Interupt her laying? *URGENT*

[ballz]

OK, so Bubbles finally started to dig last night to lay eggs (no she was not mated), and boy did she ever dig. She's now been digging for over 12 hrs (her lights should have turned off by now but I didn't want to turn them off while she was digging). She's a loooong ways down there now and she's dug herself enough room to chill in there.

But she's stopped digging...but she's not laying eggs. (She is still alive though... I sprayed some mist over the hole and once it touched her tail she hissed)

It's pretty clear she's exhausted... Should i turn off the lights and let her sleep in there? Or should I intervene and haul her out of there? The eggs haven't been laid and i obviously don't want her to become eggbound, but I don't want her to kill herself trying to lay the eggs either. Right now she's at a standstill... seems pretty safe in there though, the soil won't collapse.

It's a tough call and I don't know what to do...

 

[Chameleons Canada]

IMO I would leave her alone, try not to be noticed when you are peeking. If your lights are on a timer, and she is in the middle of laying I don't think darkness will stop her. And if she does, she will stop to rest and continue tomorrow. Not always they lay the eggs on the first try anyways.

I think the most important part is not to stress her, just leave nature do it's thing

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Leave her alone!!!

-Brad

 

[alhickabee]

If she saw you she might abandon the hole and start a new one if so do not interrupt her. Just leave her be she knows what she is doing.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I concurr. Leave her alone. Its okay to turn off the regular lights - lights out have never stopped my girls from digging to China. If you happen to have a lamp nearby tht you could put a very dim bulb or a red bulb in it, that would be okay.

 

[ballz]

I really wish i knew this stuff about the lights... fortunately I think where she's at she wouldn't know if they were on or off anyway.

FYI, she did not see me, that I am positive of. By the time I got home, she was already so deep down that it was just the tip of her tail sticking out. Even with 360 degree vision, her head was way too far down there.

 

[kinyonga]

She might not have seen you....but you touched her tail. I know how tempting it is to try to find out if things are okay.

 

[ballz]

well, a tiny bit of mist touched her tail, not me... either way, she's still in there so it must not have bothered her?

 

[smyth]

my female laid her first cluth in the dark and she was fine, she may lay them thru the night, just let her do her thing

 

[ballz]

its been close to 24 hrs now since she started digging, and no sign that she's ever going to come out of that hole... seems like she's digging a grave.

and they say chameleons get stressed out easily

 

[JoshCrane1]

my female took a day to lay her eggs too.

 

[ballz]

well she finally crawled out of that grave thank god... shes burying it all back in so does that mean i can expect to find some eggs down there?

now, she looks like $#!T and is obviously worn out and stuff. what are the main focuses of the aftercare? All i can really do is provide her with lots of juicy crickets dusted in calcium and lots of water... i checked at our one pet store and theres no liquid supplements and stuff designed ot quickly rehabilitate anything.

should i check at the vet (theres no reptile vet within 8 hrs drive) to see if i can get anything of the sort? or should i not mess around with that stuff unless its prescribed by a proper vet?

 

[ciafardo 4]

just feed her a water her like normal she will be fine just make sure she gets plenty of WATER

 

[Chameleons Canada]

water and dust the feeders with calcium I would say 6 days a week. Continue with the other supplements as usual (vits and calcium with D3)

 

[sandrachameleon]

I agree. Lots of water will be what she needs first. And she'll be hungry. Normal calcium dusted crickets, and maybe a nice fat butterworm and/or silkworms. yum.
Yes, there's eggs in there to be dug out. Id be curious to know how many there were.

 

[ballz]

As soon as she's nursed back to tip top form (seems to be getting their rather quickly... hasn't chased crickets around like this for a while!) I'll reach in and grab the bucket spot... I don't want to disturb her environment too quickly.

She has certainly taken a turn for the better!

 

[ttshibby]

I bet you feel better now. lol It just gets easier from now on..