Pygmy chameleon (B. stumpffi) eggs! Need help finding info

[Syreptyon]

Hey all! So a couple months back (about 3), I purchased a wildcaught Brookesia stumpffi (the plated leaf chameleon) and she has been fully thriving in her new home. Eats and hunts like an absolute champ.

In the past couple weeks, especially, she inflated like a balloon to near comical proportions. I was going back and forth between whether I just made her fat from over-feeding or if she was gravid. Well, last night I noticed she wasn't roosting up in her tree by the time she normally does and that I couldn't find her easily (which is unusual because she was blimp-sized). After searching for a long time, I found her low on the ground, partly below ground. I immediately covered up the vivarium to give her her space and then this morning she looked much less round than usual.

I moved aside some of the substrate where she had been laying and lo and behold I found 3 perfect little eggs! I have never dealt with eggs before, so now I'm wondering if anyone has any experience or can offer me resources for Brookesia breeding. And boy let me tell you, there is not an abundance of readily available information out there. Here are my questions:

(1) Since she is wild caught, is it likely that the eggs are fertile? I don't know how long they can carry eggs before laying...

(2) If they are/might be fertile, what is the best way to incubate them?

(3) Are there any known Brookesia experts I should get in touch with? The lack of info is driving me nuts!

 

[JacksJill]

Congratulations!
Found this thread it has no info but you might PM the OP etc and see if they respond. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/brookesia-stumpffi-eggs-help-please.129910/#post-1131290

@Chris Anderson might have some ideas.

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

I say that we summon our Guru! We need the help of @Chris Anderson if he does not know the answer (odds are that he does) he will most likely know someone who does!

 

[Syreptyon]

Well it's halloween, so maybe I can summon him with a good ol' fashioned seance!

And thanks guys! I'm crossing my fingers that they're fertile. I was so worried about her last night, but she pulled right on through. Looked awfully fed up with life this morning, though haha

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Congratulations!

 

[Syreptyon]

All right, I got some good advice from the helpful people over on one of facebook's pygmy chameleon groups! I also ended up finding the following two articles on chameleonnews (which I'm posting here partially so I can find them again and partially because they may be useful to someone in the future looking for the same information!)

Incubation strategies: http://www.chameleonnews.com/03JulLeBerre.html

Brookesia - the living leaves of madagascar: http://www.chameleonnews.com/02SepSmith.html

 

[JacksJill]

Fascinating reading. Thanks for not leaving this an open ended question.

 

[Chris Anderson]

Sorry for the delay in replying. You should be able to incubate them at room temperature (63-77ºF) and the eggs should take about 2 months to hatch. I would suggest the lower end of that temperature spectrum and suggest avoiding temperatures that exceed it for long. If a closet in your house have temperatures like that, however, I would suggest setting an incubation container up with the eggs and leaving the eggs in it to incubate. I would recommend filling a medium-sized tupperware container about 2/3 - 3/4 of the way full of vermiculite and mixing the vermiculite 1:1 with water by weight. The vermiculite should feel slightly moist but you should be able to squeeze the vermiculite without a water drop coming out. Then I would close the container up and put it in the closet. I do not tend to put air holes on my containers and i just open them up every few weeks to check the moisture and check on the eggs, and more frequently as they get closer to hatching.

Chris

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

Any update on these eggs or eggs that came after them?