BREEDING & EGG INCUBATING
while i have been into Pygmy Chameleons for a few years now, i have only started to breed this species.
the first pygmy that i had ever received came to me gravid (pregnant). i didnt know this at the time, nor did in know that I in fact had a female.
over the first week that i had her, i observed some unusual behavior. she would constantly walk down from her perch high up in her enclosure, all the way down to the floor and pace back and forth. this continued for about 3 days.
on the 4th day, i was going through all of my tanks doing a "head count". i had gotten to the females cage, who i had recently named "Raspberry". after about 3 minutes of looking through the cage, and not finding her, i decided to start brushing back the plants to see if perhaps she had succumbed to stress.
I had found her in the darkest back corner of the tank. she had dug a hole approximately 1 - 1 1/2 inches deep. all that was visible was her head. i had assumed that she had been there for quite some time, because as she saw me, she began her assent out of the hole.
After her exit, i had enough time to peek down into her deposit area, before she has covered it with coco fiber and packed it down, and saw 4 tic-tac sized eggs. I was THRILLED!
never before had i witnessed a chameleon laying eggs, nor had i ever attempted to incubate chameleon eggs. which I found to be a some what easy task.
(in this picture, you can see the 4 yellowish/white tic-tac sized eggs, resting on perlite)
the incubation process, once i had figured out a suitable way to go about it, was actually quite easy.
to start, i had used a small, rounded tupperware container. along the sides i had poked 4 holes for ventilation. this allowed for more air flow through the incubation medium.
for the medium, i found that Perlite was the best choice. roughly 8-9 table spoons of perlite were added to the small container. after that, 3 teaspoons of water were added.
to test for the right amount of moisture in the medium: pinch a small amount of medium between two fingers. if any water droplets form, or you can squeeze out any water, the medium is too wet. if there is no water droplets, and it slightly sticks to your fingers, it is just right.
I then placed all 4 eggs on the medium. digging a small notch in the perlite so the eggs were somewhat embeded, and would not roll around. a small piece of newspaper was placed on top of the eggs to help monitor humidity levels, and a lid was placed on top of that. 4 small holes were punched into the lid to allow for a small amount of air flow, and reducing the amount of condensation build up.
finding a place to put the tupperware for storage was challenging. it had to be obvious enough for me to see and not forget that they were there. i finally settled on the top left drawer of my dresser. it was warm enough and didnt allow for any drafts.
the container was left there for approximately 3 months. taking the container out 1-2 times a week to check on humidity levels and adding water if needed.
in late September, i noticed the first signs of hatching. the process for one egg to hatch took about 6 hours. with the baby chameleon resting periodically.
a day after that, two more eggs hatched. the fourth egg, however, turned out to be unfertilized and quickly turned yellow, and started to grow a sort of peach fuzz along the outside.
**NOTE**
it is important to keep all eggs incubating until you are CERTAIN that they are fertile or unfertile. even an egg that looks to be unfertile can yield an embryo inside. and quite the opposite. a healthy looking egg can also be infertile. showing no signs of death until well after the estimated hatching date.
in all, 3 of the 4 eggs hatched out. and i successfully raised those babies using the feeding and housing method i described on a previous page.
and as an added bonus for all of my efforts, one of the babies turned out to be BLUE!
( in this picture, you can see the blue baby, in front of his regular, buff colored clutch mate. my apologies for the grainy quality.)
this was Raspberry's first and only clutch (while in my care). she passed away shortly after her babie's had turned 4 month's old.
