Laying eggs… help?

Sessie

Sessie

New Member
My poor baby. She looks so miserable. I wish this whole laying egg process is quick. I miss loving on my girl.

Is it normal for her energy to start slowing down like she doesn’t want to move around? She’s moving but taking her so time. And I’m not sure if it’s me being paranoid but I feel she’s having an issue grabbing whatever is in front of her. And her poor little legs seem shaky while she’s trying to grab whatever is in front of her.
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Hello and welcome to the forum! Your lovely girl is DEFINITELY full of eggs.

The second picture - are her eyes closed during the day there?

THe best way for us to help you figure things out is for you to fill out the below form. Be as specific as you can, and if you can post pictures of your cage, including the lighting setup, that'll be really helpful! Additionally, since clearly we're talking about eggs, make sure to describe the lay bin you've got for her as well. :)

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.
 
No, her eyes are open during the same. That picture is actually of her sleeping now at 12:04am. This is the first time I’ve noticed her do anything different.

She is a veiled chameleon maybe about 5-6months old. I got her from petsmart on July 1,2023. I try to handle my chameleon daily if she lets me. Usually during feeding she will come down and crawl on my hand. Currently she is still doing so, but I try to be careful since I was told not to handle her during this process.

She was eating 10-12 crickets a day (5-6 during the morning and early evening). I was recommended to start feeding her 4-5 crickets a day since she is producing eggs and less feeding will help her pass thru smaller eggs. The picture attached has the 2 supplements I give her. Without d3 is given daily and with d3 is given on the 15th and last day of the month. I hand mist my chameleon twice a day. I can tell she is drinking or is hydrated since her urine is white.

My chameleons urine is white and poop is dark, which per pictures I’ve seen is normal. She does go daily or every other day. I have not taken her to a vet since I’m still in the process of trying to find one that I like. The vet I took my bearded dragon too wasn’t one I liked.

I’ve attached pictures of her laying bin as well as some of her enclosure. She has a zoo med t5 10uvb and I want to say a 65w heat bulb (not 100% sure without looking at it).

I live in Florida so my house humidity stays at 49-55 and doesn’t get colder than 70 degrees. Her enclosure is located in my living room.
 

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Okay so that image was of her during lights out/sleeping time?

Veiled girls, during egg-laying time, can be EXTREMELY shy. Is the enclosure in an area that gets a lot of foot traffic from people or pets?

A suggestion that's often given here is to cover the lower area of the enclosure with a sheet or blanket so she feels like she has privacy and can't see anyone looking at her. It's also ideal for her to have darkness (as complete as possible) while they sleep. If she's stressing out she's going to struggle to lay eggs. Has she gone down to her lay bin multiple times to start digging? And, can the substrate in the lay bin make a tunnel that won't collapse on itself? Usually it needs to be humid enough for that, but not so humid it is squishy and muddy, and not so dry that it collapses before the hope of a tunnel.

What are your temperatures? Basking/ambient? Timing for lights? Ideally our chams get a temperature drop into the 60s at night.

I think if we had some more details in your husbandry response, we can really help you hone in on best practices. You've got good supplementation but I see a few things that could probably be changed... AFTER your girl gets her eggs out. Let's focus on that first.

I'll do what I can to help, but I'm also going to tap in @Beman and @MissSkittles who have more knowledge of our lovely ladies and egg-laying than I do.

Finally, I've attached a list of good vets that folks here have used. I'm not sure what part of FL you're in but I know there are a couple great vets near Orlando.
 

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Yes, that is her sleeping during lights out. She is in the living room with high traffic but once lights are out, everyone settles down and lights are completely out in that room and any room that shines into the living room. The only touch of light that may come into the living room is a porch light shining thru the door, but that’s not very light. I’ve attached a picture of the view of my living room and where she sits.

I have an office I can move her into, but I’m worried doing that during this time may stress her out.

She has gone down to her laying bin but quickly gets out. She’s only walked around in there. No digging yet. I actually check to make sure it was still a good consistency today and tried to make a tunnel with my hands and it held up. She watched everything I was doing but didn’t want to go down.

