Baby chameleons

[littleliz]

I am very curious to know about baby chameleons in the wild....I read on here and other places too of baby chameleons having trouble breaking out of there eggs etc and it makes me wonder what the percentage is of wild baby chams that make it. In captivity the babies only have the struggle of breaking out of the egg but in the wild I would presume that they also have to digg their way out of a very deep filled in earth chamber! I have never seen or read anything about this amazing act but would be very interested in any information on this.

 

[CHAMLOVER101]

Wild baby chams,no info......???????

I just read your Question and thought I would go search for some info and pictures of wild baby chameleons on the net, and I could not find any thing. I only found info on captive bread babies..

 

[BocaJan]

I have thought about that before also. I hope someone out there has a knowledgeable answer.

 

[littleliz]

yes I could find nothing!!! It does not even seem to come up in topic which I find strange. This little video clip is kind of sweet tho' http://video.nationalgeographic.com...kids/reptiles-kids/chameleon-babies-kids.html

 

[Brad Ramsey]

There are some things that are believed to be true about the survival of hatchling chameleons in their natural environment.
I have only read bits and pieces of information and extracted these theories from that.
It is very probable that hatching eggs in a clump (as laid by the mother) signal each other and hatch together. This would create a situation where many siblings work together to dig out of the ground.
We see clutches hatch in artificial incubation situations, sometimes over several week periods because we have neatly placed the eggs in rows, a distance from each other and (I believe) they are not able to signal each other in this arrangement.
Once the hatchlings are able to dig out of the ground, they remain low in the grasses and small shrubs where food is abundant, the air is more still and humidity is higher. It's also safer for them down low, more places to hide and no big chameleons to eat you.
I think (as mentioned in the film linked above) a seasonal trigger will start the hatching and rain probably does make the ground easier to dig out of.
It would be interesting to incubate a clutch as laid.
If you could extract the egg mass intact and incubate it in the original position ... I know I have read about someone practicing this technique ... I think you would experience all the babies hatching together.

-Brad

 

[CHAMLOVER101]

If i find anything ill defnitly be posting it

 

[littleliz]

Thanks Brad for your thoughts on the matter. I had not really thought about the benefits of them all hatching together for the big dig but that makes a lot of sense, even if the weaker and perhaps less developed chams did not make it to the serfice they would probably help their bros and sisters with their digging efforts. Thanks to chamlover101 as well for taking the time to research this

 

[kinyonga]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j5HMMEg00M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAtRadbcUAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slPxPq9ho0w

Living in the wild...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws-zHHBCJsQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flZa5F10CcQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v3QC7dwlMU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWUeNo-YMLw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzZjkDeO-rQ

One more just for interest....color change...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBc-6aj0RJk&feature=related

 

[littleliz]

Thanks for those links!! I especially liked the first one WOW! How amazing is that!

 

[mybabies]

I was wondering if someone could help us. We have 13 baby veiled Chams. and I have read in some places that you're not supposed to give the babies calcium on their food. Is this true and if so when do we start? They are already 1 month old.

Thanks

 

[Miss Lily]

I was wondering if someone could help us. We have 13 baby veiled Chams. and I have read in some places that you're not supposed to give the babies calcium on their food. Is this true and if so when do we start? They are already 1 month old.

Thanks

I don't know anything about rearing babies, but I would think that calcium would be more important when they are tiny due to their fast growth rate. I'm sure someone with experience will chime in soon!

You may find this link to another thread helpful https://www.chameleonforums.com/neonate-calyptratus-specific-18667/

 

[kinyonga]

I feed the insects for the babies the same things that I feed to the insects that I feed to the adults. I dust the insects for the babies the same way that I dust them for the adults. If the insects for the adults have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous isn't it likely that the baby insects calcium to phos. ratio might not be good either?