Sailfin (cristatus) chose her laying spot...

[BackwaterReptiles]

Today I came across one of my female cristatus who had boldly chosen her own laying spot within the shefflera plant base. I have flat rocks on top of the soil in all the cages, and I've actually never (to my knowledge) had a cham move the rocks and dig into the potted soil. This feisty cristatus really moved the rocks and went to it like a bulldozer. She was not pleased to see me either.

She didn't dig very deep--my guess is she ran into some roots. I tried getting her to lay a couple days ago but she wasn't in the mood.

Her eggs look great, and this is the fourth cristatus clutch in about ten days. Their eggs are very unique looking (very elongated once they start growing), and still one of my favorite species.

 

[Mike Fisher]

Great job! One of my favs too!

 

[GCash]

Nice, full eggs and female.

 

[laurie]

Glad she picked a spot and laid without a problem. Soon you will have lots of babies. How many eggs total do you have right now? You will have a full time job just feeding the babies.

 

[rshewfel]

Yeah! This is one of my favorites also. If you get a lot of babies, put me down for some.

 

[antalaotra]

Love these guys, one of my favorite species! Glad to see they are laying for you!

 

[Mike Fisher]

How many eggs were in the clutch?

 

[BackwaterReptiles]

Glad she picked a spot and laid without a problem. Soon you will have lots of babies. How many eggs total do you have right now? You will have a full time job just feeding the babies.

Hi Laurie--I've got about 80 cristatus eggs right now, about 30 from clutches a few months ago. I've personally never hatched this species before, but I'm guessing the babies are pretty big, considering how large the eggs get during incubation?

Yeah! This is one of my favorites also. If you get a lot of babies, put me down for some.

Shall do

How many eggs were in the clutch?

There were 12 in this clutch, and that seems to be the average I've received from the fresh imports. I had quite a few more eggs (17) from a pair that I had for several months before the female laid--not sure if they bred in captivity or if she came in gravid and had a long gestation with better nutrition throughout? They used to fool me because they look so gravid even when they're not even close to laying.

 

[leedragon]

what a badass