Female Veiled Laying first eggs!

[Baileyrob1189]

Hello there!

My female veiled chameleon is laying her first eggs! But I'm wondering if I need to move a heat source near her.
Some background info:

• Her enclosure is 5'tall x 2' wide.
• We hit 90 degrees at the top and down to 70 at the bottom.
• Mist 3 times a day for about 3 minutes with warm water.
• I feed her 3-5 crickets or dubia roaches every other day. Her last feeding was 1/16/21.
• I actually just took her in for her first vet visit two weeks ago and he said she was THRIVING. As a first time chameleon owner, this made my heart soar!
• Her lay bin is 1' deep and is a mixture of soil and sand. It is at the bottom of the enclosure where it's coldest. She took right to it and has been digging for two days now. I have blocked the bottom half of the enclosure so she has privacy. But if I peer down from atop the boards I can see her progress. She's dug down about 6-8" but I can still see the top of her.
• When I checked in on her this morning, she wasn't moving. I figured she was just taking a break but her coloring was very dark! An hour later, still no movement. So I panicked and moved her main light lower in the enclosure thinking she didn't have enough heat. I checked in on her a couple of minutes ago and her coloring is back to green and she is moving again.

Should I keep her main light down there so she can stay warmer? Or is it disrupting her process?

Very thankful for this forum!

 

[Beman]

Hello there!

My female veiled chameleon is laying her first eggs! But I'm wondering if I need to move a heat source near her.
Some background info:

• Her enclosure is 5'tall x 2' wide.
• We hit 90 degrees at the top and down to 70 at the bottom.
• Mist 3 times a day for about 3 minutes with warm water.
• I feed her 3-5 crickets or dubia roaches every other day. Her last feeding was 1/16/21.
• I actually just took her in for her first vet visit two weeks ago and he said she was THRIVING. As a first time chameleon owner, this made my heart soar!
• Her lay bin is 1' deep and is a mixture of soil and sand. It is at the bottom of the enclosure where it's coldest. She took right to it and has been digging for two days now. I have blocked the bottom half of the enclosure so she has privacy. But if I peer down from atop the boards I can see her progress. She's dug down about 6-8" but I can still see the top of her.
• When I checked in on her this morning, she wasn't moving. I figured she was just taking a break but her coloring was very dark! An hour later, still no movement. So I panicked and moved her main light lower in the enclosure thinking she didn't have enough heat. I checked in on her a couple of minutes ago and her coloring is back to green and she is moving again.

Should I keep her main light down there so she can stay warmer? Or is it disrupting her process?

Very thankful for this forum!

Put the light back on the top. Your going to throw her off. She knows what she is doing...
Your temps at basking are way too hot for a female. You need to drop that back to 78. Temps and food intake directly impact how many eggs they lay. So we limit both to ensure a smaller clutch which is easier on them.

 

[ERKleRose]

Hello there!

My female veiled chameleon is laying her first eggs! But I'm wondering if I need to move a heat source near her.
Some background info:

• Her enclosure is 5'tall x 2' wide.
• We hit 90 degrees at the top and down to 70 at the bottom.
• Mist 3 times a day for about 3 minutes with warm water.
• I feed her 3-5 crickets or dubia roaches every other day. Her last feeding was 1/16/21.
• I actually just took her in for her first vet visit two weeks ago and he said she was THRIVING. As a first time chameleon owner, this made my heart soar!
• Her lay bin is 1' deep and is a mixture of soil and sand. It is at the bottom of the enclosure where it's coldest. She took right to it and has been digging for two days now. I have blocked the bottom half of the enclosure so she has privacy. But if I peer down from atop the boards I can see her progress. She's dug down about 6-8" but I can still see the top of her.
• When I checked in on her this morning, she wasn't moving. I figured she was just taking a break but her coloring was very dark! An hour later, still no movement. So I panicked and moved her main light lower in the enclosure thinking she didn't have enough heat. I checked in on her a couple of minutes ago and her coloring is back to green and she is moving again.

Should I keep her main light down there so she can stay warmer? Or is it disrupting her process?

Very thankful for this forum!

Welcome! What do you mean warm water? Room temp is best!

 

[ERKleRose]

What do you gutload and supplement with? And what types of lights does she have (including distances from them to her basking branch)? Just wanting to make sure everything is tip-top for your girl!

 

[kinyonga]

What's the temperature at the bottom of the cage?
Don't let her see you watching her while she's digging.

 

[Baileyrob1189]

Welcome! What do you mean warm water? Room temp is best!

We do mostly room temp but also mix in some warmer ones and she absolutely loves it. She runs to the mister and stretches out in front of it Her own warm shower.

 

[Baileyrob1189]

What's the temperature at the bottom of the cage?
Don't let her see you watching her while she's digging.

It's 69 - 70 at the very bottom. We're on day 4 of digging.

 

[Baileyrob1189]

What do you gutload and supplement with? And what types of lights does she have (including distances from them to her basking branch)? Just wanting to make sure everything is tip-top for your girl!

What's the temperature at the bottom of the cage?
Don't let her see you watching her while she's digging.

I gutload the crickets and roaches with carrots, apples and romaine. Calcium is fluke's reptacalcium with vitamin d supplement. She's got her main heat lamp which is a regular bulb. Main basking branch is about a 8" below lamp. Also have her UVB lamp. And nighttime heat lamp. And an extra heating pad attached to the side. I leave her door open from time to time and when she crawls out I offer her my hand. She crawls on and I let her get some actual sun rays.

 

[ERKleRose]

I gutload the crickets and roaches with carrots, apples and romaine. Calcium is fluke's reptacalcium with vitamin d supplement. She's got her main heat lamp which is a regular bulb. Main basking branch is about a 8" below lamp. Also have her UVB lamp. And nighttime heat lamp. And an extra heating pad attached to the side. I leave her door open from time to time and when she crawls out I offer her my hand. She crawls on and I let her get some actual sun rays.

More varied gutload is recommended. I’ll attach a chart for it. She needs quality (like Zoo Med, not Fluker’s) phosphorus-free calcium without D3 every feeding, expect for when using other supplements. A multivitamin without D3 once every two weeks, and a phosphorus-free calcium with D3 once every two weeks, as well. How often is each outside session? That can change how often D3 is given. I’d also stop any D3 supplement for a bit, depending on how often she’s been getting calcium with D3, I’d let someone more experienced go into detail on that and if to do it, though. No heat pad, remove it ASAP! No heat lamp at night, either! Only if it goes below 50-55*F at night, then a ceramic heat emitter at the lowest wattage possible to raise it up to those temps should be used, placed over one corner and hung far enough away!

 

[ERKleRose]

Here’s the chart