I’m a new chameleon owner with a female veiled and have a few questions that I’m struggling to find anywhere?

[Trace1603]

So this is my first time owning a chameleon or reptile in general which trust me I know is a bad idea to start with now. But so far I think everything is going ok, poured hours and hours into research about everything I need for her. I know the basics, high cage, temp needed, humidity, lay bin. If anyone would be willing to help rate my cage and everything that would be great to just get a second opinion!

But mostly I’m just looking for some other questions like, what all colorations mean (I know some of the ones like right now she’s gravid and stress and what she should normally look like). I’ll include some pictures in here as well to help if I need corrections or anything. Also, she normally hangs out in her basking spot, sometimes she will quickly climb down to the bottom and like, hang out in this one corner but she’s not digging just looking like she wants to climb out and such. Or when I get home from work she will climb on the front door grate and like practically jump on me when I see if she wants out. Then she’ll climb on my shoulder and just hang out a bit till I go to put her back which she will like go right back in. Sometimes she will climb back up my arm like she wants to stay out a bit more.

So here’s how she looks normally. Sometimes a little browner when she’s basking but I’ve heard that’s normal.

Here’s her stressed on the car ride to my home, she was instantly better once I let her crawl on my bed as we set up her cage.

So here’s where I’m kind of stumped. Here’s her in that corner I was talking about earlier. She had the gravid colors with some green on her belly. She has this color when she’s crawling on me sometimes. It’s most of the time along the lines of this though:

I can’t tell if she has some stress colors in there? But she seems content with those colors and she’s out and about. I spooked her once earlier and she showed what definitely looked like stress colors along with gravid. And it was a lot different than this so I’m a bit confused.

Also knowing chameleons are not social animals yet she seems to like to move and be around people. So I don’t know if I’m not doing something right or she’s just weird? Any other help or advice would be great! And sorry for the long post here I’ve got lots of questions

 

[MissSkittles]

Hoo boy! Those are gravid colorations if I ever saw them. Do you have a lay bin set up for her? Has she started digging anywhere yet?

 

[MissSkittles]

Gotta get ready for work, or I’d do my usual ‘talk’ your ears/eyes off.

 

[kinyonga]

Please post some photos of her cage including the ow long has she had the yellow splotches and blue dots?

 

[Trace1603]

Hoo boy! Those are gravid colorations if I ever saw them. Do you have a lay bin set up for her? Has she started digging anywhere yet?

Yea! The whole bottom is actually all reptisoil. We put some vinyl flooring (this rubbery stuff) as like a box in the bottom and just dumped two bags of it in. And no not that I’ve seen. She dug a tiny bit in the corner where she like tries to escape from but not in the back where she has cover

 

[Trace1603]

Please post some photos of her cage including the ow long has she had the yellow splotches and blue dots?

I’ve only had her for about a week now so she came like that. And I will get some as soon as I can in the morning! It’s lights out for her right now.

 

[kinyonga]

It's important that she have a proper place to dig...and once she starts digging, do not let her see you watching her dig.
I'm concerned that she may be unable to lay her eggs and also wonder if she has been mated.

Did you buy her from a store?

 

[MissSkittles]

Do you know if she’s laid eggs before? Where did you get her from? If she’s started to dig somewhere, then she is pretty much ready to lay those eggs. I would cover just the bottom half of her enclosure with a light sheet and not let her see anyone. Don’t take her out of her enclosure. If she starts digging, don’t disturb her for anything short of the house being on fire. If you don’t see her in her usual basking spot in the morning, very carefully peek to see where she is and what she’s doing. Hopefully she’s digging and laying her eggs. The whole process from start to finish usually takes a day or two and you’ll know she’s done when she’s completely covered her tunnels and is basking. She may or may not sleep in her tunnel Signs that you need a vet immediately - lethargy, eyes closed during the day, staying at the bottom, ‘dropping’ eggs throughout the enclosure, not eating/drinking, looking like she’s straining, bloody anything from anywhere, etc.

