Whats your opinion.... fertile eggs??

[Dez]

Hello all..

Not long ago I got a very beautiful female ambilobe chameleon who is the intended mate of one of my males.

When I got her she was said to be 10 months old and a virgin.

On June 22 she dug and laid 35 eggs.

Because I had not yet bred her, I dug them up assuming they where infertile..

I didn't feel right about tossing them out tho. I put them in Hatrite just in case since I did not know the history of this girl. I assumed they would all go bad.. But they have not.

In fact I am thinking they have grown. I may be imagining it.

I know it may be imposable to tell but here is a pic of the eggs I took tonight. Normally I would not place eggs so close together in the container, but I assumed these where dud eggs. Now I am not so sure.

Is it possible that eggs that look so robust are duds???

Thanks!

 

[kinyonga]

They look fertile to me.

 

[Julirs]

I agree-those do look fertile.

 

[SoCaliSon]

Purty Eggos.

 

[Dez]

ARG!!! That is what I thought too!

On one hand its cool to have a 'mystery' clutch and I will be interested to see what the babes look like..

But on he other hand I will be disappointed to know my female was misrepresented as a virgin

When I got her she never showed the dark gravid colors... but I have since mated her with my male and I still see no gravid colors from her.

I guess I will just have to wait and see.....

 

[Jerm]

In fact I am thinking they have grown. I may be imagining it.

Is it possible that eggs that look so robust are duds?

If the eggs aren't fertile they normally turn a yellowish or grow mold within the first week or so and not swell at all. If the eggs start to swell and are a pure white, which is what yours are doing, there is a pretty good chance that they will develop and are in fact fertile. Actually they will grow quite a bit larger before they hatch. I'm suprised that there weren't a few infertile ones in there for you to compare them to, though this is probably a retained clutch and I have noticed that my females will have almost 100% fertility in a reatained one.

 

[Dez]

Some virgin..Maybe I should name her Virgin Mary...ok ok bad joke sorry

Well...my concern now is:

I mated her with my male bonzi a month ago. She is just now showing signs of having eggs again (lumpy) Its been 2 months since she laid the eggs pictured here.

What are the chances that the eggs she lays next are not bonzi's eggs and they are still fertile from some other males retained sperm?

 

[ChrisnLisa]

Although I have never had a female lay more than one retained clutch, I know others who have had 2 or three. That is quite tricky and probably no way to know for sure. You could hold back a few from that first clutch and look for similarities in the babies

If I were you I would contact the seller ASAP and let them know your concerns. I would at least want a pic of the sire from that first clutch so you have some clue as to what you are incubating. Good luck and keep us all updated!!

How old is that pic of the first clutch?? Recent?

 

[Dez]

Although I have never had a female lay more than one retained clutch, I know others who have had 2 or three. That is quite tricky and probably no way to know for sure. You could hold back a few from that first clutch and look for similarities in the babies

If I were you I would contact the seller ASAP and let them know your concerns. I would at least want a pic of the sire from that first clutch so you have some clue as to what you are incubating. Good luck and keep us all updated!!

How old is that pic of the first clutch?? Recent?

Chameleon paternity test..

The pictures or the eggs above I just took last night. They where laid on June 22... I wish I would have taken a pic of them when they where first laid so I could compare.. oh well hind site is 20/20. I know they are bigger tho, no way she laid eggs that big

I will let you all know what happens in about 7 months or so...

 

[ChrisnLisa]

If those are from last night, I would bet money they are fertile. Any infertile eggs I have had have never lasted longer than about 3-4 weeks.

 

[Jerm]

What are the chances that the eggs she lays next are not bonzi's eggs and they are still fertile from some other males retained sperm?

This is a question that I have asked for many years. I have read about other species of reptiles that can retain sperm but if are bred again will discard the retained and use the fresh sperm. I have a feeling that chameleons also do this due to it being one of the ways that nature ensures species survival. I don't know of anyone that has proved it in chameleons though. I have noticed that a first retained clutch will typically have more fertile eggs than the initial breeding clutch, but a second retained clutch will have a signifigantly lower fertilization rate, and little to none in a third.

 

[chameleonman57]

They look fertile to me, good luck with them.

 

[Dez]

Hatched on christmas

Just wanted to let everyone know that the first "infertial" egg hatched on Christmas day (ironic) ! The last egg pipped last night and I expect the little one to come out sometime today.

All 34 babys are doing well.. I will post pics in a new thread when I get a chance! They are so precious

 

[pssh]

Congrats! Did you ever get a picture of the first sire? What a mystery!

 

[jannb]

Congrats! What a nice Christmas present.

 

[Cainschams]

Some virgin..Maybe I should name her Virgin Mary...ok ok bad joke sorry

LOL!!!!!! Not at all a bad joke! I laughed really hard and then even harder after I read the first started to hatch on X-mas

Ive had eggs go full term to sweat and then nothing while others are hatching out. They grew right along with the others and looked fertile the whole time. Always on a retained clutch though never the first clutch from a mating. After cutting them open I find just a white mushy type substance, no embryo.

Did you get a pic of the sire? If he, the female and your male are all considered pure Ambilobe it will probably be pretty tough to tell if the eggs from your pairing are in fact from that pair

None the less............SURPRISE!!!!!