First Batch of Eggs

[Kays04]

My girl just laid her first batch of eggs last night (infertile). Oddly enough, she didn't bury them or anything. She just laid them while up at the top of her cage on a vine and they dropped onto the cage floor and some even landed in the plants. Should I remove them? She seems to be acting normal.

 

[summoner12]

My girl just laid her first batch of eggs last night (infertile). Oddly enough, she didn't bury them or anything. She just laid them while up at the top of her cage on a vine and they dropped onto the cage floor and some even landed in the plants. Should I remove them? She seems to be acting normal.

Did you provide a place for her to lay? If you did not give her a bucket of sand or dirt to lay in and she just dropped them, that seems strange.

I would make sure she doesn't have any eggs to lay and make sure you provide plenty of water and food for her.

Read up on Brad Ramsey's site for some tips on female care.

 

[Kays04]

I actually didn't provide her with a place to lay her eggs. That was something I oddly never came across while reading up on them before I got her. I'm glad everything went well in spite of my lack of knowledge on the subject. I know now though. She laid quite a few eggs and yes, she did just drop them to the ground. She's got plenty of food and water. Thanks for the link to the site... it's always good to get more information.

 

[summoner12]

I actually didn't provide her with a place to lay her eggs. That was something I oddly never came across while reading up on them before I got her. I'm glad everything went well in spite of my lack of knowledge on the subject. I know now though. She laid quite a few eggs and yes, she did just drop them to the ground. She's got plenty of food and water. Thanks for the link to the site... it's always good to get more information.

How do you provide water? How many eggs did she lay?

 

[Kays04]

I provide her water with a mister and a waterfall (at the moment... cleaning very often and thoroughly because my dripper was problematic). She laid approx. 15 eggs

 

[summoner12]

I provide her water with a mister and a waterfall (at the moment... cleaning very often and thoroughly because my dripper was problematic). She laid approx. 15 eggs

OK she did not lay all of her eggs. You need to make a place for her to lay. You should get a large trash bin and put about 10-12" of moist play sand in the bottom. You need to do this soon because if she dropped eggs it means she couldn't hold them any longer. Place a plant in there for her to use as cover. Give her a heat lamp to keep warm but keep an eye on the temps. Make sure the sand is moist enough that it will hold form as she digs and won't cave in on her. Once you place her in there check on her every now and then but use a mirror to look over the edge, do not disturb her. If she feels she is being watched she will not lay her eggs. Read up on that site I posted, Brad talks about laying bins for females.

 

[Kays04]

Oh my goodness... thanks so much... I will do that first thing in the morning! I hope she'll be ok...

 

[Chameleonboy]

Keep us updated..... It would have been cool if she laid some eggs on new year.

 

[Kays04]

Her laying box is all set up but I'm having trouble getting her out of her cage and into the laying box. She's completely freaking out anytime I try to ease her onto my hand. I don't want to keep trying and stressing her out... I don't know what to do. I currently have a vine going from her cage to the laying box hoping that she will go in herself but I don't know.

PS. Her cage is too small to put a laying box inside it. I am in the process of upgrading her enclosure.

 

[ocdirtyjerz]

Im assuming she will make her instinctive way down to the bin when needed. Use a tubberwear container with depth.

Sounds as if you may want to read up a lot of info before going further. Try to use the search for housing, sexes, breeding, food/water, behavior, etc. And things not to do.

 

[Kays04]

Im assuming she will make her instinctive way down to the bin when needed. Use a tubberwear container with depth.

Sounds as if you may want to read up a lot of info before going further. Try to use the search for housing, sexes, breeding, food/water, behavior, etc. And things not to do.

The laying box I have made is as Summoner12 has suggested (which is also pretty much the same as everything else I've read). I have done research on her quite a bit (not sure why you said that)... she just doesn't like to be bothered which is typical behaviour.

Side note from a previous post: She doesn't even look like she's holding eggs. She doesn't look like a "marble bag" just regular size so that'd be why I didn't think she needed to lay eggs right now.

 

[summoner12]

Good luck!

