Questions about Egg Incubation & Medium

[Ilike4hornedchams]

Ok so this is an out of the box question because everyone seems to want to incubate their eggs on Repashy's Superhatch or some other vermiculite with their eggs sitting on TOP of the medium. My question is this. Eggs are laid and buried, why is it best practice then to place them on top of the medium. Totally exposed to air and light? Just was thinking u might get even better results it you buried the eggs 90% all accept the top area you want the air bubble to develop. This way you can still see the egg is there and can see they are hatched or unhatched, plus you could use the same medium, because the great distribution of water moisture, and temperatures. What do you guys think about this? I was thinking about someday setting up a incubation bed with a third done traditionally, that is sitting on top of their substrate mostly, and another third buried about 90% and then the last third burried entirely but jus under the top of the medium a few millimeters. Has anyone done this?
(I hope to be incubating eggs within 6 months from now so I am asking now, just fyi)

 

[rminnis]

The act of burying might be more to hide from predators rather than for ideal settings who knows. Its a good thought though.

 

[sdheli420]

I've always used hatchrite for my batches. I find it very easy to use and rarely have to add water to it. I keep my eggs about 80 percent buried ( mainly so I can keep an eye on them ). I tend to think its three reasons they dig so deep.

Temps stay very consistent ( with lowering or raising due to seasonal changes, which in turn, trigger winter diapause or summer hatching)

Humidity much like temps stay very consistent

And most likely to avoid predation .

My .02 cents

( sorry guys, been gone awhile. Been really busy with work, finally been spending time with my chams again. But have a female about to lay a batch as I am typing, this time it's a K. multituberculata, very excited !)

 

[KapitalJ]

Ok, so I have no experience hatching Chameleon eggs. How ever I have hatched many clutches of Ball Python eggs over the years. Wondering if this method would work for chams. @jpowell86 @jajeanpierre @jannb (just tagging a few users that come to mind for hatching lots of eggs!)

I used shoe box totes (as ball eggs are much bigger than chams). For the medium, I would use Perlite or Vermiculite. I would put about 1.5" in the bottom then get it pretty wet. I would then place "egg crate" (commonly used in ceiling lighting) directly on top of the medium. I would then place the eggs on the egg crate. This way my medium could be extra wet so the humidity would stay nice and high, but the eggs would never be sitting in water or the wet medium. All of my clutches hatched with great success!!

Pic to see what I mean in case my description was weak!

 

[jannb]

I incubate the eggs the same way that Lynda (kinyonga) does. Put them in a plastic Tupperware shoe box with about 3 inches of moist vermiculite and keep them in a closet where the temps with be around 76 degrees. I punch two tiny holes in the lid. To test for moisture, take a fist full of the vermiculite and squeeze it, if no more than a drop or two of water comes out then the moisture level should be okay. Do not turn the eggs as you move them from where they were laid to the container. Lay them in rows about an inch apart in all directions in shallow dents made with your thumb in the vermiculite. Put the lid on and place them in a dark place where the temperature is between 72-78 F. Moisture will form on the sides of the container and underside of the lid. It takes about 8 to 9 months for the eggs to hatch. It they are not fertile they will mold over in a couple of weeks.

 

[KapitalJ]

@jannb Do you think the method I used for my Balls would work the same for cham eggs? This way you don't need to be as worried about getting the right ratio of water to medium. Also, the eggs never touch anything moist/wet.

 

[Rorschach]

From what i understand the eggs can and will hatch with alot of different methods as listed above. The reason that the eggs have been hatched on the surface and seperated was to watch and monitor bad eggs ..mold and to remove them without disturbing the other eggs any bad eggs can decompose and with the mold can creat disasters .if you cant mimic the forest floor like a vivarium the higher success rate is on the surface while still staying moist
in the wild the forest floors are constantly moist but theres adequate drainage with root absorbing water also theres other bugs and good bacteria to break down any decomposing matter so theres a balance for perfect hatch rate there are a few people ive read about on this forum where there chams laid eggs in there viv and they left them in there. Theres also the uncertainty of how many eggs and how many will hatch. I could be wrong become googls has lied to me before lol but makes sense

 

[bobcochran]

People have used egg incubation trays for cham's with success. They have indentations for each egg so the eggs won't move or rotate.

 

[jannb]

People have used egg incubation trays for cham's with success. They have indentations for each egg so the eggs won't move or rotate.

My friend also used them with a clutch of panther eggs and a clutch of veiled egg without much success.

 

[bobcochran]

Good to know. I've never used them, but haven't heard negative reports until this.

 

[melble68]

I incubate the eggs the same way that Lynda (kinyonga) does. Put them in a plastic Tupperware shoe box with about 3 inches of moist vermiculite and keep them in a closet where the temps with be around 76 degrees. I punch two tiny holes in the lid. To test for moisture, take a fist full of the vermiculite and squeeze it, if no more than a drop or two of water comes out then the moisture level should be okay. Do not turn the eggs as you move them from where they were laid to the container. Lay them in rows about an inch apart in all directions in shallow dents made with your thumb in the vermiculite. Put the lid on and place them in a dark place where the temperature is between 72-78 F. Moisture will form on the sides of the container and underside of the lid. It takes about 8 to 9 months for the eggs to hatch. It they are not fertile they will mold over in a couple of weeks.

I have 27 that are just a hair over 6 months. Laid March 16. I've started to look at them about every one to two days. Talk about needing patience.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I have 27 that are just a hair over 6 months. Laid March 16. I've started to look at them about every one to two days. Talk about needing patience.

Five months if they were laid in March.

 

[melble68]

Five months if they were laid in March.

And needing a calculator.

 

[jajeanpierre]

And needing a calculator.

I was just thinking ahead when you would be super worried when they weren't hatching when you thought they should. It's an easy mistake.

 

[melble68]

I was just thinking ahead when you would be super worried when they weren't hatching when you thought they should. It's an easy mistake.

I'm a little excited for sure.