 

[Trace1603]

Do you know if she’s laid eggs before? Where did you get her from? If she’s started to dig somewhere, then she is pretty much ready to lay those eggs. I would cover just the bottom half of her enclosure with a light sheet and not let her see anyone. Don’t take her out of her enclosure. If she starts digging, don’t disturb her for anything short of the house being on fire. If you don’t see her in her usual basking spot in the morning, very carefully peek to see where she is and what she’s doing. Hopefully she’s digging and laying her eggs. The whole process from start to finish usually takes a day or two and you’ll know she’s done when she’s completely covered her tunnels and is basking. She may or may not sleep in her tunnel Signs that you need a vet immediately - lethargy, eyes closed during the day, staying at the bottom, ‘dropping’ eggs throughout the enclosure, not eating/drinking, looking like she’s straining, bloody anything from anywhere, etc.

No she hasn’t started digging. Idk if she’s laid before. I got her from this reptile show from someone who had a table full of geckos and chameleons and such. She’s still eating and from what I can tell from the poops she’s staying hydrated. Anytime I’ve come home she’s up in her basking spot so I don’t think she’s quite ready yet? And the only times I take her out is when I get home and she like climbs onto the door and like begs to get out. Then when I reach in she jumps out onto me like she’s excited to see me.

So here’s her cage. I’ve got plenty of cover cause I’ve read if it’s super easy to spot her to get more. There’s plenty of plants at the bottom for her to go in the back and dig and hide. So from all I can tell she’s still acting normal and eating and not laying just yet.

 

[Trace1603]

It's important that she have a proper place to dig...and once she starts digging, do not let her see you watching her dig.
I'm concerned that she may be unable to lay her eggs and also wonder if she has been mated.

Did you buy her from a store?

No I got her from a reptile show. The lady had a whole bunch of geckos, chameleons and a couple other lizards. And I have a picture of her enclosure up as a reply to someone else if you’d like to check it

 

[kinyonga]

No I got her from a reptile show. The lady had a whole bunch of geckos, chameleons and a couple other lizards. And I have a picture of her enclosure up as a reply to someone else if you’d like to check it

I see the photo of the cage.
I'm still wondering if she's been mated due to her colors.

 

[Trace1603]

I see the photo of the cage.
I'm still wondering if she's been mated due to her colors.

How could I tell? And is there anything special I have to do then? Also how’s the cage look? Does it look suitable?

So she’s been pacing back and forth like this in the front of the cage for a couple minutes as well. No digging just kinda seeming like she’s clawing at the cage to get out

 

[MissSkittles]

@kinyonga has oodles of experience and who has taught so very many of us, so she just knows stuff.
As you’re new to chameleons, I worry that you don’t know what exactly you’re seeing for behaviors and what those things mean. There’s no doubt that your girl is gravid. Whether or not she’s ready to lay her eggs is something that an even an experienced eye may not see. There is only a limited amount of time that she will have the urge to dig/lay and then she’ll become egg bound. Not knowing about her prior care is also not knowing her risks for becoming egg bound. Egg binding is a very serious and painful thing that needs immediate veterinary care and often a spay surgery to save the chameleon. I suggest for you to err on the side of caution. I want you to get a plastic bin like the one in my pic. Drill a few tiny holes in the bottom for drainage. Fill it about 5-6” deep with washed play sand that is moist enough to hold a tunnel without collapsing. Find a way to squeeze it into your enclosure and give a couple of ways in/out. Cover the bottom half of the enclosure with a sheet. When she is ready to lay, that gives her another option to use. I found thru one of my girls that they can be very particular about where they lay.

 

[Trace1603]

I’ve made the whole bottom basically a lay bin. I wanna say it’s about 6-7 inches of dirt with plenty of plant coverage at the bottom where she can tuck behind. Would I really need to fit a whole other thing in there? And I’ve read from a few sources that reptisoil works just as well with lay bins.

 

[MissSkittles]

Well, I know. I keep my chams bioactive and they have the whole bottom to lay in. However, my girls had only laid in bins of sand before I made them bioactive. The one and only who’s laid eggs since was rejecting not only her bioactive substrate, but everything else including a short bin of sand. She tried everything in her enclosure but found nothing suitable until I put the big bin in. I even found evidence that she tried digging into her faux foam background. It was about a week of waiting/stressing for her to lay when out of desperation I put her old bin in her enclosure. Next morning she got right to it and laid her eggs. Now both of my veiled girls have bioactive placed around their big old lay bins. Not taking any chances with them.

