Really strange clutch

[ChromaChameleons]

I have a clutch of eggs that were layed Aug 6 2007. 22 eggs hatched the week of February 24th 2008 and 10 eggs did not hatch out. I continued incubating the remaining eggs and today the remaining 10 are hatching .. 5 out of the egg and 5 with their heads sticking out of the shell.

The first 22 hatched after approximately 6 months of incubation and the remaining 10 eggs are hatching after approximately 10 months. Has any one else seen this??? I've heard of single eggs going long , but this represents 1/3 of the clutch . Strange????

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

Seven months is about average, but I have heard of a group from the same clutch hatching a month or two after the first group hatching. You know sperm retention and offset clutch development have been mentioned on the forum before. I know Kent has mentioned that it may be possible for chameleons to have a large group of eggs fertilized at the same time and the chameleon offsets the development rates. He was mentioning this as a possible reason for two clutches instead of sperm retention. (Correct me if I am wrong Kent) From my experience I agree with him but I also believe in sperm retention. I know that I have has a wc chameleon come in showing gravid colors and she ended up laying over 3 months after I initially received her. So, I think possibly stress can cause eggs to develop slower than average (one month). So, I think your experience may be tied in with this. What if your eggs were all fertilized at the same time and they developed at different rates yet were laid at the same time? That is my thought...did you chameleon lay a second clutch?

-chris

 

[ChromaChameleons]

this clutch was this females 5th

 

[ChromaChameleons]

sorry, I checked my records and missed the info... there was one last clutch after this one...

 

[Orchidartist]

Very cool! Where are the pictures?