The laying box I have made is as Summoner12 has suggested (which is also pretty much the same as everything else I've read). I have done research on her quite a bit (not sure why you said that)... she just doesn't like to be bothered which is typical behaviour.

Side note from a previous post: She doesn't even look like she's holding eggs. She doesn't look like a "marble bag" just regular size so that'd be why I didn't think she needed to lay eggs right now.

So you did the big trash can? Yesterday I did a 5gallon bucket with about 10-12" of peat moss and play sand. I placed a 25w heat lamp two to three feet above her. As soon as I put her into the bucket and left her alone she was digging. I checked up on her through the day... and night... this morning she was sitting on the dirt, filthy. I made some vids... ill post in a bit.

BTW, just pull her out of the cage... she'll lunge and gape, be gentle but don't let her scare you. Put her into the tub and leave her be.

Do you have a substrate or plant she may have dug in?

 

[Kays04]

Success! She's in! My husband was able to get her out of her cage without her even freaking a bit... sigh! The important thing is that she's in her laying box and she can do her thang. I'll keep you posted... thanks again for all the advice.

PS. I did go with the large bin. If her enclosure was bigger then I would have used a smaller bin and just put it in her enclosure.

 

[sandrachameleon]

If you are worried about getting bite or stressing her, turn off all the lights, wait until her eyes are closed, toss a small towel over her, gently gently ease her off the branches, plunk her in the laying bin/cage with lights on.

Dropping eggs on the cage floor is a sign of desperation. She may still have other eggs. Its important she have opportunity to get rid of any remaining eggs. You may consider a vet visit if she doesnt lay more, to ensure she hasnt retained some but has "switched modes" and isnt thinking about laying them now.

Even if your cage is too small to keep a laying bin in it, you can put a small shallow bowl of sand on the bottom of the cage. If you notice her checking out the sand, move her to a suitable laying place.

 

[BocaJan]

One last thing.....take out the waterfall while she is gone! It harbors bacteria and they don't drink from it. Misting will take care of her water needs as they general lick wet leaves and branches.

Oh, BTW, what kind of a cham is she? Different chams lay different amounts of eggs. If she is a veiled she is probably not done laying. I don't know about panthers...maybe they lay a different amount of eggs. If this is her first infertile clutch, it may not be too big. However, you did the correct thing to supply her with a laying bin. I hope you put a branch and some leaves or a small plant in it so she can stand on something other then the most dirt/sand.

 

[Kays04]

She is a veiled chameleon. Yes, this is her first clutch. She's done approx 15 so far without the laying bin (as mentioned in a previous post). She's got a vine and some foliage to climb on in the laying bin. I used play sand because that's all that's available in stores around here right now (winter).

 

[summoner12]

She is a veiled chameleon. Yes, this is her first clutch. She's done approx 15 so far without the laying bin (as mentioned in a previous post). She's got a vine and some foliage to climb on in the laying bin. I used play sand because that's all that's available in stores around here right now (winter).

Did you wet the sand so it can hold its shape as she digs? It should be warm too... put a heat lamp above the can so it warms her and the sand.

keep checking on her but don't let her see you. Make sure the sand holds its form and isn't crumbly or she could get stuck in her hole.

 

[Kays04]

The sand is great. It holds it's shape quite well. I've got the heat lamp and UVB lamp over the bin. I've got a mirror near the bin so that I can subtly peek in on her.

No action yet. She's just sitting on her vine.

 

[ChrisnLisa]

Well I agree that putting her in a laying bin is a good idea, but I just wanted to mention that our female veiled only layed 17 eggs her first time. But if your temps and feeding were controlled as ours were, smaller clutches like this are possible.

 

[Kays04]

Thanks for letting me know that she may be done with approx 15 eggs. Now that she's out of her regular enclosure, I'm going to remove all the eggs and actually count them. It doesn't seem like she has more to lay but she's in there just in case. How long should I wait? She's been in there for almost 24 hours now and nothing. And like I mentioned before, she didn't even look like she needed to lay eggs.