Eggs!

[Miranda]

So about two days ago I noticed my chameleon wasnt eating all the food that I put in her enclosure. I also started to notice that there hasnt been much poop in her cage, and my boyfriend said he saw her down on the bottom clawing at the corners like she was trying to get out.

I read online and found that those are signs of a chameleon that needs to lay eggs.. today I bought her a large storage tub, and two bags of play sand..

I was just wondering how long they can hold their eggs? and if it came down to it, would she lay them just anywhere she could? How long does it take for them to lay all the eggs and how do you know when they are finished?

Tommorow morning, Im gunna put her in the dirt tub..

 

[westcoastchameleons]

As far as length of the egg lying process, usually 3-4 weeks after being bred. If she wasnt bred, and is laying infertile eggs, then I couldnt tell you. If she couldnt hold them any longer, you would have found eggs on the floor, or she would have died. You will know she is finished when A) you see her digging/laying or B) "a" combined with she will look a lot lighter.


Jake

 

[booshified]

look in the breeding section about how to make an egg laying spot. she doesnt lay she could die.

 

[kinyonga]

To avoid the possibility of missing the sometimes subtle signs that a female chameleon is ready to lay eggs, I leave a container in all egglaying female chameleons' cages from the time they are approaching sexual maturity.

The container I select is big enough for the female to fit into with a couple of inches to spare on all sides (including above her) when empty. I fill it about 2/3rds full of washed playsand. Some females will actually lay their eggs in this size of a container...others need to be moved to an egglaying bin.

How long the gestation is depends on the species...but for veileds and panthers its about 30 days.

As for holding the eggs in...some will drop a few on the floor of the cage and continue holding the rest in. She might lay the rest of them or the eggs remaining insider her may eventually grow in size and then can't be laid or can rot/decompose and cause serious problems. I have heard of the odd chameleon laying the rest of the eggs after dropping a couple on the ground, but that's not the usual "thing".

If she doesn't have a proper egglaying site at the time that she is looking to lay eggs she could become eggbound.

Re: laying the eggs....the female will/should dig a hole. It may take several days or it may all be done in a day....depends on the species and the individual female. She may dig more than one hole or dig the same hole for more than a day.

While a female is digging a hole, do not let her see you watching her or she will abandon the hole thinking that its not a safe place to lay the eggs. If this happens often enough, she could become eggbound.

Once she is done digging the hole, she will turn around (bum down) and lay the eggs. (Make sure there are no insects in the cage when she reaches this point...they might chew on her or the eggs.)

When she is finished laying the eggs, she will fill in the hole and tamp it down. Its recommended to allow her to finish this and go back up into the branches before you dig the eggs up.

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

it's not always eggs.

OR she could just not be all that hungry with the colder temps and wanting to get out.
My males do that stuff too.

The way to tell if she's carry is to see if she's filled with them (eggs)
are there any nodules on the lower part of her belly?
I can see them moving down to her hips as large lumps under the skin.
She doesn't need to mate to go in and out of cycle either.

If she is (carrying), then you can place a suitable tub in there and see is she starts digging
otherwise let her out and run around the house a little bit to stretch her legs.
maybe she's tired of staying stuck in there all day eating the same old things.

Eventually, you'll see the subtile color and behavioral changes associated
with her hormone levels that'll take the guess work out of what's she's up too