Eggs alive?

[BroncosGirl]

My female veiled chameleon became egg bound, 3 days after she dug 2 holes, which she closed right up and never layed eggs. I noticed her sunken eyes and discoloration. I kept massaging and trying to keep hydrated but day 3 morning she died. I acted as fast as I could and opened her to recover the eggs. I got a total of 26 eggs from her and placed them on the incubating box I prepared with perlite + vermiculite. The eggs look yellowish and I don't even know if they are viable. They also have some sort of smell when I open the lid to check on them. Am I wasting my time? is this normal? can they still hatch?

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

Did she breed with a male?

 

[alphakenc]

From what I saw on the eggs pic...the dark yellow are definitely going bad,and like camo said if she didn't mate with a male veiled before then those eggs will not be fertile at all which mean they not going to hatch especially the smell is coming strong from those eggs.

 

[BroncosGirl]

Did she breed with a male?

She did mate with a male. So I know they started fertile in her tummy, my question is are they still good after she was egg binded and then got them minutes after she died.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Should be since they were carried to term, no promises though. But they definitely shouldn’t stink.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Did you actually witness her die?

 

[salty dog]

She died, then you cut them out?

 

[Brodybreaux25]

She died, then you cut them out?

What?

 

[JoXie411]

but day 3 morning she died. I acted as fast as I could and opened her to recover the eggs.

Ummm? Can we see what you were using as a laying bin

 

[salty dog]

Trying to find out what the op did!! I could never do that!!

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Trying to find out what the op did!! I could never do that!!

Cool, just wondering since what you wrote originally made no sense...

 

[GoodKarma19]

If mom was confirmed dead, I'd probably do the same. I've been in the room when a cat/dog in late stage pregnancy has died, and been part of emergency extractions before. You make an incision in the abdomen and remove the young. It's much betterthan letting them all die, imho... even if you have an emotional attachment to the mother.

On topic - I'd remove any obviously shrivelled, discolored eggs (like the one Brody pointed out) and incubate normally. Watch for any molding, slime, etc, and if any are especially smelly I'd probably just pitch those ones. Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[BroncosGirl]

Did she breed with a male?

She died, then you cut them out?

Yes, I was there when she was still alive, came back 15min later and she was stiff, and that's when I cut her open and extracted the eggs. I do have a video.....

 

[BroncosGirl]

a quick update: of the 26 eggs, i have 7 left. the rest have been thrown away weekly because they became moldy. AND, my male chameleon, a couple of days started acting weird, and aggressive. stopped eating well, i would spray water directly into its mouth. but last night it died.

 

[Beman]

a quick update: of the 26 eggs, i have 7 left. the rest have been thrown away weekly because they became moldy. AND, my male chameleon, a couple of days started acting weird, and aggressive. stopped eating well, i would spray water directly into its mouth. but last night it died.

I wonder if you have a parasite issue going..... did you get fecals done on either of them before they died? Seems very odd. Sorry for your loss

 

[JacksJill]

I've read threads from panther breeders that have removed the eggs immediately post mortem, on the way to the vets office on the side of the road, and was able to hatch them out.
The fact that they smell is a bad sign. Keep them spaced out and remove any that mod or shrivel.

 

[Thehippie]

Yes agree with the above, if you have any other chams I would get them checked for parasites and if you plan to use the same cage for another cham in the future I would disinfect everything at least once and take apart the entire thing. I'm so sorry for your loss and it's very hard to lose such wonderful companions but hopefully you'll have at least one baby cham to hatch out. The mold and smells are not good signs but if you had found her after 15 mins of being gone I'm hoping at least one is fertile. How are you incubating and what did you use for an egg laying bin?

 

[BroncosGirl]

Yes agree with the above, if you have any other chams I would get them checked for parasites and if you plan to use the same cage for another cham in the future I would disinfect everything at least once and take apart the entire thing. I'm so sorry for your loss and it's very hard to lose such wonderful companions but hopefully you'll have at least one baby cham to hatch out. The mold and smells are not good signs but if you had found her after 15 mins of being gone I'm hoping at least one is fertile. How are you incubating and what did you use for an egg laying bin?

i have a mix of vermiculite and perlite inside a plastic tupperware. I check every week for moisture level and if any eggs have molded. I have 7 left of 26 so far....

 

[MrsM]

I’m just so sad that this happened to your chamily. I really hope some babies make it out of this tragic situation.

 

[Thehippie]

i have a mix of vermiculite and perlite inside a plastic tupperware. I check every week for moisture level and if any eggs have molded. I have 7 left of 26 so far....

Hopefully theyre fertile