how to get my female veiled chameleon to dig?

chickenleg77

chickenleg77

New Member
Hi,

i have been told by my vet that my chameleon has a very large clutch of eggs but she is showing no willingness to dig. i have put a plant pot in her vivarium approximatly 14inches tall filled it with soil (recommend by the pet shop) covered her vivarium and left her to it. i have had sneak peaks through the top and she hasnt seen me but she doesnt go any where near it. i have seen people post that they get a garbage bin and fill that up with soil. can someone explain to me how they do it because im quite sure if i put my female in there should would just try to climb back out, also how do you get the heat lamp and uvb light for them.

i would really appreciate any advice. pictures of set ups would be helpful to

Thanks
 
My female usually lays hers in the tub in her viv. Is your female still eating? They can stop eating for anything up to 10 days before laying. Is she going to the bottom at all?
 
LOL I have the same questions!

My female is showing, but she hasn't started going to the bottom but she HAS stopped eating/drinking anything (day 3)

How do I "Wash" play sand?
 
she stopped eating last friday (9 days ago) but she is still drinking. to be honest she looks perfectly healthy. she Roams the enitre vivarium top to bottom like she is searching for something but not once has she dug a hole in the pot or at the bottom of the vivarium.
 
maybe not enough privacy? My cham is climbing ANYWHERE she can to try and find a place where she can't even see movement in her room. I'm making her a deep laying bin as we speak.
 
i have covered her vivarium in a blanket so she cant see out and we cant see in and apart from a peak from above to see what she is doing she has had total privacy. thats why i was thinking of the garbage bin.

what size laying bin are you using?
 
Hardwyre said:
LOL I have the same questions!

My female is showing, but she hasn't started going to the bottom but she HAS stopped eating/drinking anything (day 3)

How do I "Wash" play sand?
Click to expand...

they sell it washed. Go on Jann B's page and click on her blog for egg laying and the laying bin.
 
yeah, I also called the vet and got some cool instructions on washing regular play sand. :D My vet is a herp freak. she has 20+ reptiles free-ranging her home lol!

but yeah, I'm prepping a tall rubber trash bin with washed play sand and peat moss (70/30 mix I'm thinking...). The bin is about 2' high, 6" wide and about a foot long. I'm going to make her a way to climb down into it and have it properly hydrated (tunnel-worthy :) )

I am also going to prep a larger bin if I need to isolate her for some serious alone time.

not sure what I'm going to use for that yet... :rolleyes:


as for the blog that Carol mentioned:
JANN B.'s BLOG

AWESOME info there (thanks Carol5208) but she doesn't mention anything about light/heat/UVB accommodations which I also am wondering about...
 
My bin fits in the Vivarium so I'm going to take everything out and put her in it. I'm not sure if I should give her a way to climb out as she will probably climb out and not go down there to lay eggs.

Im racking my brains as to why she isn't interested in this tub of soil :confused:
 
chickenleg77 said:
Im racking my brains as to why she isn't interested in this tub of soil :confused:
Click to expand...

I don't know, I'm sorry :p

Here's what I did now that it is laying-time:

1197axg.jpg


the sheet is just around the sides, not over the top.
 
I always have an opaque container (at least 12" deep x 12" x 8") of playsand in the cage with any sexually mature female so she always has a place to dig to show you that she needs to lay eggs. Once she starts digging in that container she can be moved to a bigger container if need be but most of them will lay it in the one in the cage.
 
kinyonga said:
I always have an opaque container (at least 12" deep x 12" x 8") of playsand in the cage with any sexually mature female so she always has a place to dig to show you that she needs to lay eggs. Once she starts digging in that container she can be moved to a bigger container if need be but most of them will lay it in the one in the cage.
Click to expand...

just keep it moist?
 
I don't usually even keep it moist until I see her start to dig in it. Then when she goes back up in the branches I moisten it.

There are a couple of reasons why a gravid female won't be digging....either its too soon (she's not ready) or she's eggbound (past the point where she can lay the eggs). The problem is that its difficult to know whether she's not digging because she's not ready or if its because she's eggbound....and if she's eggbound then the only option is spaying her.

If she shows signs of going down hill (lethargy, not eating, shutting her eyes during the day, sitting low in the cage, etc.) you need to get her to a vet right away because when they start to crash from being eggbound its usually pretty fast.
 
Last edited:
She has a couple more days but then I will have no choice but to take her to the vets to be spayed. Good luck hardwyre I hope everything goes ok. Let me know when she lays.
 
When I spoke to my vet the weekend he just mentioned spaying her. I am going to phone my vet tomorrow to make an appointment for her Wednesday as I think any longer her health may decline I will ask him what he thinks. She still showed no signs of digging today I even spent a bit of time digging a hole for her as I heard showing them how to dig sometimes works. There had be no I tervention all day I only had a peak through the top just before lights out.

Thank you very much for all your help.
 
In your opinion should I leave her viv set up how it is or shall I put her in the garbage laying bin and see if she lays? tomorrow will be her last chance to lay. She has shown no signs of digging so I'm thinking that putting her in the bin where she can not escape may cause stress. What do you think?
 
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