Female gravid but not interested in sand bucket. Very worried!

[Bitfly]

This is my first Cham and she is obviously gravid (infertile eggs). I started seeing signs about 3 weeks ago. I am sure she is full on gravid now as she has strong colours and is walking around her cage a lot. I added a large bucket of sand about a week ago and I am concerned as she is showing no interest in it. She hasn't eaten in the past few days either which makes me worried.

I've put her in the sand a few times to let her know that's its there but she crawls out soon after.

Questions.
What can I do to make her start digging in the sand? It is slightly wet so it holds its shape.

Could she be not ready to dig yet? Are the eggs just not ready yet?

At what point do I really need to worry and take her to a vet?

Thanks for any help!

 

[camimom]

You can tmake her start digging.
SHe will lay when she is ready.

It can take about 3-6 weeks for them to lay ocne they have started.

when she starts walking funny, back end turns black, or she cant seem to use legs well is when its vet time.

 

[AngieL]

As far as I know, female chams lose thier apetite while they are gravid so I would think that is normal. You could try digging some starter holes for her maybe?

There's a member on here called jannb and she has some great blogs on how to care for female chameleons so I would have a look at her blogs

 

[Olimpia]

If you have something larger, like a kitchen trashcan, you can dump the sand into there (again, just 12" deep or so), put a little stick or two in there and leave her in there abandoned. She won't be able to crawl out, and she may scratch to get out for a while but if she is ready to lay this should be enough to get her to start laying them. I've had stubborn females before and this always works if they are ready, in my case.

 

[Bitfly]

I did make a practice hole for her but she just might be ready based on what you said. She is pretty fat though but still healthy looking and very active.

What do you think she is being so stubborn for? Just because it is her first time or because the conditions are right?

 

[Olimpia]

It's tough to tell. I've heard that if the female isn't convinced that the bucket is the "ground," as it were, that they will keep looking to find real ground. That's why I think the trashcan works well, because there's no where else to go, maybe it convinces them that the sand/soil they are standing on is, in fact, the ground.

Some females don't like sand, or don't like soil, so it's tough to give them all the options under the rainbow, especially since we're not supposed to continuously change things for them or they may get too nervous to lay at all. But yes, females can be very picky sometimes, that's for sure.

My panther female will not lay in a bin to save my life, she always has to do it in a plant pot that has a plant in it, and will dig through the roots and lay her eggs right in the center of the root ball. I provide a laying bin with soil in there for her anyway, but at the end of the day she's going to lay in one of the plants, whether I want her to or not.

 

[CamiGirl89]

One thing I have learned- Chameleons hate playing by the books My was restless for days before she ended up laying her eggs. She showed no signs of being interested in her laying bin, but did not eat or go anywhere near the 14 inches of sand provided for her. I covered her cage with towels, everything. Finally I just put a screen lid over her laying-bucket, and left her there for 24 hours with a fish-tank light above it. Covered the whole thing with a blanket, and gave her no options. She ended up laying her eggs about 5-6 hours after being trapped. But every girl is different, and they all seem to know just how to worry you. Just keep a close eye on her, and give her a little privacy. If it goes on too long, have a vet lined up that you can take her to to check on her. Best of luck, I know this is a horribly worrying phase of ownership!