some hoehnelii breeding information

[Monzon]

My adult female hoehnelii gave birth to 7, healthy, active babies a week ago. She also dropped 4 slugs that were unfertilized.

I know that mating is often a multiple "session" activity over several days. But I separated these adults while the male was regrouping. This was an unplanned mating in so far as I prefer to have babies born in June so that they can start life in natural sunshine. The female also had given birth to ten only 3 months prior to this mating and I would not ask more than one litter a year from her.

She is doing great, voraciously hungry, great color, and active. She delivered after 5 months of pregnancy give or take a few days. In that 5 months she experienced temps from the high 80's to lows in the high 30's much as she would have at altitude higher than Nairobi.
I repeatedly measured her 'when-basking' surface temperature to be mid to high 80's. She has basking sites available to her ranging from low 90's to high 70's and ambient ranges between 60 and 70. Her low temps (night temps) were mostly low 50's to low 60's.


I am hypothesizing that these temp ranges served her pregnancy well (7 perfect, healthy babies @ 5 months). I am also hypothesizing that the slugs were most likely the result of limited (only one) mating session.

 

[laurie]

I know we have several others who have hatched hoehnelii, but the names escape me. I will try to remember and let you know.

 

[camimom]

iwantone has baby hoes.
and showjet95 breeds hoes.

 

[iwantone]

I have 3 baby hoes (all born survived so far) at 12 weeks old today. They are doing well so far.

 

[laurie]

iwantone has baby hoes.
and showjet95 breeds hoes.

Darn, I finally remembered it is Paul (showjet95) but you beat me to it. I just saw his 2 weeks ago, the mind is a terrible thing to lose. Where did I put it this time?

 

[camimom]

Darn, I finally remembered it is Paul (showjet95) but you beat me to it. I just saw his 2 weeks ago, the mind is a terrible thing to lose. Where did I put it this time?

Tehe. I only know cuz I got Kermit from Paul, and ive been PMing with Iwantone on baby hoe care since ill have some in a few months.

and I misplaced my mind about... 5 years ago.. bought the time is started school.. and its still missing now that im in a masters program. go figure.

 

[showjet95]

I still have 4 babies left. One of those is a holdback male. The rest are females.

 

[Tazjunky]

What a perfect thread to stumble across! and a familiar name (Iwantone)

I have some questions that hopefully some of you more experienced breeders may be able to help with?

First off I have pairs of Hoehnelii roughly about 8 months old. One female has always been extremely green and is larger and has a more rounded back in comparison to the other female has been much slender with not as high a rounded back. she is and has always been very pale almost grey in colour and every now and then will get a green tint to her but it never stays. lately she is begun to look a lot bigger and compared to how she has looked in the past its quite a dramatic difference and is definitely gaining weight around the belly area. she is also begun to show some diamond shapes across her back and has a white stripe running down her middle. when ever the male comes near her though she loses the diamonds and gets 2 dark brown black bands that span the length of her body. she hasn't been bothered by him in the past.

Does anyone know if this is a sign of pregnancy or just telling the guy to get away from her? I have never weighed either of the females so can't say for sure she is getting heavier. Iv never seen any mating going on, but the male is always up for it.

what other signs do I need to look for to indicate she may be pregnant?

thanks in advance. I can post pics to if anyone wants to see.

 

[Monzon]

From your description, it sounds like she is probably gravid. How long have they been paired together? Pictures of her patterns would be helpful.

 

[Tazjunky]

Thanks for the reply, they have been together since I got the female and a second male to accompany the other female I have. That was back in September/October time.

Here are a few pics of the female in question:
This is how she usually looks and has done for a few months

and this is how she looks now

her male friend

and the other pair

 

[Tazjunky]

She has always been a white/grey colour unlike the other green female and always been quite thin. what times of the year do Hoes normally breed? are there certain months?

thanks in advance

 

[Monzon]

In the 3rd picture she definitely looks pregnant. She seems healthy, but not as "fleshed-out" as your others. Her color (or lack thereof) is interesting. If I were you, then I would make sure that she has several different basking spots available: one in the high 80's one in the mid to low 80's and one in the high 70's. Do this with small halogens 35 to 50 watts, but dial in the temps carefully as you don't want to add alot of ambient heat - just warm spots. If she has choices of different temps, then she will always be able to self-regulate for the particular temp. that suits her needs. Also, I would try to have house flies or blow flies, and fruit flies available to her. Ideally, she would be in her own habitat right now, but if the pair is in a heavily planted vivarium and there is always some food crawling around, she should be fine. Finally, try to make sure that at least some portion of her enclosure has dripping water available many times during the day.

It has been reported, and I have experienced, about 5 months from breeding to birthing. I do not know if this species is a seasonal breeder as many chameleon species are, but with my animals they seem to breed whenever they are not pregnant if I am not careful about separating them. From reports I have read, they appear to be hardy generalists that can exist in varied habitat including habitat that has been degraded by human activities. If this is true, then I would expect that they are also not too sensitive to seasonal changes in terms of breeding, but that is just a guess. Make note of her progress and check in with pictures.

 

[iwantone]

What a perfect thread to stumble across! and a familiar name (Iwantone)

I have some questions that hopefully some of you more experienced breeders may be able to help with?

