?

Thanks.

 

[Scout]

Sorry I can't post any helpful information but good luck! Wish you the best!

 

[ponders]

165 days or 23 weeks is the incubation time. I start looking daily a couple weeks before that time. Good luck.

 

[ponders]

On the misting, I spray for 30 sec 5 x day. I use dragon strand baby cages and larger cages. The larger cages I mist by hand a couple times a day also, especially if it is warm.

I don't use heat lamps. I use 4 ft dual light strips with 6500k bulb and a 5.0 UV bulb.

 

[jajeanpierre]

165 days or 23 weeks is the incubation time. I start looking daily a couple weeks before that time. Good luck.

Thanks. I might be able to get away for a couple of days around August 1st.

 

[jajeanpierre]

On the misting, I spray for 30 sec 5 x day. I use dragon strand baby cages and larger cages. The larger cages I mist by hand a couple times a day also, especially if it is warm.

I don't use heat lamps. I use 4 ft dual light strips with 6500k bulb and a 5.0 UV bulb.

Do you have a screen front on the cages?

 

[laurie]

Yes our baby cages have screen fronts, and tops. I always go 5 months from laying to hatching, so Tylele and I are the same on that. Have lots of fruit flys ready, lots of fruit flys, and pinhead crickets. But if you get the crickets before the babies hatch, crickets will be too big for the babies.

How many eggs do you have?

 

[ponders]

Do you have a screen front on the cages?

Yes, I have screen cages and the larger ones are wrapped around 3 sides with shower curtain.

If you are using glass, you might not need to mist as often, and the lights I mentioned might be too warm for small glass cages.

The babies do much better when housed individually, even if in a big cage. Some babies will never go near the uv lights if the King of the Mountain is controlling the top.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Yes our baby cages have screen fronts, and tops. I always go 5 months from laying to hatching, so Tylele and I are the same on that. Have lots of fruit flys ready, lots of fruit flys, and pinhead crickets. But if you get the crickets before the babies hatch, crickets will be too big for the babies.

How many eggs do you have?

I have 12 gracilior eggs due to hatch mid August based on a five-month incubation. They all look really good and have grown. Her second clutch of 16 went all bad very early. I bred her to my male, so I'll be pretty sure about the parentage of her next clutch.

I also have 12 quad quad eggs laid two weeks ago. They look good. I hope they are fertile. The male weighed 13g and female 21g when I bought them the end of March. I was not expecting them to be sexually mature so early.

 

[JoeVet]

I saw this and thought it would be good if you needed to house a large clutch inexpensively. http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Lizard-Care/Building-Lizard-Cage/ Its a VW bug compared to a dragonstrand cadillac but if you need to house individual youngsters it will do. Just an FYI.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I saw this and thought it would be good if you needed to house a large clutch inexpensively. http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Lizard-Care/Building-Lizard-Cage/ Its a VW bug compared to a dragonstrand cadillac but if you need to house individual youngsters it will do. Just an FYI.

Thanks. I've been meaning to make some of those cages for during the day in the cooler weather. I like that the screen allows wild insect to come for dinner, plus they won't hurt their claws by getting them caught in the screens.