Female Veiled Acting Strange :/

JadesMama

JadesMama

New Member
I am a new owner as of July and for the last two days my female veiled hasn't eaten and seems to be trying to escape! She is in a fully screened enclosure with a live plant. She normally sleeps in her tree but the last two days has slept on her vine in the corner of her cage. Her eyes are still normal although her color has been black and green and her stripes dark yellow. She is normally for the most part since we have had her green. I have read that she might be ready to lay eggs so today we put her in a laying box but I am concerned not to stress her or cause more stress. I might just be an over cautious owner.

Has anyone else had this happen?
Thanks
 
JadesMama said:
She is about 1 1/2 to 2 years when I got her July.
Click to expand...

At that age she may very well have eggs. They can and often do lay eggs even without a male being around esspecially if you over feed and keep them to warm. Roaming and not eating is a sign she needs to lay. Do you have a laying bin for her?
 
Well I got a utility tote and put moist play sand in it but after reading your post/blogs I am not sure we have enough sand there is about 6 inches in the bottom maybe more. I am also finding that I should be using combo material. We put the tote under our kitchen window so that she would have privacy and natural light although I don't want her to get too cold could that be a possiblity? She is still EXTREMELY (for her size) strong, has a good grasp, and was climbing well this am. Will there be signs she has dug if she does? THANKS A MILLION for your replies.
 
Ok so I went home at lunch and she was freezing in the laying bed and and had not done anything to the sand so I put her back in her enclosure and I have attached pictures of her. Once in the enclosure she got under her light and then started going to her corner and a cricket was even on her face and she wasn't doing anything.??>?>?
 

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Put a small laying bin in her container. If it's not big enough you can always move her to a large one once she starts digging.
 
She def loooks a little rotund. Can you get a btter picture of her whole side, with her not turned like she is? this can allow us to see if there are any egg shapes.
You can also palpitate her tummy and see if you feel any.
It can sometimes take them hours to decide to digm then as much time to decide to lay.
 
This is the other side view I have. I have noticed most threads say they will start digging at the bottom of their cage and I haven't noticed that but she keeps going to the bottom back to the top corner etc. and she has had 5 crickets in her enclosure for approx. 2 days.

Thanks everyone for the replies.
 

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UPDATE:
I put a sheet on one side of her enclosure that faces the livingroom and I also put a small lay box in there as well. Her tummy looks a little bigger this morning but she is still climbing to the top of her enclosure in the corner rather than digging at the bottom?? Still very active and not lethargic.

I read not to move her back and forth from the lay box to the enclosure but the lay box gets pretty cold. I live in Souther CA and its cold and rainy today.
 
I would recommend using an opaque container at least 12" deep x 12" x 8" filled with washed playsand in her cage. Many of the females will actually lay the eggs in this sized container.

For a larger container that you can put her in and leave her in without her getting cold, I use a 65 liter rubbermaid container that I have modified the lid of. I cut away most of the lid and screen over the hole I made. I fill the container at least 12" deep with washed playsand that is moist enough to hold a tunnel and add a branch for her to sit on when she's not digging. I then add the female once I feel she is ready to lay the eggs (usually after she starts digging in the small container in her cage). I put the lid back on and add a light over the screened part of the lid so she can see and be warm. Make sure that you don't overheat the container though since it is closed in. You can water her by spraying water on the sides of the cage and you can feed her too as long as you remove any uneaten insects...and since the container has a lid on it, she can't escape.

When she's digging do not let her see you watching her....and as you said, don't move her back and forth from the large container to the cage....you want her to be settled enough to lay the eggs.

Once the eggs are laid and buried them and she has returned to her branches you can dig the eggs up....but first, if she's in the large container, return her to her cage.
 
Thanks so much but I have a couple of questions. Can I put the 12x12x8 container in her enclosure and remove her tree but leave the vine? Now I have seen some pictures where you can see shapes of eggs on their sides but with her she just seems to be getting fatter. Does that normally happen? Also do all walk along the bottom of their enclosure because she consistanty pases the side of her cage or hides in the corner where i placed the sheet. I also called around for local vets (i found on herpconnection?) just in case she turns south and its amazing what happens ($wise) when you say exotic/Chameleon.
Thank You Again Kinyonga
 
Here's a good chameleon vet in your area. Recomended by one of the members here.

Thomas H. Boyer, DVM
Pet Hospital of Penasquitos, 888-F Carmel Mountain Road, San Diego, CA - (858) 484-3490
Pet Hospital of Penasquitos
 
Thanks for the Vet info JannB
So tonight I put a 5gal bucket in her enclosure and put her in it and cover two sides with a sheet. Tonight was the first time I saw somewhat of a bump/egg shape by her hind leg. She is still pretty aggressive but not pacing as much so I hope she lays them.
Thanks All
 
I was wondering if I am not suppose to let her see me or bother her how am i suppose to spray her? and this morning when her light first came on she was sitting to one side all sorts of colors looking up. She has complet privacy from 7-11:30 could I spray her then or just leave her until tonight?

Thanks Again Very Fortunate I Joined this Forum!
 
Sooo Totally frustrated. I put Jade in the 5 gallon bucket with play sand in her enclosure and i dug a test hole and put her in there over night and until 12:30pm when i came home for lunch. I checked in on her and the sand looked totally compacted and "I thought" she looked a little different so I took the bucket out, put the plant back in and my husband dug around in the sand and NO EGGS! I am beginning to wonder if it could be something else or I am just impatient.

Are there other reasons they stop eating? She had 5 crickets in her enclosure Mon. and i can only find 1 today but........that doesn't mean they are not in there.
 
Don't leave crickets in the enclosure with your cham over night. They can eat on your cham. I've seen pictures of what a cricket can do to a chameleon. Also after 6 hours or so your crickets are no longer gutloaded and they are useless for your cham to eat. You are gut-loading with plenty of fruits and veggies and a good dry gutload?

They normally lay in the late afternoon. There can be plenty of other reasons why she's not eating. She could be sick.
 
if she looks different, check the bin again. I did not see lily's at first I pushed some dirt around. I then started going deeper- she went all the way to the bottom of the bin and laid them. A very long tunnel is what she made and covered. I was very surprised to find them that deep! Good luck with her :)
 
Wow, it sounds like your cham is going through exactly the same thing as mine. She might not be fully developed yet...but I'd take her to a vet to be sure! Its really hard to tell when they change their eating habits and claw around the cage but still don't lay :/ I'm taking my baby girl next week. Good luck, I hope all goes well for you and your girl!!!

Melanie
 
UPDATE
So I took my girl in and she checked out just fine the Vet said that she might have noticed the weather change here and suggested I leave her heat light on day (was a little on the colder side at night) and night and see if that helps and if not then I can bring her back and they will run more tests. As for her not eating as much they said she might want a little more variety or different treats when I feed her! SO thankful she is back to sleeping in her tree and Green at night!

So does anybody know where online I can order insects / worms our local reptile shop only has meal and super worms, cockroaches, and crickets.
 
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