First off I have pairs of Hoehnelii roughly about 8 months old. One female has always been extremely green and is larger and has a more rounded back in comparison to the other female has been much slender with not as high a rounded back. she is and has always been very pale almost grey in colour and every now and then will get a green tint to her but it never stays. lately she is begun to look a lot bigger and compared to how she has looked in the past its quite a dramatic difference and is definitely gaining weight around the belly area. she is also begun to show some diamond shapes across her back and has a white stripe running down her middle. when ever the male comes near her though she loses the diamonds and gets 2 dark brown black bands that span the length of her body. she hasn't been bothered by him in the past.

Does anyone know if this is a sign of pregnancy or just telling the guy to get away from her? I have never weighed either of the females so can't say for sure she is getting heavier. Iv never seen any mating going on, but the male is always up for it.

what other signs do I need to look for to indicate she may be pregnant?

thanks in advance. I can post pics to if anyone wants to see.

Hey Mike

Fancy seeing you here. Your hoe's colouring sounds familiar to my gravid one. Have you been weighing her? Mine has increased in weight from 22g to 31g (about a week ago last weighed). Here is a picture of my rather plump Gretel to show you her colouring. She is basking in that picture so is a bit darker than normal although she does turn very black when under the lamp.

 

[Tazjunky]

Hey Joanna,

Great Pic, I still need to get some scales! So I couldn't say for sure she is putting weight on, but yours seems pretty big already. when did you say they mated?

Just noticed that you have plastic sheeting inside your viv. is it a flexarium or reptibreeze? and how did you put the plastic in?

My female is eating away today. she had the choice of small/medium crickets or largish medium crickets that are roughly twice the size of the other ones and she went for the big ones so fingers crossed. My other female wouldn't even entertain the larger ones. lol. My green female is only ever green and hardly ever displays any patterns. Is everyone else's females usually plain or patterned?

 

[iwantone]

Hey Joanna,

Great Pic, I still need to get some scales! So I couldn't say for sure she is putting weight on, but yours seems pretty big already. when did you say they mated?

Just noticed that you have plastic sheeting inside your viv. is it a flexarium or reptibreeze? and how did you put the plastic in?

My female is eating away today. she had the choice of small/medium crickets or largish medium crickets that are roughly twice the size of the other ones and she went for the big ones so fingers crossed. My other female wouldn't even entertain the larger ones. lol. My green female is only ever green and hardly ever displays any patterns. Is everyone else's females usually plain or patterned?

Thanks Mike. They mated on 30 November as I witnessed it lol so I'm guessing end of April for the babies.

The stuff I use in the Reptibreeze is called corrotherm and you can get it from B&Q. I have it on three sides and on the bottom bit.

Have you tried small hoppers? Mine love them. They also love silkworms but they are difficult to get hold of. Gretel is usually pattered although sometimes plain.

 

[Tazjunky]

Well I have no idea if and or when they mated, so I'm still unsure but she is definitely basking with her belly more so fingers crossed.

What size reptibreeze do you have for your pair? thanks for the heads up that stuff! il definitely get some for my cage when I finally get it.

Have you got some pics of your set-up pretty please?

 

[Monzon]

iwantone, She looks to have many little ones inside her. She looks beautiful.

 

[okiroo]

sence someone asked i'll jump in with pics of my female, she can show patterns of be a more "flat" color.

sunning with a blueish pattern

her more "all the time colors" shes usually a powder blue with a white tummy

when just starting to sun she will have a green/blushish black back and red tummy(older pic)

shes a year old and will be bred end of march. i think they may varry in color alot. she weights in at 23grams last time i checked however i belive may have lost a gram or two after being treated for endema

 

[iwantone]

Well I have no idea if and or when they mated, so I'm still unsure but she is definitely basking with her belly more so fingers crossed.

What size reptibreeze do you have for your pair? thanks for the heads up that stuff! il definitely get some for my cage when I finally get it.

Have you got some pics of your set-up pretty please?

That sounds positive. Get those scales lol.

I have them in the 40 x 40 x 76. it is great to keep the humidity up and stops the spray going everywhere.

I haven't but I can do some just for you. . Remind me please.

iwantone, She looks to have many little ones inside her. She looks beautiful.

Thank you. I think she will have quite a few too. She had 3 last time and lost 3 grams after giving birth. This time she's put on almost 10 grams and isn't due until end April.

sence someone asked i'll jump in with pics of my female, she can show patterns of be a more "flat" color.

sunning with a blueish pattern

her more "all the time colors" shes usually a powder blue with a white tummy

when just starting to sun she will have a green/blushish black back and red tummy(older pic)

shes a year old and will be bred end of march. i think they may varry in color alot. she weights in at 23grams last time i checked however i belive may have lost a gram or two after being treated for endema

She's gorgeous.

 

[Tazjunky]

Very nice looking Female Okiroo!

Joanna - this is your reminder. lol.

would be great the see the whole viv and the way you have it set up. Im in 2 minds as to whether or not to keep the male I have for sale, or simply just invest in some taller vivs. the space I want to occupy (An alcove)would fit 2 of your sized vivs in but id lose 5cm in width and depth and only gain 12cm in height which probably still works out the same amount of space. I love the vivs I have at the minute but they both won't fit in the gap! doh!