Having second clutch

[Gemeleon dude]

So on October 6 just a few months ago my female panther had her first clutch, all the eggs looked good and she recovered fine, now today I caught her digging in her lay bin again.. is this a bad thing? I called the vet and they said too just watch the process and any problems let them know. Maybe a second opinion will help calm my nerves

 

[Beman]

Did you breed her?

 

[Gemeleon dude]

Did you breed her?

No

 

[Beman]

No

It is not uncommon for them to lay eggs every 120 days. This is more typically seen when they are not limited in their food intake and basking temps reduced. Do you have her on reduced food intake and lower basking temps already? If not what type of food intake does she get and what are her basking temps?

 

[Gemeleon dude]

It is not uncommon for them to lay eggs every 120 days. This is more typically seen when they are not limited in their food intake and basking temps reduced. Do you have her on reduced food intake and lower basking temps already? If not what type of food intake does she get and what are her basking temps?

We feed her 4 days a week with 3 or 4 crickets that we dust, we’ve been keeping her temps 78-80,, and also she was digging a hole and it collapsed so I had to get her out, will this make her go egg bound?

 

[Gemeleon dude]

We feed her 4 days a week with 3 or 4 crickets that we dust, we’ve been keeping her temps 78-80,, and also she was digging a hole and it collapsed so I had to get her out, will this make her go egg bound? @Beman

 

[Beman]

We feed her 4 days a week with 3 or 4 crickets that we dust, we’ve been keeping her temps 78-80,, and also she was digging a hole and it collapsed so I had to get her out, will this make her go egg bound? @Beman

So she is still eating a bit too much. We recommend 3 days a week with 3 feeders each feeding. Basking temps are correct for her. Once she gets through this clutch you want to decrease to the 3 feedings a week.

You will want to make sure she can dig a tunnel without it collapsing. If you need to moisten her sand again then do so. Get this done and then start a test tunnel where she originally was digging. Hopefully she will go back to it. If she does not start trying to dig again then yes becoming egg bound is a risk.

 

[Gemeleon dude]

Yeah she caught me off guard when she was digging, I went in and moistened the play sand, she got in a hole and it collapsed and had to pull her out by her tail, she seems to be in shock but she calmed down and is back on a stick,, i started to re dig the hole where it was and she instantly looked down where I was digging so hopefully she’s still gonna lay

 

[Gemeleon dude]

Also, if I had to pull her out of the hole, will that spook her in to not going back too the lay bin or if she has too lay eggs she’ll go back?

 

[Beman]

Yeah she caught me off guard when she was digging, I went in and moistened the play sand, she got in a hole and it collapsed and had to pull her out by her tail, she seems to be in shock but she calmed down and is back on a stick,, i started to re dig the hole where it was and she instantly looked down where I was digging so hopefully she’s still gonna lay

Ok just make sure you mixed up the sand with the water so she does not hit a pocket of dry sand. Otherwise it will collapse. Fingers crossed she is motivated and just goes back to it. Normal rules apply once you get it fixed. Don't watch her and don't remove her from the cage.

 

[Gemeleon dude]

So if she becomes egg bound, there’s nothing you can do to help that right? It’s just rip

 

[Beman]

So if she becomes egg bound, there’s nothing you can do to help that right? It’s just rip

Not true... A vet can give them something to induce laying... But a good vet with experience can also spay them. This from what I have read should be done before they start to decline from not expelling the eggs. The stronger they are the better they get through a surgery.

Right now just see what she does. She may be fully motivated to start digging.

 

[Gemeleon dude]

When will it be too late to get her into a vet?

 

[Beman]

@MissSkittles @Sonny13 @kinyonga can you offer words of wisdom here since yall have hands on experience with females.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. It seems to be too soon for her to be laying another clutch, but she makes the timetable so .
I had one of my girls get buried when her tunnel collapsed and dug her out. For the rest of the day she basked on her branch, but the next morning was back to digging and laid her clutch without further problem. Since then though, I try to keep the depth of the bins shorter. My veileds get about 5-6” and my smaller panther has a bioactive that is only about 4-5”. Your girl should return to digging tomorrow. If she doesn’t or hasn’t laid any eggs by say Monday, get her to a vet to get checked out. If in the meantime she starts showing any signs of distress - not basking/staying low in the enclosure, not eating/drinking, lethargic, eyes closed during the day, etc - get her to the vet asap. As @Beman has said, they can give medication to induce her to lay and if she is egg bound, surgery needs to be done. Usually with the surgery they also spay so she won’t produce eggs again.

 

[MissSkittles]

I forgot to add that it’s a good idea to weigh your chameleons on a regular basis, especially the girls. I weigh mine about monthly, but some weigh weekly or every other week. I have an idea of what my girls’ baseline weights are and when they start gaining weight, I know they’re producing eggs. It’s also just a good way to monitor the general well being of your cham.

 

[Gemeleon dude]

Thank you for all your help, just one more question.. so I dug a little test hole where she was initially digging, is that okay? Or should I cover it back up and smooth the surface

 

[MissSkittles]

Thank you for all your help, just one more question.. so I dug a little test hole where she was initially digging, is that okay? Or should I cover it back up and smooth the surface

I don’t think that should be any problem. She may go back to that spot and use it, or she may dig elsewhere.

 

[Sonny13]

Personally, I think it‘s too soon as well, in general it should be 120 - 160 days. My girl is on the diet and lays small clutches, but is overly productive and lays always every 160 days. Prior on the digging, did she had her receptive colors? Was she restless? Looked bigger then normal? Stopped eating 1-2 days before digging? Not that extremely experienced, only with my own girl(s), but it sounds just to fast. And before they lay their eggs a whole process goes beforehand. Maybe with retained sperm it could speed up the cyclus, but that is also not the case with your girl.
Good thing is she knows what to do and started digging on her again, just make sure the sand is moist enough and give her privacy.
Maybe @kinyonga has the ultimate answer?

 

[Gemeleon dude]

woke up too her digging again,, fingers crossed. But no she had no receptive colors and she ate before digging lol. I did notice her running all over the cage before hand