Veiled Eggs 3 months, colouration.

[STRYDER]

Hey everyone

Ive had a batch of 32 veiled chameleon eggs for about 3 months now and was wanting to get some info on the the way the eggs look. When i first put them in they were all very white, looking at them now 5 or 6 have started to look like u can see inside half of the egg (orange/yellow colour) and the other half is still white.

Is this the normal development process or is it not meant to look like that?

My incubation is a home-made incubator cause here in SA we dont really get ones you can buy and they are expensive to get hold of. My temps have been warmer of late as summer has jus started so its hard to keep the temps down, the average temp in the incubator over the 3 months is around 81 degrees F, the max it would get to on a really hot day is 86.

Its hard to explain, ill try get pictures if no one has an explanation.

Any discussion on the matter will be helpful.
Thanks

 

[chameleonneeds]

Hey Stryder,

Just a question but is your incubator insulated well?
Mine gets to a maximum of 27 Celsius during the day and goes down to 26 Celsius during the cooler parts of the day.
If its going as high as 30 celsius then you might have a problem.
I think the high fluctuation might either kill the eggs, make them hatch sooner than normal (the babies will then probably be very weak and you will have mortalities) or they will hatch way longer than normal.
What is considered normal hatch time is about 6-7 months.

 

[STRYDER]

Re:

well my incubator is basically a big polestyrene box with water in, with fish tank heaters in the water.

with the eggs sitting just above the water on bricks in a container with moist vermiculite in.

I think the prob is my set ups outside in a big barn and the temperature outside now that its summer is high. Should i bring them inside and try lower the temps? If i leave the incubator fully sealed the temperatures will rocket up to like 32 degrees celsius.

Might just be too hot out there and thats whats making it too hot in the incubator.

 

[STRYDER]

hopefully i havent done damage to my babies!! i really didnt think it was that hot. I reckon i was neglecting it a lil cause been busy!

U think the eggs that are half white will make it if i drop the temp asap, or if any will make it...

Problem is at night temp drops. there is a big temp difference. best thing i can think to do is bring the incubator inside.

Any ideas?

Thanks for the reply by the way.

 

[chameleonneeds]

I am using the same incubator system.

I think you should bring it inside into a cooler area.

Those barns get really hot, Im trying to design one to keep my chams in but it seems the temps get way too hot during summer and probably way too cold during winter.

All the eggs might still be fine, the rule is with the eggs - never throw them out unless they really are dead, if they are dead they will be moldy, shriveled up and go an off colour, usualy yellow.

I say move the incubator indoors, set the temps to stay at 26, a 2 degree fluctuation between night and day will be fine though.
Dont change the temps to drasticly, it could cause problems, do it slowly.

Just out of curiousity, how many adult veileds do you have now, and how many males and females? Any more gravid?

 

[STRYDER]

Currently i have 3 males and 2 females . the one female laid this batch of eggs in june and the other female im waiting on to get a little older to breed her.

I have a good friend though who i do this with and he has 3 females and one male.

This was my 1st clutch though, i only started doing this last year. pretty new to the whole incubation thing otherwise ive done alot of research on these things but this forum has been very helpful.

wouldnt have got the advice i was looking for and probably would have killed my babies, prob lost a few already but we will see what happens .

Thanks again for the info.

Just out of interest where in Jo'burg do you stay?

 

[chameleonneeds]

Nice,

You should post pics up of your chams, will be nice to see them.
Im sure you will get some hatchlings out, though only time will tell...

PM sent

 

[STRYDER]

will try to, gotta get better pics taken. Gonna buy a better camera
Pietermaritzburg ey.

A little drive away (580km's) i stay outside Johannesburg, Bryanston Area .

 

[chameleonneeds]

Oh nice.
Thats quite far from me lol.
Are you going to make it to the Exo Terra expo at the Kyalami race track?

 

[STRYDER]

im going to try go. prices might be good, compared to the usual.
why you coming down for that? its quite a drive :O.

 

[chameleonneeds]

Well, Im hoping I can get a ride with a friend of mine, havnt missed any of the expos for the past 2 years.
Every expo Im quite doissapointed with the chams, theres either veileds and a few ambanja panthers, or no chams at all.

I loved the exo terra expo in the year 2008, saw parsons, oustalets, brookesias, carpets all for the first time, havent seen them much lately.

I am looking for some new chams, you anyone I can contact?

 

[STRYDER]

it seems we would need to import if we wanted any specific species, i heard of a few types (jacksons) but ive only physically seen ambilobes, veileds, ambanja(rare).

Lets hope the upcoming expos have a few more species, its important we get more in cause atm all the ppl buying dont know nothing bout them, worrying
cause they arent like dogs or cats lol.

 

[chameleonneeds]

I will reply to you through PM now.