incubation conditions.

[Bobby12]

For panther eggs - i have them in a ziplock container with two pin holes on either side sealed tight. i am using reptile grade vermiculite and keeping them in a dark place at 75 degrees F. I also mixed the water 1 to 1 with the vermiculite. i have a thermometer in the container and a humidity gauge. What is a good humidity %age and how often should i check them?

Thanks

 

[DJ Richey Rich]

I would have went with an incubator

 

[fluxlizard]

Maybe someone else can give you a thumbs up or down with your water to vermiculite ratio- I use that ratio by weight (not volume) with perlite, but with vermiculite I just soak it and give it a good hard long squeeze until it stops dripping- so I'm not sure what the ratio is.

If you have the correct water to vermiculite ratio, you don't need to worry about humidity because your egg container is pretty much sealed. The purpose of the substrate is to provide the humidity the eggs require.

Keep track of things by weighing your container every week or two. Add water to bring lost weight back up and your humidity will be fine.

I check my eggs weekly the first month or two so I can remove the duds as they go bad. Then I check whenever I'm curious until near the end, when I check every day or two or three.

 

[Bobby12]

good advice

Thank you. the poeple i have been talking to never mention the use of an incubator. what are the benefits

 

[DJ Richey Rich]

depends how much you want so spend on them a cheap on has a thermostat and fan that keeps the tepature perfect then a really good one you add water in the unit press the button that shows chameleon and it dose everything for you all you need to do is add water in its tank every week http://www.reptile-incubators.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzZQeECSkKo&feature=player_embedded#

 

[Cainschams]

I would have went with an incubator

Any reasoning behind this? Usually with an opinion it is nice to hear the reasoning behind it.

http://chameleoncompany.com/Breeding.html

Hear is a good write up on the topic. If you are not worried about trying to time them to hatch at a certain time then your 75 degree temps will be fine through out the incubation.

 

[fluxlizard]

The only benefit of an incubator is to keep temps in the required range.
If the room is already in range, incubator is redundant. There is evidence that some variance in temperature is good for panther eggs.

 

[DJ Richey Rich]

Any reasoning behind this? Usually with an opinion it is nice to hear the reasoning behind it.

http://chameleoncompany.com/Breeding.html

Hear is a good write up on the topic. If you are not worried about trying to time them to hatch at a certain time then your 75 degree temps will be fine through out the incubation.

I have heard at a reptile expo that with an incubator You have a better hatch rate and the babies tend to be stronger than with a homemade. For someone like you Cain with years experience your hatch rate in a home made will probably be better than a first timer.

 

[DJ Richey Rich]

When my clutch comes I will be useing Juragon Pro Reptile Incubator set it on Chameleon fill with water once a week and I will have healthy babies. Just my opinion on what I am going to do.

 

[Chase]

I have heard at a reptile expo that with an incubator You have a better hatch rate and the babies tend to be stronger than with a homemade. For someone like you Cain with years experience your hatch rate in a home made will probably be better than a first timer.

How would an incubator make hatch rate go up? Or make the babies stronger. People also tend to make the incubator warmer than what their room temperatures, making the babies weaker. Sometimes slower is better.

 

[fowlers]

When my clutch comes I will be useing Juragon Pro Reptile Incubator set it on Chameleon fill with water once a week and I will have healthy babies. Just my opinion on what I am going to do.

Different chameleon eggs require different temps, humidity, fluctations in temperature to simulate the seasons and also diapause

Panther eggs dont incubate the same as parsons or veileds, some can use the same method but not all!

 

[Cainschams]

I have heard at a reptile expo that with an incubator You have a better hatch rate and the babies tend to be stronger than with a homemade. For someone like you Cain with years experience your hatch rate in a home made will probably be better than a first timer.

Sorry. it was not meant to be offensive Just a quick reply in the middle of what I am doing I posted I guess when you were for the second time. Was just saying its nice to have a reason behind an opinion

I had success keeping my panther eggs in a closet/cabinet becasue it is usually around 70 in my house. Then I put them into a hovabator after a few months and gradually bumped up the temps to around 78. The only reason I see this person needing an incubator would be to break diapause faster by keeping them cooler if he did not have a cooler spot in the house. I think you and anyone else would have just as much success too. I personally would not buy that incubator. There are other factors that decide hatch rate and strength of babies such as the health of the female before even being mated. Eggs going bad in incubation is not necessarily a result of a botched incubation.

Save your money for some supplies for your future babies and leave the over priced incubator at the store

 

[DJ Richey Rich]

Im just saying what I heard at a kemp clinic they had at an expo thats where I get my info from. I went to my local zoo and that is the incubator they use. If zoo's use them then that gives me a good idea that incubators are the way to go since they deal with exotic and endagered reptiles.

 

[Cainschams]

Im just saying what I heard at a kemp clinic they had at an expo thats where I get my info from. I went to my local zoo and that is the incubator they use. If zoo's use them then that gives me a good idea that incubators are the way to go since they deal with exotic and endagered reptiles.

Maybe that is the trick to hatching parsonii

Hey its your money. But you can get a mini fridge from thinkgeek or LLL reptile for under 150$ They heat and cool and are 350$ less! Not to mention you can fit more than a clutch of eggs in them.

 

[Chameron]

I would love to see parsonii hatchlings

 

[fluxlizard]

It's nice you can set it to "gecko" or "chameleon" too. Sort of like "popcorn" on my microwave.

LOL

 

[tkilgour]

Maybe that is the trick to hatching parsonii

Hey its your money. But you can get a mini fridge from thinkgeek or LLL reptile for under 150$ They heat and cool and are 350$ less! Not to mention you can fit more than a clutch of eggs in them.

Agreed....You can get the mini fridge from thinkgeek and it works very well. I purchased one 5 or 6 months ago. You can also use your closet very easily. The closet works very well and I have had great success.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I had an old waterbed with a section that was open underneath. It was accesible by a small door. I put mine in a large tupperware container. I didn't seal it I put seran wrap on mine. I made sure to check it twice weekly and I only lost 3 eggs out of over 80! Incubators are not a necessary to hatch chams.