Maui has eggs!!!

[jenn5734]

Okay guys, I'm sitting in the parking lot of the vet and Maui is loaded with eggs! Ah! Her husbandry is a DISASTER! I've posted before, but I'll post again. Please help. What should I add to make her more comfortable to lay? I just got new hanging vines and branches. Do I need to get anything else? I haven't gotten her real plants yet and I'm not sure if I should wait to set up her new cage until she lays? How do I make sure she has the privacy she needs? Her lay bin is 12" across and 8" deep, it's hard to see in her enclosure. I measured it at the store with a ruler. It's filled 1" from the top with washed play sand. The vet says it shouldn't he long, the eggs are pretty formed. Well, the tech did. I'm waiting for the vet to call. Burns are superficial, getting some meds to put on it. I'll keep y'all updated.

 

[jenn5734]

Okay guys, I'm sitting in the parking lot of the vet and Maui is loaded with eggs! Ah! Her husbandry is a DISASTER! I've posted before, but I'll post again. Please help. What should I add to make her more comfortable to lay? I just got new hanging vines and branches. Do I need to get anything else? I haven't gotten her real plants yet and I'm not sure if I should wait to set up her new cage until she lays? How do I make sure she has the privacy she needs? Her lay bin is 12" across and 8" deep, it's hard to see in her enclosure. I measured it at the store with a ruler. It's filled 1" from the top with washed play sand. The vet says it shouldn't he long, the eggs are pretty formed. Well, the tech did. I'm waiting for the vet to call. Burns are superficial, getting some meds to put on it. I'll keep y'all updated.

I'll double check her lay bin, but I'm pretty sure of the dimensions. Swinging by the store and grabbing another one, just in case.

 

[jenn5734]

I'll double check her lay bin, but I'm pretty sure of the dimensions. Swinging by the store and grabbing another one, just in case.

Also, no metabolic bone disease! Just a little calcium deficient. She's getting a dose of calcium right now. Monday, we'll be calling to see if we can squeeze in with the other vet to bring her in and remove the customer on her eye. Things are good! Thank goodness, I was so worried.

 

[jenn5734]

@MissSkittles

 

[Gingero]

@MissSkittles is the perfect person to help you out. In the meantime, have you seen this video yet? It goes over some tips and tricks for egg laying including giving her privacy by wrapping the sides of the enclosure with a sheet. I also might wait until she lays her eggs to make more changes to her enclosure since those changes can cause them stress while they get used to them but I'll let MissSkittles weigh-in on that one.

 

[Beman]

So you received extremely thorough feedback on your husbandry already from @MissSkittles in your other thread... So posting another thread asking what you can do to make it better is redundant because she already told you what needed to be done.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/weird-lookinf-bruise-on-mauis-sides.184301/

 

[MissSkittles]

If you can get a bit of a larger lay bin, she’s more likely to use it. I found the difference in just a couple of inches in diameter makes a difference to them. Plastic bins are super cheap at Walmart and Target. Look for a square or rectangular one…they like to lay in the corners...at least mine do. Length and width should be at least 12”. Depth isn’t as important as you’re only going to want to fill it to about 6” and will be giving her a couple of ways to get in/out. When my girls seem near to laying, I cover just the bottom part of their enclosure so that if they go in their bin, they can’t see out. Once in the bin, I cover a bit higher. It is sometimes hard to tell when they’re near to actually laying. Just because she has eggs, doesn’t mean she’s ready right now…but you need to be. Just like us, each does their own thing before. These signs include not eating as much or at all, restlessness, color changes. Once she enters her bin and starts digging, do not disturb her. If she sees you or is disturbed, she may stop digging and become egg bound. The only exception is if her tunnel collapses and she is buried. She will do her thing…digging until she likes a hole. She’ll eventually turn around, lay her eggs and then cover all signs that there was any digging at all. She may sleep in her hole. Once you see that she has returned to her branches and everything has been covered, you’ll know she’s done. Just feed and water her well and let her rest and recuperate. Hornworms and silkworms are my favorite feeder for after laying. If you can easily slide the bin out while she is asleep at night, great. Otherwise give her a day to recover before stressing her with that. You’ll need to find and count the eggs. I expect she’ll be having a lot this time. As I already went over in your previous post, we try to reduce egg production thru lower temps and reduced feeding. It may take a cycle or two before you see any changes and that’s ok. Once I got serious about my attempts, my girls have barely laid. My one girl last laid in March of this year after going a full year without laying. My other girl last laid in February 2020, and although she’s gained weight, she appears not to have any eggs or be ready to lay. I am always ready for it though and keep a close eye to make sure they are well. I would also suggest getting a small gram scale and weighing your girl after she lays for her base weight. Then bi weekly or even monthly weights will tell you if she’s gaining and possibly/probably producing eggs. My girls base weights are between 75-80 grams. I know when they start nearing 105-110 grams, they have eggs.
You really do need to get on top of making those husbandry changes ASAP. However, start with the ones that are most important which will do nothing to disturb her…the correct uvb light and supplements are essential. You can wait until after she’s laid for the rest.

