largest veiled clutch?

bushmaster · 12-29-03, 09:28 AM

does anyone know of a veild laying more than 53 completely fertile eggs cause i was like WHOA!

Trace · 12-29-03, 09:38 AM

That is a lot! I think on average the Veileds can lay between 30 to 60 eggs at a time.

Remember though, these large clutches of eggs really put a strain on the females and they can lay them 2 or 3 times a year! They are drawing sssoooo much calcium from their bodies to produce these eggs, it is healthier for them in the long run to lay smaller clutches and this can be achieved by keeping your females on a diet. Fat females = large clutches.

Congrats on those eggs. Baby Veileds are a TON of fun.

Trace

Collide · 12-29-03, 09:39 AM

Back when My female as overweight she layed her first 2 clutches of 80 ish both clutches produced 50 hatchlings and about 1 or 2 eggs that never hatched. Its not good for them to lay that many eggs though. I have her down to 30ish and she hadent been breed since I was afraid of loosing here. lol and now that im happy with her weight, do u think she would mate! noo errr lol....

bushmaster · 12-30-03, 08:29 AM

thanx for the replies i appreciate all info and comments

bushmaster · 12-30-03, 08:30 AM

oh yeah, trace could you tell me more about the diet your using

Trace · 12-30-03, 10:18 AM

Hey, first of all, I apologise if I sounded harsh to you in my first post. Since your female has been bred the once now, she has the possibility of producing eggs again and again and again, even from a single breeding. The females lifespans are so short to begin with, I'd hate to see you lose a cherished pet earlier than you need to because she is laying large clutches.

I get asked all the time about how much to feed a chameleon on a daily basis and I wish there was a hard and fast rule I could say. I'm going to use my chameleons as an example only because those are the guys I'm used to working with and I'm only going to discuss my adults as babies have different needs. I've got a few males here that eat 24 bugs a day and not gain weight. They are healthy and dewormed. I've got others that will eat only 12 bugs a day and not lose weight, so I think it boils down to their metabolism. They know what they need to eat on a daily basis to survive and through observation of the individuals here I know how many bugs to throw into a cage daily. My females are on quasi-diets here and most of them get 4 to 6 bugs a day, one gets 8. They would eat more if I gave it to them, but these are the low end amounts I've determined to give them to be healthy. The key is to keep the females slim, but not starving. My breeder females are laying between 25 and 30 eggs a go.

So now to your female, if you think she is fat then I think it's worth putting her on a diet but it's up to you. If you are going to do it, I would suggest doing it slowly. Example; if she eats 24 bugs a day, cut her to 20 for a week or so, then 16 or 18 for week, then 12 etc etc etc. While I'm not positive on this, a slower decrease in food is better for them health wise than a sudden, permanent drop in food. Let her body get used to using less food.

Again, good luck with those eggs, you've got about a 6 month wait ahead of you waiting for them to hatch, but it's all worth it at the end.

Trace

Phew! Another one of my long winded posts. Sorry.

DNA Reptiles · 12-30-03, 11:46 AM

I agree with lots of the above....I have had chameleons during this year that have laid 80 eggs and all have hatched, but, of course, the babies are quite small. They all survived bar two, but there is no selling them at 6 weeks, probably nearer 10. My adult colony eat 6 - 5 week crickets per day maximum and are fed off forceps to ensure they do. I don't consider them to be fat in any way. When I think back, all the veileds I have had over the years have all layed 50 plus eggs, so maybe it's in the water!! I really don't know for sure.