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UKIP leader Nigel Farage has praised Mr Carswell as "honourable" during a walkabout in Clacton
Eurosceptic Tory MPs have rallied round David Cameron after one of their number - Douglas Carswell - defected to UKIP.
Prominent backbenchers Peter Bone, Stewart Jackson and Nadine Dorries are among those to have ruled out a defection to Nigel Farage's party.
Mr Farage said further defections were likely if Mr Carswell won the by-election in his Clacton seat.
But Tory former Cabinet minister John Redwood said this was "a figment of UKIP's imagination".
Mr Carswell decided to stand down as an MP - rather than sitting in the Commons under a UKIP banner until next year's general election - triggering a by-election in his Essex constituency.
If he wins the vote, which is not expected to take place before early October, Mr Carswell would become UKIP's first elected MP, giving the party a long-awaited platform at Westminster to push for Britain's exit from the EU.
His surprise move has prompted speculation about the number of other Tories who could also jump ship, with UKIP's Treasurer, spread betting millionaire Stuart Wheeler, saying he had sounded out eight Conservative MPs about joining the party over lunch at his favourite Mayfair restaurant.
'No roll-out'Mr Farage, who is visiting Mr Carswell's constituency with his new colleague, said he was "constantly" talking to Eurosceptics in the Tory and Labour Party. He said he had first begun serious discussions with Mr Carswell in June, shortly after UKIP topped the poll in European elections.
Mr Carswell said he had turned to UKIP after talking to Mr Cameron's advisers about the PM's pledge of an in/out referendum on Britain's EU membership, which had convinced him the Tory leader was not "serious" about the issue.
Mr Farage told reporters in Clacton: "There is only one party for a genuine Eurosceptic. That is UKIP."
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UKIP MEP Patrick O'Flynn refused to be drawn on the possibility of more Conservative MPs defecting to UKIP but said he was sure they "think about these things"
He said talk of further defections was "speculation", but added: "If Douglas Carswell wins this by-election, and I believe he will, there will be others on the Tory and Labour backbenchers who may think 'UKIP is for us.'"
The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson dismissed reports of a "planned roll-out" of defections but said some MPs may be waiting to see the result of the by-election before contemplating such a step.
'Dream on'Conservative Eurosceptic John Redwood said talk of eight defections was a "figment of UKIP's imagination", suggesting that this was merely an estimate of the number of MPs who may have had lunch with Stuart Wheeler, a former Tory donor who is now UKIP's treasurer.
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Roger Lord, prospective UKIP parliamentary candidate for Clacton, talks to James Naughtie
"Dream on UKIP. It is the kind of figure that you would put round if you were UKIP." he told Radio 4's Today programme.
Although he declined to mention any names, Mr Wheeler suggested that as many as 16 Tories were broadly sympathetic to UKIP.
"A lot of them have it in the back of their minds (to defect) but they are worried about losing their seats," he told Sky News.
However, he said defectors would have a much better chance of holding onto their seats than two years ago and those "on the brink" would be further encouraged if Mr Carswell won.
Among MPs to have ruled out joining UKIP include long-standing EU rebels Mark Pritchard, John Baron, Bill Cash, Bernard Jenkin and Jacob-Rees Mogg.
Speaking in Clacton, Mr Carswell said he had a "phenomenal amount of support" since announcing his decision, adding there had been a "real shift in opinion locally".
He added: "I could lose. There is a risk in this. I am putting my principles on the table."
Clacton's votersThe seaside seat of Clacton's population is older than the national average, and pollsters have found that UKIP's appeal is strongest among the over-60s.
Analysis of demographic data by Nottingham University's Matthew Goodwin suggests that Clacton is "the most favourable seat for UKIP in the country".
In graphics: Will Clacton's voters opt for UKIP?
The maverick backbencher had been unhappy with Prime Minister David Cameron's stance over Europe and his shelving of plans to allow recall elections to remove misbehaving MPs between elections.
'Regrettable'
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Mr Cameron said the resignation was "deeply regrettable"
Mr Cameron has said he wants a by-election in Clacton as soon as possible and plans "to go early to Clacton" to campaign. However, a by-election is unlikely to take place before the end of the Conservative Party conference, which concludes on 1 October.
Tory cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith, himself once a persistent rebel over Europe, said his former colleague had made a mistake leaving the party, as the prime minister had now backed an in-out referendum on EU membership.
"In the course of the next few weeks and months we will have to step up the gas and make sure the public understands this," he added.
"The reality is there is only one party promising that referendum."
'Decent thing'Meanwhile, a UKIP member says he will challenge Mr Carswell to be the party's parliamentary candidate in Clacton, claiming that he had already been chosen to fight the seat in next year's general election.
Mr Lord said Mr Carswell should have done the "decent thing" and contacted him before making his announcement, adding that he expected better treatment.
"There's a few things he could have done but he didn't do," he told Radio 4's Today programme.
"If other candidates are just swept aside willy nilly and not given a fair hearing, then there's no hope for any other candidates in place at the moment," he added. ""If you push somebody too hard they will push back. I'm just pushing back."
UKIP said its ruling body had decided that Mr Carswell would be the party's candidate at the by-election, making clear that this decision superseded arrangements which may have been in place for a general election.
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