Huge Amount of eggs laid!

E

Ellie2905

New Member
Hi guys,
I have a veiled chameleon around nine months old, I rescued her so not 110% on her exact age. She laid her first clutch of eggs about three months ago (infertile) and there were 56, which I thought was on the large side but not dangerous. Well, last night she laid her second batch (also infertile) and there were 73! Which is huge. She has always been on the skinny side due to her being neglected by pervious owners but every time I’ve got her to a good weight or a safe weight she then because gravid and needs to lay. Has anyone got any advice as I’m worried I’m going to loose her if she has another clutch of eggs that big.
I feed her gut loaded hoppers, mario worms and wax worms all dusted in calcium, she won’t really eat anything else and I also have to give her a supplement which was given to me by the vets for underweight tropical animals.
you can kind of see how thin she is by the picture
helps guys!
 
Omg that's alot. I'm not experienced with females but those who are will ask you to fill this out, there are things you can do to make the clutches smaller.

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:
  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.
 
I think you forgot to add pictures 😁

I don't have much experience with veileds (@Beman ), but a healthy weight can vary a lot by individual. She could (maybe likely, given her history) have stunted growth and need to stay at a significantly lower weight than average. Hopefully the pictures will help. In addition, it could just be her body adjusting to finally having sufficient resources, and she may not lay such huge clutches in the future.
 
Klyde O'Scope said:
IDT it was the same poster; this one only has 5 posts, none of which mention large clutches.
Click to expand...
In the thread "veiled chameleon help" they mention their female was put to sleep, after mentioning they think she might be gravid or something....
That was 3 months ago and said it was a rescue who was about 6 months old...
 
If you fill out the husbandry form, someone can make sure everything is as perfect as it needs to be. Laying takes a great deal out of our ladies and shortens their lives. Plus, having such large clutches increases the risks for problems such as egg-binding.
I have 2 veiled females...1 is about 2 years old and the other is about 1 1/2. The older lady has laid twice and the younger, just once. It’s almost a year since either laid. I keep their temps no higher than 80* and feed 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week. I do give occasional treats of pupated bsfl or the occasional silkworm. So far this is working quite well.
 
AmandaS said:
In the thread "veiled chameleon help" they mention their female was put to sleep, after mentioning they think she might be gravid or something....
That was 3 months ago and said it was a rescue who was about 6 months old...
Click to expand...
Yes, that's the thread I saw. Didn't think it was the same. Thought I recalled something more recent about a large clutch—I think I reacted 😲 but not sure.

EDIT: The thread I thought I remembered is
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/hey-guys-new-just-introducing-myself.180668/
Mistaken about reacting.
 
Last edited:
That is a lot my girl has layed twice with me first 41 second 52 hopefully the next clutch will not increase as I have been more careful with her diet I only give her 1 pachnoda grub and 2 ww a week feed every other day 3 feeders and temps around 80
 
You said..."I have a veiled chameleon around nine months old, I rescued her so not 110% on her exact age. She laid her first clutch of eggs about three months ago (infertile) and there were 56, which I thought was on the large side but not dangerous"...so they would have been laid in October? Did she dig a hole and lay them in it, fill the hole and return to the branches

You said..."last night she laid her second batch (also infertile) and there were 73! Which is huge"...it's hard on them to lay that many eggs at one time for sure. Seems a little early for her to have laid this clutch....they usually lay infertile clutches about 120 or so days apart.

You said..."She has always been on the skinny side due to her being neglected by pervious owners but every time I’ve got her to a good weight or a safe weight she then because gravid and needs to lay"...huge clutches are usually the result of over feeding a chameleon constantly. What I have done for years to prevent them from laying large clutches is, once the female lays a clutch, I feed her well for only a couple of (one or two) feedings after she has laid to help her recover and then cut her back to 3 or 4 crickets every two or three days (or other insects of about that size) and keep the basking temperature at 80F to help slow her metabolism. When you first start it they may lay a couple more clutches but they should be smaller....they should eventually stop laying altogether.

You said..."I feed her gut loaded hoppers, mario worms and wax worms all dusted in calcium, she won’t really eat anything else and I also have to give her a supplement which was given to me by the vets for underweight tropical animals"... What supplement from the vet?whats your calcium dust? Is it phos free? D3 free?
Wax worms should be a treat once in a while. What do you gutload with?

Please post a couple of photos from the last day or two.
you can kind of see how thin she is by the picture
helps guys!
[/QUOTE]
 
kinyonga said:
You said..."I have a veiled chameleon around nine months old, I rescued her so not 110% on her exact age. She laid her first clutch of eggs about three months ago (infertile) and there were 56, which I thought was on the large side but not dangerous"...so they would have been laid in October? Did she dig a hole and lay them in it, fill the hole and return to the branches

You said..."last night she laid her second batch (also infertile) and there were 73! Which is huge"...it's hard on them to lay that many eggs at one time for sure. Seems a little early for her to have laid this clutch....they usually lay infertile clutches about 120 or so days apart.

