A little help with my quad eggs

[laurie]

As some of you know I have two clutches of Quad eggs cooking. They are currently downstairs away from most of the heat. That was fine but now it is -18f outside and only 56 in the bedroom where the eggs are. Should I being them upstairs to the main & warmer part of the house?? I keep reading they need cool temp's to hatch but what are cool temp's?? The eggs are doing great, the first clutch was laid 8/12 so if the go 5 1/2 months they will hatch the end of Jan and I can't mess them up now!!! Tell me what you know please.

 

[nightcrawler]

In the Necas book it says between 18C-23C (edit: 64-73 F), but I have not hatched them myself. But maybe that helps a little?

 

[laurie]

In the Necas book it says between 18C-23C (edit: 64-73 F), but I have not hatched them myself. But maybe that helps a little?

Thanks, page 183, what was I not thinking?? I only have the first edition but it has the goods.

 

[Kent67]

Hey Laurie, do your very best to not let them go over 74F for any length of time. Imo, that's the most difficult part of hatching quads. I don't think 56F will harm them but you definitely want to raise the temp now. When laid, the eggs of this species are already vascularized and they do not go through a diapause. I would recommend just trying to get the temperature to remain relatively constant and try to hover around 70F with a few degree night drop and you should be golden.

 

[nightcrawler]

Thanks, page 183, what was I not thinking?? I only have the first edition but it has the goods.

Yea I have the first too, I spent like a month looking for the second but ended up just getting the first because I couldn't wait any longer. Do you have any of thos tiny hand warmer packs? Maybe thos can heat them up a little bit. Hope they go well because in like two years ill be looking to get some.

 

[laurie]

Yea I have the first too, I spent like a month looking for the second but ended up just getting the first because I couldn't wait any longer. Do you have any of thos tiny hand warmer packs? Maybe thos can heat them up a little bit. Hope they go well because in like two years ill be looking to get some.

These are from a wc female I adopter, who was already gravid. I hope to be hatching some that I have breed in the not to distant future. Start getting ready now.

 

[warpdrive]

hi Laurie,

you clearly know the anser is to bring them upstairs.
they just needs to not get too warm.

Laurie, stop playing with me. you know my thoughts on this topic.
lets change the subject, shall we?

first one with hached and healthy babys get's one of my famous apple, peach, or "name your fruit" pie.
photos required.
shiped overnight is on me.

KEEP THE EGGS ALIVE!!!!

Harry

 

[laurie]

hi Laurie,

you clearly know the anser is to bring them upstairs.
they just needs to not get too warm.

Laurie, stop playing with me. you know my thoughts on this topic.
lets change the subject, shall we?

first one with hached and healthy babys get's one of my famous apple, peach, or "name your fruit" pie.
photos required.
shiped overnight is on me.

KEEP THE EGGS ALIVE!!!!

Harry

Harry this temp thing is not as easy as bring them upstairs. I then had to take my PE1 temo gun and go room to room to see where I could get a correct range. It is -20 outside and most of the upstairs won't go below 70. My back sewing room is at 67 but I will have to monitor it carefully tomorrow. I may go in and cover all the vents. David thinks that is a lot less efficent on the furnace but which is more meaningful, eggs or furnace??? I could turn on the downstairs furnace and just warm it a bit but I have 5 beardies & 2 uro's sleeping for 2 months. They need it around 50. Damn the animals control my life!! Add in the dogs can olny be out about 2 or 3 minutes and all I do is go from one type of critter to the next. Good thing I have no life!!!!!!!

 

[joshdhensley]

The clutch that did hatch and lived was kept between 67-73 degrees, if it gets colder or warmer then that then they may not make it. Speaking from experience we have seen both the warmer and colder temps kill the eggs, try to keep them a little warmer but no too warm and keep the humidity up. If you have any other questions please let us know, hope they continue to develop and hatch... need more babies!!

Michelle

 

[DGray]

how big for the laying container

Great information here. Thanks to everyone.

How big and deep should the laying containers be for quads? I am thinking of a plastic sweater box about 12 x 20 x 16'' deep ( 30 x 50 x 40 cm ) with sharp sand, slightly moist. Is there a lighter alternative?

 

[joshdhensley]

We had a few females lay and each preferred a different substrate, we had one girl who would only lay her eggs in a planted pot with dirt, she would dig and dig and then lay them in the roots, even though we had a lay box in the cage she did not like it. Another one of our females laid consistently in box with a sand / vermiculite / soil mixture and then once the eggs were laid, we would take them out and put them in a plastic tupperware (shallow) with vermiculite and make sure they were humid and stayed at the right temp.

 

[bstewart4chams]

quad eggs

I agree with most of what has been said here. I have hatched out quads on several occasions in the past. In my opinion, the optimal range for incubating quad eggs is 68-72 degrees with 70 being the target you should shoot for. If they are kept above 72 for any significant period of time, you are playing with fire. If kept within those temperature parameters, they should hatch in around 5 months. How many eggs were laid? I have had clutches as small as 7 and as large as 22, which must be close to a record for quads. Is it possible to put your egg container in a Hovabator or some similar inexpensive incubator, adjust it for around 70, and leave it in the room that is staying cooler? Hovabators are certainly not fool-proof and can be prone to temperature spikes but I have hatched out many chameleon eggs over the years using them, including quads. Hope this helps.

Brian

 

[bstewart4chams]

quad eggs

I just wanted to add that I am really happy to see the increase in interest in quads from the keepers here on the forum. I have always felt that quads were a greatly underappreciated species. I have worked with quads off and on since the mid-90's and could never understand why more people were not
"into" them. I got so frustrated with trying to sell offspring back in the day that I just quit working with them. I had raised several babies to almost adult size (over 6 months of age with males having full sets of horns) and had no takers. I finally had to wholesale them for around $50/each which left a really sour taste in my mouth. I think they are an ideal candidate for keeping in the partially-glass enclosures that Chris Anderson had posted about a while back. If you keep them within their required temperature and humidity requirements, they are a reasonably hardy and incredibly beautiful species to work with.

 

[joshdhensley]

I completely agree with you that Quads aren't as appreciated as they should be. They are definately different and very unique and fun to have, we also had the same experience with all the time / care that goes into hatching them out (they are so rare to begin with, at least captive hatchlings) that you would think people would want to buy them but then having to offer them out for $100 each when it is like a slap in the face. It isn't about the money but I don't think that some people understand how hard they are to come by in general and let alone to find babies. We aren't going to be breeding them anymore but do still have some eggs that should hatch in the next few months however with the last two clutches, I am not in too high hopes as I was devasted when they didn't make it.