Infertile Egg Laying Veiled-Chameleon

[Kristen5150]

Hi!! My name is Kristen and I am new to this website! I have done a lot of research through here before but finally started an account recently . I had a few questions regarding my pet Veiled Chameleon that is currently undergoing her infertile egg laying process for the second time.

For some information regarding my pet, I have around a 1.5 year old female veiled chameleon that I bought from PetSmart, she is super friendly and healthy! She has laid around 30 infertile eggs a couple months ago, but I noticed she recently has gotten big again with some orange coloration that she had during the last time. I recently noticed that the other day when I gave her water, I believe she drank it wrong cause right after she started tilting her head up in the air. At first I thought it due to her swallowing the water, but it went on for a couple hours until I started panicking and took her to the vet immediately. The vet prescribed her an oral antibiotic that she has to take every 24 hours since they confirmed that she in fact had a respiratory infection as I had thought, and they also clarified that she definitely had eggs,

Fast forward to about a week later, her medications seem to be helping although she seems more worn out due to her eggs. She hasn't had much-to any appetite at all but has definitely been thirsty so I have been misting her cage and giving her water as well while monitoring it. Although she seems like she is taking longer to climb and wants to take her time. Today I put a bin in her enclosure to see if she will start to approach it. I used soil with sand mixed together compacted so that if she does dig down, it does not collapse on her. Her cage is also a screen cage that is well ventilated and is 5-6 ft tall with a lot of plants and climbing opportunities available. She also has a 10.0 uvb light.

Long story short, I was wondering if her acting in this way is normal? I have tried researching it but keep coming up to mixed emotions about it. I feel like it is just a tough situation considering that she is taking her medication after recently undergoing a RI, and is also in the process of egg laying, so I am not sure what is the exact reason that it may be.

Some other questions that I have that was wondering that could be answered is:

1. Should I keep my uvb light on during this egg laying process? If so for how long daily?
2. What would be the best temperature for her during this time? I heard 80 degrees F and below is good.
3. Do chameleons regularly get tired/worn out due to this process?

 

[Gloriawood]

Hello! I’m not experienced with females personally, but I think I can answer some of your questions.

Medication can definitely be hard on their little bodies. It sounds like this plus the egg laying is wearing her out a bit. Wouldn’t you be tired if you were not just laying eggs, but battling an illness on top of that? Egg laying alone can wear them out from what I see on here. Some medications can also affect thirst as well. There can be side effects like that just like there is with us. I would continue the extra hydration and closely monitor her urates to determine if she is staying hydrated. Again, I’m not personally familiar here, this is just what I gather from my own research. If someone more experienced has a different opinion, go with theirs.

Yes, you for sure need to keep the UVB on for her. Regular schedule is 12 hours on 12 off. Regarding that, is your bulb a screw in or the long tube like one?

I’ll leave the temp question to someone else because it differs for male and females.


Others may ask you a couple questions: what is her feeding schedule and how many bugs is she eating each time? What supplements are you using and how often? What is her regular basking temp? These things can all affect egg laying.

We are all super glad to have you here I didn’t see you mention your girls name? We’d also love to see photos!

 

[Beman]

Here is information for females specifically. NOTE this is broad info. With yours being sick and over the age we normally reduce their diet. You will wait to cut her back on feeding until she has cleared the infection and 1 week after she has laid her eggs.



As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6-7 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7-8 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeder amounts so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.


You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces. The hotter the temp the more their metabolism speeds up so we have to keep the temp lower since we are doing lower food intake.

A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. I’m just wondering if you’re still having to give her medication. Hard to say, but if so and she is currently feeling the urge to lay her eggs, that could cause a problem. Usually though, they get right down to digging as soon as they wake up, so hopefully you’ll know and be able to not disturb her. I like to cover the visible lower 1/3 of the enclosure when I know my girl is getting close to laying, just to give her the privacy to help her feel more secure.
I also wonder how you usually hydrate her. How is it that she aspirated? I know that some will use a dropper and put water directly in their chameleon’s mouth, which is not advisable because of the high risk for aspiration. Their airways is in the front of the mouth. Speaking of hydration, it would probably help her kidneys (from the effects of the antibiotic) to give her some hornworms or silkworms…plus they are yummy to chams.