You said..."She has always been on the skinny side due to her being neglected by pervious owners but every time I’ve got her to a good weight or a safe weight she then because gravid and needs to lay"...huge clutches are usually the result of over feeding a chameleon constantly. What I have done for years to prevent them from laying large clutches is, once the female lays a clutch, I feed her well for only a couple of (one or two) feedings after she has laid to help her recover and then cut her back to 3 or 4 crickets every two or three days (or other insects of about that size) and keep the basking temperature at 80F to help slow her metabolism. When you first start it they may lay a couple more clutches but they should be smaller....they should eventually stop laying altogether.

You said..."I feed her gut loaded hoppers, mario worms and wax worms all dusted in calcium, she won’t really eat anything else and I also have to give her a supplement which was given to me by the vets for underweight tropical animals"... What supplement from the vet?whats your calcium dust? Is it phos free? D3 free?
Wax worms should be a treat once in a while. What do you gutload with?

Please post a couple of photos from the last day or two.
you can kind of see how thin she is by the picture
helps guys!
Click to expand...
[/QUOTE]
Yes she laid her last clutch in early October. She has a lay bin and she digs a hole and goes back to the branches.
If I don’t feed her enough she gets seriously underweight she doesn’t hold condition very well since she was neglected.
I have multiple dusts one with D3 which she get once a month. A normal calcium dust and the supplement is intensive care emeraid ic omnivore.
 
Klyde O'Scope said:
Yes, that's the thread I saw. Didn't think it was the same. Thought I recalled something more recent about a large clutch—I think I reacted 😲 but not sure.

EDIT: The thread I thought I remembered is
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/hey-guys-new-just-introducing-myself.180668/
Mistaken about reacting.
Click to expand...
Yes I rescued two unfortunately the one was I spoke about last time was much worse and when I took her to the vets they put her to sleep. The pair were from the same clutch apparently so were the same age
 
MissSkittles said:
If you fill out the husbandry form, someone can make sure everything is as perfect as it needs to be. Laying takes a great deal out of our ladies and shortens their lives. Plus, having such large clutches increases the risks for problems such as egg-binding.
I have 2 veiled females...1 is about 2 years old and the other is about 1 1/2. The older lady has laid twice and the younger, just once. It’s almost a year since either laid. I keep their temps no higher than 80* and feed 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week. I do give occasional treats of pupated bsfl or the occasional silkworm. So far this is working quite well.
Click to expand...
Thank you I will do that now. Nice to know someone is here to help and not just point out that I’ve lost one before. I’m asking for help not insults. I get my girls from homes where they’ve been neglected and I put in so much time and effort to get them back to health
 
Ellie2905 said:
Thank you I will do that now. Nice to know someone is here to help and not just point out that I’ve lost one before. I’m asking for help not insults. I get my girls from homes where they’ve been neglected and I put in so much time and effort to get them back to health
Click to expand...
I don’t think anyone was trying to insult you...they were just trying to clarify. It wasn’t known that you had rescued two chams. I’m sorry the one girl didn’t make it. Let’s move forward and make sure everything is perfect for this young lady.
 
Yes she laid her last clutch in early October. She has a lay bin and she digs a hole and goes back to the branches.
If I don’t feed her enough she gets seriously underweight she doesn’t hold condition very well since she was neglected.
I have multiple dusts one with D3 which she get once a month. A normal calcium dust and the supplement is intensive care emeraid ic omnivore.
[/QUOTE]
Hi, there! She should be getting a quality brand of phosphorus-free calcium without D3 each feeding, except for when using other supplements. She also needs a quality brand of multivitamin with D3 once every two weeks as well (if you take her outside when it‘s warm enough out, it can change how often D3 is given, depending on how long she goes outside for each time- which means you’ll need a quality brand of phosphorus-free calcium with D3 once every two weeks and a quality brand of multivitamin without D3 once every two weeks, as well, so you can regulate how much D3 is given during those times). Does her multivitamin have pre-formed Vitamin A in it?
 
Here’s feeder and gutload charts, too!
 

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Ellie2905 said:
Thank you I will do that now. Nice to know someone is here to help and not just point out that I’ve lost one before. I’m asking for help not insults. I get my girls from homes where they’ve been neglected and I put in so much time and effort to get them back to health
Click to expand...
I don't think anyone has intentionally insulted you. We were just discussing that it was likely not the one you mentioned before, since you told us the outcome. We are all here to help. We all want the chams to be taken care of. And I think its wonderful that you have taken girls from homes where they havent gotten the best care. It is admirable that you help them. They all deserve the best chance.

You've gotten a lot of great info and I dont think I can add to what's been said. 🙂
 
@MissSkittles said...."I don’t think anyone was trying to insult you...they were just trying to clarify"... Exactly...I thought that maybe the first one hadn't been put to sleep after all, by some miracle, since the age matched.

Everything I said was trying to get enough information to help you.
Just like a vet or doctor would ask questions to figure things out...I have to ask questions too. (I'm not a vet or a doctor....I've just kept chameleons for over 30 years.)

BTW...I can't see any photo in this thread....which is why I asked for you to post one.
 
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