 

[jenn5734]

@MissSkittles thank you! I had to get her a bigger bin, and the vet said it would most likely be within the month. She's not showing any signs of interest in her bin at all, so I went ahead and set up her new enclosure. What do you think? It's a bit bare at the bottom still... and as I'm looking at it, I see some bare spots. She seems pretty happy in it

 

[Chameleoking]

I think the enclosure looks great!! A lot of people don't even put plants in the bottom. So much easier to clean. But you can if you'd like too. As long as she's happy. Looks like plenty of hiding places.

 

[MissSkittles]

@MissSkittles thank you! I had to get her a bigger bin, and the vet said it would most likely be within the month. She's not showing any signs of interest in her bin at all, so I went ahead and set up her new enclosure. What do you think? It's a bit bare at the bottom still... and as I'm looking at it, I see some bare spots. She seems pretty happy in it

Looking much better! Now that you’ve gotten that bit done, I’m going to tell you to start adding in live plants. Pothos is the perfect chameleon plant and usually very easy and inexpensive to find. Philodendron (like heart leaf variety) is very similar and can also be used. As you start filling her enclosure with live plants, you can take the artificial ones and hang them on the outside of her enclosure for added privacy. As you add live plants, you’ll start finding little triangle bite marks in the leaves and that’s perfectly normal and why live plants are best for veileds. With the artificial, there’s always risk she could eat a fake leaf and it could cause impaction. When I started (not that long ago), it was a process and I went step by step over time. You’ve got this!

 

[jenn5734]

Looking much better! Now that you’ve gotten that bit done, I’m going to tell you to start adding in live plants. Pothos is the perfect chameleon plant and usually very easy and inexpensive to find. Philodendron (like heart leaf variety) is very similar and can also be used. As you start filling her enclosure with live plants, you can take the artificial ones and hang them on the outside of her enclosure for added privacy. As you add live plants, you’ll start finding little triangle bite marks in the leaves and that’s perfectly normal and why live plants are best for veileds. With the artificial, there’s always risk she could eat a fake leaf and it could cause impaction. When I started (not that long ago), it was a process and I went step by step over time. You’ve got this!

That's my next step tomorrow. I'm trying to not overwhelm her too much at once. She is LOVING the bigger cage. Her crickets are being fed cricket crack overnight and she'll get them tomorrow. I do have to replace my basking light fixture, it's too heavy for the stand. And I'll he looking to get some more coverage for her lay bin area

 

[Chameleoking]

Also, no metabolic bone disease! Just a little calcium deficient. She's getting a dose of calcium right now. Monday, we'll be calling to see if we can squeeze in with the other vet to bring her in and remove the customer on her eye. Things are good! Thank goodness, I was so worried.

Wat to go Maui Waui!

 

[trinityjean1993]

@MissSkittles thank you! I had to get her a bigger bin, and the vet said it would most likely be within the month. She's not showing any signs of interest in her bin at all, so I went ahead and set up her new enclosure. What do you think? It's a bit bare at the bottom still... and as I'm looking at it, I see some bare spots. She seems pretty happy in it

How did you hang the vines in the mesh cage?

 

[Beman]

How did you hang the vines in the mesh cage?

You can use tiny zip ties through the screen around the vine and back out the screen. This is the most secure way of attaching to a screen simply. If you want a better way you can order dragon ledges at dragonstrand.com. Then there is this way as well... https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...anches-to-screen-cage-diy-alternative.184190/

 

[jenn5734]

How did you hang the vines in the mesh cage?

I used 4" zip ties on the outside of her cage

 

[jenn5734]

You can use tiny zip ties through the screen around the vine and back out the screen. This is the most secure way of attaching to a screen simply. If you want a better way you can order dragon ledges at dragonstrand.com. Then there is this way as well... https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...anches-to-screen-cage-diy-alternative.184190/

I have the dragon ledges ordered. I think they're getting ready to ship. I know they were working on a back log.