Her basking temp is 80-84. The middle of her enclosure is at 75. In the morning before lights on, her thermometer reads 67-69. Lights are on at 7:15 and off at 9.

I live in Jacksonville, Florida. I’ve only found 2 exotic pet vets. The one I took my bd to was affordable, but something about them gave me a weird vibe.
 

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Yeah, I wouldn't do any moving or changing anything big until she's laid those eggs. I think a privacy sheet will help her immensely... And reaaaally avoiding peeking in at her if she's down near her bin too. That's real tough to do, but they really generally do want absolute privacy otherwise they get spooked and won't lay.

I'd also suggest moving to a 12 hour schedule. They're from near the equator and lights on for 12 hours, lights off (including heat) for 12 hours. She may be tired from being awake a bit too long every day.

Those temps are pretty solid.

Looking at the list, there are a few vets about 2 hours from you, either south, or a bit north near Savannah. Might be worth checking out, even if it's a bit of a hike. Even exotic vets struggle with chameleons because even as far as lizards go, they're a strange breed with unique husbandry you don't see with other reptiles. Hopefully the two I tagged in can help - I think MissSkittles is familiar with FL vets and may be able to recommend someone. :)
 
Woke up this morning and she’s actually basking with both feet and hands gripping a vine and not shaking. I was extremely worried with the shaking and not gripping all the way, thought maybe she would get hurt or not do well during the night.

Since I am working from home today, I’ll put her privacy sheet up and monitor her throughout the day. I’m actually going to move one of my security camera into the house so I can check in on her without disturbing her.

How do I know if and when she’s close to laying her eggs? Someone on fb recommended I give her extra calcium during this time.

I just feel like fb was giving me a lot of mixed info. Someone told me because of her shaking she’s showing signs of early MBD. So of cause I started googling everything and anything and came across this forum. So far, I feel this has been the best information I’ve received during this whole process.
 
Hi and welcome. :) The whole egg laying process is sooo nerve wracking, but our sweet ladies know what to do. When I know the time is close, I hang a light sheet over the lower half of the enclosure so she’ll have privacy. If she isn’t in her basking area, I’ll listen carefully for a few minutes before looking. If I hear the soft sounds of digging, I know to just let her do her thing. I don’t worry about feeding her and I have a misting system. If I didn’t have a mist system, I’d use a dripper (not over the lay bin though) for a little time. I do have small peek holes in my sheet so I can monitor without disturbing her. Some ladies will dig a few test holes before settling on one. She may sleep in her tunnel or return to her branches. You’ll know she’s done when she is basking, looks thinner and she has fully covered all signs that there were ever any holes dug. The whole process can take a couple of days. Feed and hydrate her very well for a couple of days. Hornworms and silkworms are perfect at this time. Then you want to start her on a diet of 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week and keep her basking temp no higher than 80. This regimen will help reduce the number of eggs she produces and even the frequency of laying. In some, it stops laying completely. The more eggs produced increases risks for complications like egg binding. Frequent laying takes so very much out of our ladies that it shortens their lives.
You will need to be alert for signs that she is having problems. Not basking, staying low in her enclosure, lethargy, eyes closed during the day, dropping eggs randomly, any blood from anywhere, stopping digging with no eggs laid and just go with your gut feeling. The quicker you get her to a good vet, the stronger she is and has better chances to recover.
I’m in Brevard county and go to Dr Bogoslavsky in Orlando. https://myavho.com/ He is excellent and very experienced with chameleons. However, if your girl needs surgery, he no longer performs them and would refer you to https://www.orlandoexoticveterinarian.com/ I’ve heard excellent things about them and took one of my sick girls there. She was at the end of having a cancer and they euthanized her when it was time. They will insist that you need to soak your chameleon in a closed bin of warm water sitting on a heating pad. Everything about that is sooo wrong, but no where is perfect. (Just don’t soak your cham!) I know Orlando would be quite a distance, but often for good vets with chameleon experience we do need to travel. I hope I’ve been of some help.
 
