Dusty's dug a test hole, now what to do?

HermannChameleon

HermannChameleon

New Member
Hi,

Dusty, my ambilobe panther, has dug a test hole in her box in the enclosure but has abandoned the hole with no eggs in it. Should I fill the hole in or leave it for her to go back to? She is up on her vine in the basking area at the moment looking pretty exhausted and her mouth has been gaping a couple of times. Have tried to get her to drink like she normally does from the pipet but she turned her nose up at it and turned around.

Just wanted to know what to do next. I have got a bigger tub which I could transfer her to outside of the enclosure if necessary but just wanted to know if she will do it in the box she already has?

Sorry for all the questions recently just need to ensure I am doing things right, have only been a chameleon owner for 2 weeks today!

Thanks,

John and Sam
 
Does anyone know what I should do? She is looking very unwell and has barely moved, I'd say she's moved about 5 inches all evening. She is kinda lying on her side on the vine with her tail all curled up. Just need to know if she will go and dig again, carry on digging in the same hole or the hole should be filled in as must have been wrong, or whether I should transport her into a larger container outside of the enclosure with a light over it. It's a bit late now as she'll be going bed in a little while but could set it up ready to put her in before I go work in the morning.
Up until today she has been absolutely fine running around everywhere, climbing onto our hands and running up our arms when we were putting food in despite clearly having eggs in her as she had previously scattered them around the enclosure.

Really need some urgent advice, have read blogs and other forum posts and everything but it doesn't really tell me what to do at this time. Have only seen her eat a couple of meal worms in the last few days nothing else there a quite a few crickets still in there so no calcium is being consumed at the moment, my pet store doesn't have any liquid calcium either. :(

IMG_1031.jpg
 
Have you prepared an appropriate area for her to lay eggs? Are you giving her privacy? I don't have enough personal experience with female chameleons so hopefully another member will offer some advice.

This is a common issue so you should find some related threads in the breeding forum.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/chameleon-breeding/

Chameleon News has a great section on parental and neonatal care.
http://chameleonnews.com/Reference.html [Parental & Neonatal Care]
 
hi, yes we have a container at the bottom of her enclosure which is about 12" deep x 12" x 9". She started digging soon after we put it in so we went out and left her for about 4hrs then came back and she was up the top in her basking area with her mouth open. We misted her and tried to give her some water but she didn't want it. We have since dug a hole ourselves but she climbed straight back out. Will leave it till the morning and see how she is then, I think it's time her bed now anyway.
 
I know a few members but them in a trashcan. It gives them a lot more privacy. Just something you could try. Proper ventilation and lighting and everything would be needed.
 
mychamtini112012 said:
I know a few members but them in a trashcan. It gives them a lot more privacy. Just something you could try. Proper ventilation and lighting and everything would be needed.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I know a few people do this, this is why I'm asking whether or not i
I should move her or not. I have a suitable box for her but not sure if I should wait to see what happens first in her box in the enclosure is all? Not sure how long you should wait? I will put her in the bigger one in the morn and see what her reaction is and then if she seems like she will start I'll leave her in there for the day I think!
 
took a 3 days for my girl veiled to lay after she started showing signs. at first she wouldnt even dig a full on hole, just scratch around, but day 3 she went all in. took about 7-10 hours digging and laying and covering up.. so she was busy girl
I also took her out of her cage and placed her in a large laying tub
 
I left her in the enclosure today and when I came back from work she was laying in the hole with her head out the top. She has now patted it all down so going to wait until she has finished and then see if she laid any eggs! she does look thinner but can't really tell as cage is all covered up! fingers crossed she's layed them all now!
 
She laid 6 eggs right at the bottom of the sand which are twice the size of the others that were scattered around the enclosure the other day. That makes 14 eggs in total. Doesn't seem to want to eat or drink yet, and did not appreciate being misted, went a bit frantic and black! Have put the box back in her enclosure, just going to keep an eye on her. Going to get some liquid calcium for her too.
 
14 eggs isn't very many. If she doesn't go back to eating and drinking well right away or shows any signs of going down hill you will need to get her to a vet right away.
 
Dusty is back to her normal self now!!! :D Normal colour, have witnessed her drinking but unsure about eating as yet! Looks so much healthier and happier again!
 
kinyonga said:
14 eggs isn't very many. If she doesn't go back to eating and drinking well right away or shows any signs of going down hill you will need to get her to a vet right away.
Click to expand...

Right away to me means immediately. I dont know, but I would listen to Kinyonga.
 
Solid Snake said:
Right away to me means immediately. I dont know, but I would listen to Kinyonga.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily there could be a general timeframe or an average timeframe. I'd imagine it's quite rare to eat immediately the second they finish laying what with the amount of energy it would have took. She seems absolutely fine and healthy but can't tell if she's eaten anything as the crickets run around the enclosure she doesn't like them in a cup! Well the liquid calcium has arrived today so will give her a drop of that! :)
 
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