Question for Carpet Chameleon breeders... Egg laying

[rshewfel]

Hello all,

I purchased a group of f. lateralis about 7 weeks ago. They are wild caught and this last week 3 of my females laid eggs. I set up their cages with a laying bin, just like I have done with other species I have worked with. All 3 females just scattered the eggs around the cage; they made no attempt to dig at all. I have read that this can be common with this species but this is completely new to me.

So my question is: is this a sign that my setup could use improvement or is this just that common? Is this a sign that the females are unhealthy? I would like to hear some group member's experiences with this. I appreciate any input you all can give me.

 

[CarlC]

Welcome to the world of lateralis! Some females will dig and lay while others will just scatter them. I don't know of a single person who has kept groups of lateralis that this hasn't happened to. As long as you find the eggs before they get to dried out the usually hatch will no problems.

Carl

 

[rshewfel]

Thanks Carl. I am glad to hear that. The first clutch (9 eggs) caught me a little by surprise. They dried out a little but I think I caught them on time. They all popped back out and are completely round now. The second clutch of 12 look good. The 3rd clutch, the female came down with a respiratory infection at the worst possibly time. She looked rough for about a week while recovering. She finally dropped 7eggs yesterday. Her eggs all have a yellow tint to them. I think she retained them about a week longer than she normally would have because of her illness. They are probably bad but luckily she appears to be making a full recovery.

Anyway, thanks for the response. Hopefully I can get some to hatch.

 

[CarlC]

Once recovered she'll give you plenty more.

Lots of new bloodlines in 9 month's!

Carl

 

[rshewfel]

Yep. I have one more that will probably drop next week. So lots of new blood.

I am considering not breeding them at all. If they retain sperm as good as I have read, this would keep the blood from a wild male. What do you think about not breeding them?

I am also looking forward to working with some captive hatched chameleons. I wanted to start off with some new blood but it has been a little stressful. I have been in and out of the vet.

Let us all know when you get some eggs.

 

[CarlC]

You should be able to get 3 clutch's from them but as you know the longer they go without mating fertility will drop.

My oldest ch girl is about 8-9 months old now. To be honest I haven't been in a rush to breed her but her next cycle she'll probably get bred with a male from Nick Henn. The babies produced by this pairing will give me babies unrelated to the F3 pair I have from Kevin.

Carl

 

[rshewfel]

Good luck when you do breed her. Its nice having other chameleon members so close to you. I need to find some people here in Colorado.

 

[rshewfel]

My 4th female just laid her clutch of eggs. She buried them. She was kept in the exact same enclosures as the other 3 females that just scattered their eggs. Very funny, I wonder why the do this.

 

[CarlC]

My 4th female just laid her clutch of eggs. She buried them. She was kept in the exact same enclosures as the other 3 females that just scattered their eggs. Very funny, I wonder why the do this.

Great! Good thing is once a digger she'll most likely always be a digger. Fingers crossed.

If this was the only species I was working with I would try to monitor the exact conditions that produced burying. Things like soil surface temp and moisture content have got to be playing a role.

Its funny that in the wild this is a abundant species in its range and conditions vary from locale to locale. You would think the species would be more accepting to the laying conditions we provide.

Carl