MissSkittles said:
Hi and welcome. :) The whole egg laying process is sooo nerve wracking, but our sweet ladies know what to do. When I know the time is close, I hang a light sheet over the lower half of the enclosure so she’ll have privacy. If she isn’t in her basking area, I’ll listen carefully for a few minutes before looking. If I hear the soft sounds of digging, I know to just let her do her thing. I don’t worry about feeding her and I have a misting system. If I didn’t have a mist system, I’d use a dripper (not over the lay bin though) for a little time. I do have small peek holes in my sheet so I can monitor without disturbing her. Some ladies will dig a few test holes before settling on one. She may sleep in her tunnel or return to her branches. You’ll know she’s done when she is basking, looks thinner and she has fully covered all signs that there were ever any holes dug. The whole process can take a couple of days. Feed and hydrate her very well for a couple of days. Hornworms and silkworms are perfect at this time. Then you want to start her on a diet of 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week and keep her basking temp no higher than 80. This regimen will help reduce the number of eggs she produces and even the frequency of laying. In some, it stops laying completely. The more eggs produced increases risks for complications like egg binding. Frequent laying takes so very much out of our ladies that it shortens their lives.
You will need to be alert for signs that she is having problems. Not basking, staying low in her enclosure, lethargy, eyes closed during the day, dropping eggs randomly, any blood from anywhere, stopping digging with no eggs laid and just go with your gut feeling. The quicker you get her to a good vet, the stronger she is and has better chances to recover.
I’m in Brevard county and go to Dr Bogoslavsky in Orlando. https://myavho.com/ He is excellent and very experienced with chameleons. However, if your girl needs surgery, he no longer performs them and would refer you to https://www.orlandoexoticveterinarian.com/ I’ve heard excellent things about them and took one of my sick girls there. She was at the end of having a cancer and they euthanized her when it was time. They will insist that you need to soak your chameleon in a closed bin of warm water sitting on a heating pad. Everything about that is sooo wrong, but no where is perfect. (Just don’t soak your cham!) I know Orlando would be quite a distance, but often for good vets with chameleon experience we do need to travel. I hope I’ve been of some help.
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It’s funny you mention Dr. Bogoslavsky, he commented on my post on fb and mentioned she may have hypocalcemic tetany. And researching that, it seems like it’s MBD or similar to it. And I’m scratching my head wondering how and why, causing me to think I’m doing everything wrong and she’s not going to live long.

I have to replenish her crickets so I’ll grab some silkworms. The pet stores near me has hornworms but I always see 1 or 2 in a container so I don’t bother with them.

Im definitely going to do everything you all suggested and you guys have been great during this.
 
What can I do if she’s only digging in the corner of her laying bin? It’s like she’s trying to dig thru the side of the bin and not going anywhere. Would she eventually move to a different spot on her own?
 
Sessie said:
What can I do if she’s only digging in the corner of her laying bin? It’s like she’s trying to dig thru the side of the bin and not going anywhere. Would she eventually move to a different spot on her own?
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They prefer corners. She will have to figure and work it out on her own. Definitely don’t want to disturb her for this or really anything. The only time I interfered with one of my laying girls was when her tunnel collapsed on her and I had to dig her out.
 
MissSkittles said:
They prefer corners. She will have to figure and work it out on her own. Definitely don’t want to disturb her for this or really anything. The only time I interfered with one of my laying girls was when her tunnel collapsed on her and I had to dig her out.
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Ok. I may add some more substrate to it to make it a bit deeper and I think I need to add some moisture to it since it’s drying out a bit
 
Hey! How long is the laying process? My girl started digging on the 17th and stopped for a little bit. She started digging again on Friday and has been digging all weekend but still hasn’t laid any eggs. Do you think she’s having difficulties or just not ready? I’m not sure how long this how process is and when I should really be concern. She’s still eating, being active, and basking. No signs of anything concerning.
 
On the 17th she did it for a little bit and stopped. Didn’t dig at all from the 17th until Friday. Friday she was in her laying bin before I can even feed her. She stayed in there for a couple hours and came up to her basking spot. She ate and went back and dug some more but comes back up. I feel Friday was her biggest digging day. Saturday and Sunday she was in there quite a bit. Today I’m not sure since I was at work, but when I got home she was basking and went down to dig.
 
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