egg laying

[wildcaught]

my wild caught veiled chameleon girl is showing her blue spots
will she lay eggs while still showing blue spots?
I can only account for her age of 9 months
I rescued her from a person that was not taking good
care of her. I have had her since January of 2021
and have not had a male around her
she out grew original cage I had got for her so we upgraded to larger cage
when I replanted the cage and gave her a larger lay bin
she started digging the lay bin that same day but the next day very little digging
was she maybe just happy and exploring new habitat ?
today is day 3 of habitat remodel

 

[kinyonga]

Photo please.

What's the substrate in the laybin. How deep and wide is the laybin?
Did she see you watching her when she was digging?

 

[wildcaught]

I am not sure if she seen me yesterday, I am unsure of how far her vision field is.
the second pic she puffed up mad cause she realized I opened her habitat before I spoke to her let her know I was there
I have wet reptile sand in a home made contraption.
the first day that she dug she went to bottom of lay bin
I decided it was not deep enough and took a lid cut the center out and added another bowl with the bottom cut out
so now it is approx 10 inches deep and prolly 10 inches long.
It seems to be that she starts her digging everyday around 12 30 in afternoon and stops by 3 pm
I have noticed temp outside when she begins her dig is around 82 f and she will stop at temp of around 87 f
she did a bit more digging today (3rd Day ) but not near as much as first day
She is wild caught and I live in southwest florida

 

[wildcaught]

Yes she is from the colony you have read about.
However I did rescue her from someone who was not taking care of her, I did not pluck her out of the wild.

 

[kinyonga]

That's a male in the photo.

 

[wildcaught]

There are no spurs on the back legs, and not the lighter colors I would associate with males.
And at more than 10 months old I would think a male to be much larger. How sure are you?

 

[wildcaught]

And do males display the blue girl dots that I have read so much about?

 

[kinyonga]

In the middle photo you can see the Spurs on the heels as plain as day. The striped/banded pattern also means male as well as the tall crest on its head.

 

[wildcaught]

Thank You for your input.

 

[kinyonga]

This might help...

 

[kinyonga]

BTW...he seems to be in good condition!

If you answer the questions in the how to ask for help thread near the top of the health forum we can check your husbandry to see if it's ok. So he'll stay healthy.

Chameleons have a poor range of hearing so he won't understand when you talk to him but they have an excellent range of vision and can see quite far.

You might be interested in these...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chameleon_vision
https://web.archive.org/web/20080418003008/http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/5014/hoot.html

 

[wildcaught]

Again thank you so much for your input
This is my first chameleon and there is so much to learn and to continue learning. I will check out the site you suggested
considering every thing I have been reading up on has been for females .....

 

[kinyonga]

Please answer all the questions in the how to ask for help thread near the top of the health forum. Since you're just learning this could save your chameleon from health issues.

 

[wildcaught]

well after much debate here in the living room ,
I guess Liz gets a name change.
haa haa
we are going with mutant , hope he did not get a complex being called a girl for a few months.

 

[kinyonga]

Mutant eh!? Hope that doesn't give him a complex either!

One more thing...make sure the cage isn't in full sun so he has no place to escape the sun. He needs a shady area to get out of the sun.

 

[Shanar808]

He looks slightly dehydrated, how is his urates? It’s a relief that you no longer need to worry about egg laying, so the laybin can be removed. I do think you may want to add some plants for coverage and shade, you will need ample shade if he is staying outside 24/7 (p.s. indirect sunlight also provides a good amount of UVB). I wonder if it is common for a male veiled chameleon to dig? Unless maybe he is digging in the sand to get cooler since he seems to be doing that at the hottest point of the day. Maybe keep the laybin there until you have more plants just in case.

 

[janjan20]

I house my male veilds outside and I live in central FL. That enclosure needs to have some cover over it. Even in 82 degree weather with direct sunlight the cage and Cham will heat up pretty quickly. My boys only get about 2hrs of direct/indirect sunlight. Then shade for the rest of the day.

 

[kinyonga]

What supplements are you using and how often for each? What do you feed to the insects? Gutload them with? What insects do you feed to the chameleon?

 

[wildcaught]

hello
thank you for your feedback
Mutant is doing well with the name change,
but he still looks at me sideways.

I had moved him and the table to get good pics , He is not in direct sunlight all day long .
he does get misted every day and sometimes he gets sprinkled on, huge downpours and he gets brought back inside.
I feed him crickets, meal worms, wax worms and I dust crickets at least once a month with reptavite without the d3
I have since removed lay bin
and am currently debating what to put in there now. I am avid gardener as well and have access to many species of plants
currently leaning to potted bamboo, however the fast growth rate is a possible draw back , also thinking Russian mulberry
but I would have to get that rooted, and I have a small gardenia I might also put in there. decisions decisions
but I have just read flchams approved plant list and found that list very helpful.
If anyone knows if a large leaf vanillia bean orchid is safe please reply.
it is a very large leaf viney plant that grows quickly and is very hardy.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."I feed him crickets, meal worms, wax worms and I dust crickets at least once a month with reptavite without the d3"...it's recommended that you dust with a phos free calcium powder at all feedings but one a week lightly and on the one feeding that's left, alternate between a part free calcium/D3 powder and a vitamin powder with a prEformed source of vitamin A.