Successful Mating!!!

[ChameleonAlley]

Whoo hoo! Had a successful mating between my Falys Bumblebee and Karma today. Just two days ago she was unreceptive and just all out mad when I introduced Bumble. Today she looked a little more pink so I thought I'd try, and what do you know, they got along great! I left them in the cage for about 4 hours under supervision. They mated once for about 30 minutes, tried to again a few hours later, and couldn't situate themselves. Do you all think I should put him back in the cage tomorrow to mate a second time? Put him in on a third day for a third mating? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[bongrod269]

You could try tomorrow but be careful. You don't want your female to get to stressed out. I wouldn't do a third time. Good luck and congratulations!.

 

[Cainschams]

You could keep trying a few hours every day until she rejects him. It wouldnt hurt. You know what to look for I would always just leave my female in the males cage or area for a day. After I saw things were going well of course. I figured 2 or 3 times throughout the day was enough and it proved to be.

 

[ChameleonAlley]

Hey thank you for the quick response!! Ok, I'll go for a second time tomorrow. Today, they didn't seem under stress at all. Both of them seemed like long lost lovers and just hung out with each other in the cage all day.

Ok, now my next question is about Incubators. I know that this is a topic that has been gone over many times before. This will be my first clutch, and I want to do everything right and as simple as possible. I've heard the Thinkgeek, mini fridges from LLL are a favorite on here. I've been looking at the $300.00 one from Juragon. I know a lot of people think this one is overpriced and not necessarily needed, but I like the fact that it has a humidity function. My worry is being able to keep the eggs at a consistent humidity and temp with other incubators. What do you all think about this? Thanks again for all the help comrades.

 

[bongrod269]

If you have the money and thats what you want go for it but I have had many successful hatchlings by just keeping them in a plastic container at the top of my closet. For humitity get Vermiculite (thats what i use) or hatchrite. Both work great. You will need help mixing water and vermiculite so post something when the babies lay there eggs.

 

[ChameleonAlley]

Thanks a lot for the reply. I'm sure I'll be posting once the eggs are layed to get the proper mix of Vermiculite. I know a lot of people successfully use the closet method. Even though I don't want to spend alot of money on a incubator, I'm afraid of our temp and humidity conditions here in Oklahoma. Both of them drastically jump all over the place, and our house temps can fluctuate quite a bit.

Do you ever have to add water to your vermiculite over the course of incubation in the tupperware container?

 

[bongrod269]

Yes. About every2 weeks or so i will mist the eggs LIGHTLY. Vermiculite does most of the job. I doubt you will keep having to add water.

 

[ColorCham427]

have you ever considered one of those electric heaters you can install on the side of the wall? i suggest installing one in a walk-in closet, set it at 74 degrees and you're gooood.

good luck on the eggs and i got first dibz on some females b!tchEs!!!

 

[ChameleonAlley]

Thanks Bongrod, that doesn't seem to hard then to keep the humidity right.

Great idea Brian! I've got a closet that I was thinking of putting the incubator in, but running a constant heater sounds like it could work really well.

p.s. you know I'll let you know when a little girl becomes available. Thanks again guys!

 

[ChameleonAlley]

So, it's been 10 days since the first mating. My female has gained quite a bit of weight. I just wanted to do a check up on here and see if I was doing things right and if you all had any suggestions. She seems healthy but seems to be moving slower? Is this normal? Of course, she's much bigger so I was thinking that it was..

Also, I had just one laying bin that is about 13" deep with a mix of organic soil and washed play sand in her cage. She seems to be going to the bottom quite a bit, but never goes to the bin. She keeps going to her potted plant which she can't dig in. I took the plant out and put another laying bin in right next to the first one. Now, she has nowhere to go but the laying bin as the whole bottom of her cage is now mixed soil. I put a lot of coverage over the front of the bin so it's private and also made sure there's plenty of stick and vine access to the bins. Do you all think this looks alright? Is there anything else I should be doing or need to look for? Thanks a ton all.