 

[Trace1603]

Well, I know. I keep my chams bioactive and they have the whole bottom to lay in. However, my girls had only laid in bins of sand before I made them bioactive. The one and only who’s laid eggs since was rejecting not only her bioactive substrate, but everything else including a short bin of sand. She tried everything in her enclosure but found nothing suitable until I put the big bin in. I even found evidence that she tried digging into her faux foam background. It was about a week of waiting/stressing for her to lay when out of desperation I put her old bin in her enclosure. Next morning she got right to it and laid her eggs. Now both of my veiled girls have bioactive placed around their big old lay bins. Not taking any chances with them.

So how would you suggest putting another bin in there? With the plants and vines going on at the bottom I’m not sure how I’d get it to work unless I put like a bin in the one corner and filled it with sand? And I mean like digging out a corner and just putting sand in. Could it be that she’s laid before in sand and is now picky about it? Sorry am a bit confused of what all you meant

 

[kinyonga]

In post #13, @ missskittles has given you great advice and information.

Just seeing that the female is showing gravid colors can't tell us when exactly she will be likely to lay them. She should give signs....wandering the cage more (looking for a place to lay them), often drinking more and eating less, etc.

Also, they don't have to have laid eggs in sand before to decide that's where they will lay them this time....it seems to be a natural thing...you'll often see it with chameleons in the wild that they prefer sandy soils, from what I've seen in videos and read in books.

@MissSkittles is right about them only having the "desire" (it's actually likely a hormonal thing) to lay eggs...and then they won't be able to do it.

The problem we have is knowing when they are likely to not be able to lay the eggs...so eggbound. By the time they show signs...lethargy, sitting low in the cage, sleeping during the day, not digging anymore, etc. It's can be to late to spay them.

Concerning if the eggs are fertile because she did mate (which I can't be absolutely sure) ...you will need to incubate them so they will hatch.

 

[Trace1603]

She has been wandering but it’s mostly just up and down the sides. She also looks like she’s trying to break out of the one corner but she’s like not even touching the dirt when she does this. Most of the time however she’s just up in her basking spot or around it. She did today, I noticed walk around a bit on the vines and leaves I’ve got up at the top.

I haven’t been able to see any eggs or anything so I don’t know how close she is to laying. But I thought today she was in some pose and I think I saw it a little bit. I also noticed today she didn’t eat any of the bugs I tried to feed her today which normally she goes right for. I will also say she was very energetic today and wanted out more. But today I was also home all day unlike the past week.

So would you also recommend digging in a little bin for a sand corner to see if she goes for that? And also any eggs she lays are probably being disposed of I definitely don’t have the capacity for incubating stuff nor the mental capacity haha.

 

[MissSkittles]

So how would you suggest putting another bin in there? With the plants and vines going on at the bottom I’m not sure how I’d get it to work unless I put like a bin in the one corner and filled it with sand? And I mean like digging out a corner and just putting sand in. Could it be that she’s laid before in sand and is now picky about it? Sorry am a bit confused of what all you meant

I was like a little bulldozer when I went to put the bin in...moved plants, broke branches, moved vines, etc. I was desperate for her to not become egg bound and messing up her decor and such didn’t matter. After she laid her eggs, I was able to redo everything and made space for the lay bins in the corners of my girls’ enclosures. They aren’t terribly pretty and I admit that there’s no reason at all for my girls to not be able to lay in their bioactive soil. However, it’s all up to them and they don’t care what my opinion is.

 

[Trace1603]

I was like a little bulldozer when I went to put the bin in...moved plants, broke branches, moved vines, etc. I was desperate for her to not become egg bound and messing up her decor and such didn’t matter. After she laid her eggs, I was able to redo everything and made space for the lay bins in the corners of my girls’ enclosures. They aren’t terribly pretty and I admit that there’s no reason at all for my girls to not be able to lay in their bioactive soil. However, it’s all up to them and they don’t care what my opinion is.

What’s the minimum size I’d need for it? And what kind of play sand?