Twins - can you mark babies for ID purposes?

sandrachameleon

Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi

For the first time, I have twins (two babies out of one shell). I'm wondering if there is a way to safely mark them (perhaps with a dot on the tail from a permanent felt pen), so that I can ID them amongst their sibling group?

Im interested to see if they end up being identical or not. These are cross breeds (NosyBexAmbilobe) so there's a good chance all the babies will look quite different from one another, except perhaps these two.

For now they are in a separate container, and I suppose I could go to the trouble of setting up a fully separate enclosure for them. But Id rather not, due to limited space.

If there is a safe way, something that definately will not harm the hatchling or be permanent, but is obvious and foolproof, it could be useful in other ways. I seem to have two rather large pure NosyBe's and one very large fast growing cross. I know I will be removing these ones from their peer group sooner than later. Again, for space purposes, it might be helpful to put all three biggies in one enclosure, for awhile, until they each have to be totally alone. But of course I dont want to mix up the pure NosyBe with the cross. Im going to get double the sell price for the pures. I must be certain of what is what! hm. Maybe best just to stick to the original plan of total separation of the groups.
 
TWINS!! thats crazy. I never heard of that
before

I don't know what I can tell you is safe

uhh.... I dont know If a marker will
stay on too long because when they are small
they will shed and you might not notice
until its too late
 
What about using betadine?? It will stain the thicker scaled areas. You'll have to reapply pretty often as they grow, but it would help until they are older.
 
Im sure I am not the first to have egg twins. Ive read about it on this forum before I think?

I took a couple pics earlier, but camera Battery died so unable to upload. They arent very good photos anyhow. Will take more soon as the thing charges up again.

The babies are just laying there, half curled together. Im not sure they are alive. I had another one from the same clutch take a long time to get going, but I could see it breathing, and it did eventually get up and go (it was absorbing remains of egg yolk). These two I dont see any movement, cant detect breathing. I hope I didnt kill them by touching/moving them (I wanted to keep them separate from the others hatching). I do see yellow that I presume is egg yolk, so they could be similar to the other, and I must be patient.

I have sharpies. I dont have betadine. Iodine sounds safer - but if sharpies are okay.....
 
crappy cell phone camera
0704001306a.jpg
 
I dont use an incubator. They are now resting (cuz i moved them) on a small plastic lid on top of damp vermiculite all in a plastic container. And Ive put a lid (with holes) on it, so they cant go far if they do live. the room temperature around them is mid 20sC (mid 70sF)
 
I had it happen twice in the same clutch (probably the thread you're thinking of). The first twins exited the egg on their own and lived for a couple weeks only. The other pair I cut out of an egg, also. That pair was like what you're describing. I think they were/yours are alive but mine never "woke up." Good luck, I hope they make it. :)
 
Sandra, twins rarely make it.. with a strong emphasis on rarely. By chance they do not make it, just remember that. You are a great keeper.
 
Thanks Sabrina - appreciate it
Expecting the worst cuz I know the chances arent good, but still hopin for the best. It does appear that one of them moved a little in the hours since the photos.
 
Sandra,

First off congrats on the twins.

In my mind, taking chances of any kind at this stage of the game is just silly.
So regardless of space, it will always be best to keep them in different enclosures because accidents and mistakes can and do happen to the best of us.

Just my thoughts.

Harry
 
Twin Veileds....

I had a thread earlier this year about twin Veileds. There were two in the egg in any case. I did keep track of them. They grew up healthy and did not come out identical at all. Both were males and their markings were different. I stopped keeping track of them once I figured that out for sure. So I'm not sure I would call them twins now even though they came from the same egg. Here is that thread:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/two-hatchlings-one-egg-39790/
 
That is very Interesting and cool. I wish you the best with them. You are a great keeper and i know you will take great care of them if they survive. I wish you luck
 
Thanks to all for the good wishes!

update: one lives (just) and one has died (it may never have actually been alive outside of the egg)

On close inspection (magnifying glass), they appear to have different pattern markings and are thus not identical. I will be keeping the surviving one separate, if it continues to live, purely because it is much smaller than its clutch mates (many of which hatched over a week ago and have grown since). It is weak and I do not think it will live.:( It certainly could not compete with the others. If it makes it, I will keep it for myself (it will not be sold) and call it "Fighter" or some similar representative name. Have not given up hope.

warpdrive - you're right - not worth the risk. Going to keep the pure nosy be and the mutt clutches entirely separate and forget about marking anything. Have bought a couple more enclosures (I figure I can always fill them with mantids when I dont have baby chams anymore).
 
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