Some Kinyongia Breeding Q and A

Seeco

Avid Member
Photoprincess and I decided to share this q and a with everyone:


thephotoprincess said:
Hi.

...I am wondering how long they are gravid and how long the eggs need to incubate? My girl is finally looking chubby and a little lumpy. I am assuming that moist clean sand is appropriate for laying as it is for veileds?

I am currently incubating veiled eggs - can these go at similar temps? I think the incubator is at about 76 and I have a couple batches in the closet as I am trying to determine any differences in incubating at a steady temp vs. the fluctuations ... not that so cal fluctuates much.

Thanks very much!
Karen

You can have a female lay eggs in under 30 days from the time of mating so be ready by day 20. In a case where you are not sure when it happened you should just get a laying bin set up as soon as you detect eggs.

For substrate I use sandy dirt. I keep it moist. I have never worked with veileds but I am gonna bet that it is much moister. Some have used sand successfully like jdog1027. Also ever since I had a very long gestation with an infertile female I have been pre-digging a small tunnel as recommended by Elizadolots.

I would not incubate at the same temps as veileds. 76 sounds too high to me but it would be awesome if someone tried it and succeeded in making the incubation faster! I recommend 68-70 and then I just increase the temp a few degrees when I enter the 11th month.

Looking back here there is really nothing top secret. Basically everything a bit cooler and moister! Good luck!
 
Thanks for the answers and just in time!! We now have 16 pretty little k. multi eggs as of this morning!! Mom looks tired but is doing well.

The eggs look good and since I saw them mating I am assuming they are fertile ... this time next year hopefully we will have some little cuties!
 
68-70 for multi. eggs?? Holy shite!! Need one of them fridge incubators....hovabator just wont do....
Last eggs I "cooked" were monitors and some carpet eggs.....86deg. for monitors.....78 for the carpets


I like using excavator clay and coconut husk mixed together........also sometimes add potting soil if I dont have enough clay on hand.......

How far down do the multi. females dig.....?
 
If conditions are right they will dig over 3 times the SV length. I often find the eggs sitting on the plastic on the bottom of the tub.

Princess, what was your egg laying setup? Bin inside the cage, separated her to a big bucket, etc?
 
Thanks for the answers and just in time!! We now have 16 pretty little k. multi eggs as of this morning!! Mom looks tired but is doing well.

The eggs look good and since I saw them mating I am assuming they are fertile ... this time next year hopefully we will have some little cuties!

What are the origin of the parents? Ie. Wild caught or captive bred?
 
My female gestated for 41 days. I started to observe her very closely after about 20 days as advised by Seeco. I have never had a female chameleon of any species use a bin inside the cage for digging. I set up an elaborate bin inside the cage with my multis earlier this year, and it was completely ignored. I had confidence it would work to the point that I just let a gravid female be. She was eventually moved to a garbage can set up because it became obvious the she wasn't going to use the cage bin and she looked like she was ready to explode. She died eggbound, so I won't even bother with cage bins. I just use my intuition and observe behaviour, and based on the date that mating was first observed and the physical appearance of the female, I then move her to a large garbage can set up when the time is appropriate. I'm new to multituberculata, so I'm still very much learning. I use a mixture of moistened sand and peat moss mixed at 50/50. It is about 16-18 deep and there are a ton of plastic plants. Seeco is absolutely right in that my female deposited eggs about a depth of 9" in the soil.
I'm using a 'low-tech' incubation strategy to address the need for cool incubation temperatures. I have a thick walled styrofoam cooler used for transporting tropical fish as an incubator. I have taken 3 2-liter plastic bottles and filled them with water and I froze them. I place one of these bottles into the cooler in the early mornng and let it stay throughout the day. I have a chart that I'm keeping the temperatures written on as well as humidity. At first I had a couple of very low temperatures, so I have adjusted the lid so that it is open slightly. So far, it has maintained in the 63-67F range throughout the day. In the early evening, the bottle will have mostly melted, but there is still asmall bit of ice in it. I let it remain throughout thr night and the thermometer measures a high of about any where from 70-73F. I then replace the bottle with a frozen one the following morning. I don't know if it even makes a difference or not (it may just all be in my head) but I figure this is like the rise and fall of daytime and night time temperatures. I just have it reversed so that during the day while I'm not at home, it is cool, and at nighttime, I let the temperatures bump up a bit so that it doesn't get too warm while I'm at work and I'm always there to keep an eye on things. I know this seems like a lot of hassle, but I've seen a lot of threads lately about these havobator incubators failing and cooking eggs. I'm just not going to risk it. Since these guys are now banned from imports (hopefully temporarily) I'm willing to accept this 'hassle' if you call it that.
 
WOW......now thats dedication.....:D
10-?? months of that.....dang...
Im just gonna buy a mini fridge style and let the unit cool/heat as needed....Ill forget to change out those bottles.......

Cant wait till u have babies though...;):D
 
If conditions are right they will dig over 3 times the SV length. I often find the eggs sitting on the plastic on the bottom of the tub.

Princess, what was your egg laying setup? Bin inside the cage, separated her to a big bucket, etc?

I use laying bins in the cages for all of my girls. I just use moist sand and put it in when they are looking "eggy"

What are the origin of the parents? Ie. Wild caught or captive bred?

I was told they were captive bred. They certainly look good - not beat up like so many WC.

At the moment they are incubating in my closet (temps in the high 60s) as the incubator is filled with veiled eggs and warmer.
 
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