How to bring on egg laying urgent?

[Kanej]

my female veiled is 10 months old and i know for certain that she is heavy gravid, these are infertile eggs by the way as i have not mated her. but the problem lies she just doesnt want to lay. there is a laying bin in her cage which is made up of peat moss. i have already made two dummy holes in the soil, but the doesnt even go in this bin? how do i bring on the egg laying. must i turn up the temps, they are at on average during the day around 29 degrees celcius. but i can see the is hectic fat, dark with yellow spots.
please help
thank you

 

[Elizadolots]

ooo...I'm so sorry you are going through this.

Have you wrapped the bottom of her cage so she can feel isolated? I think that's a vital step. Also, I have to ask: can she get to the bin easily? Is there a vine going right to it?

Push comes to shove, you might want to set up an alternative laying bin and move her to it. Jannb has a great blog post on this.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

 

[Kanej]

what do you mean by wrapped the bottom of her cage????

 

[AngieL]

I think Eliza means covering up the cage so she can't see out. Females need total privacy to lay and she won't do it if she thinks your watching or if there's a chance you'll catch her doing it.

Janns blog linked above is an excellent place to go for advice on egg laying. You can try the trash can idea so she has nothing to do but dig and lay. If this fails then you need to take her to the vet who can give her a shot to help her along.

Hope you guys get on ok!

 

[christinecollins87]

i hope everything goes great for her good luck

 

[clarkrw3]

I have always had better luck with 85-95% playsand to 5-15% soil mixture and all my chams have laid with next to the roots of a plant in the laying substrate.

 

[spawn]

I have always had better luck with 85-95% playsand to 5-15% soil mixture and all my chams have laid with next to the roots of a plant in the laying substrate.

Do you mix it all up or stick the soil at the top? I bought two 50 lbs. bags of playsand last week but when it's moist it almost seems like the perfect consistency for laying, so I'm trying to gauge what - if any - additional components I need.

 

[clarkrw3]

Do you mix it all up or stick the soil at the top? I bought two 50 lbs. bags of playsand last week but when it's moist it almost seems like the perfect consistency for laying, so I'm trying to gauge what - if any - additional components I need.

I mix it in to the sand. I feel it breaks up the sand so that it is a little easier for the female to dig in. Wet sand by its self can have the consistency of cement.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

If you are worried about her possibly crashing on you. You can take her to the vet and get her a shot of oxytocin. It will stimulate her to start having contractions. So she should go ahead and pass the eggs. If you do get the shot it has to be done before she gets too weak to push them out. If you wait to long the shot wont have a chance to work.

Make sure shes as weel hydrated as possible dring this time. Dehydration is often what causes them to go past the point of no return. They have to stay hydrated so that they can have the strength needed to dig and lay. So i give mine water by hand whenever posssible during this period.

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Mix in sand with the peat moss. I have found none of my girls ever dug in peat moss, then one day I added 50% sand to the mixture and within 3 hours most that were heavily gravid started to dig. It 'tunnels' easier than peat does.

Also, I have had girls go months looking like they were going to explode. I was sure they were going to die of eggbinding. I believe in nature taking its course and try to avoid shots of oxytocin (which I have never had to use)....and sure enough they all lay at their own pace. They know when to lay better than I do. The most extreme case I've had was where I thought a female was heavily gravid for 6 months!!!! Very stressful. She had no problems and laid her eggs when she felt like it.

They do prefer laying close to roots IMO if you can provide them. All the reptiles I have ever kept usually lay their eggs right in the root system of plants. I would imagine this prevents 'flooding' of the eggs in the wild, as well as protects them from being dug up, as the roots would drink up the water faster than if they were laid out in the open where water can pool during heavy rains.

Sometimes what I do is just stick a fake plant into the laying mixture and that seems to help.

Goodluck!

 

[RealIzeRecognIze]

ooo...I'm so sorry you are going through this.

Have you wrapped the bottom of her cage so she can feel isolated? I think that's a vital step. Also, I have to ask: can she get to the bin easily? Is there a vine going right to it?

Push comes to shove, you might want to set up an alternative laying bin and move her to it. Jannb has a great blog post on this.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

Would.you say she still would.be scratching at the bottom? Or knows the bin is where she is going to.lay?

 

[kinyonga]

You can't make her lay the eggs before it's the right time to lay them. Using oxytocin can sometimes cause more harm than good if it's not given at the right time. If it's her first clutch its hard to know what the due date is. IMHO all you can do is provide her with good husbandry and a proper place to lay the eggs and the privacy she needs...and hope. If she shows signs of going downhill then you need to get her to a vet right away.