My veiled chameleon looks really fat?

[reptileguy112]

Ok, how long till she lays?She has had not as big of appetite lately.I will do a soil and sand mix bin for laying and the perlite and bin for eggs.Can I just stick them in closet or do they need a heat source?I have a heating pad for lizards but those can burn some times.She only looks that fat sometimes, not when she is stretches out climbing to another branch.Should I feed her 3 cricket a day.I currently feed her 5.SHe weighs 18 grams.Maybe she already laid the eggs in the pot because she doesn't look so fat.I am thinking of getting her a check up.Will they give me the answers without charging me $100 extra dollars?There is this vet that will do $17 for the first check-up.

 

[RyU]

If she is eating, drinking, and pooing I don't think you need to see a vet. I would reduce feeding to about 3 crickets every other day. If she is gravid you will most likely see bumps of the eggs inside her. If you do take her to a vet, an x-ray will determine if she is gravid or not. I'm not sure how much it costs there, but the vet I go to is quite pricey.

 

[kinyonga]

If she is producing eggs IMHO you need to feed her more than three crickets every other day. She needs enough nutrition to produce the eggs and keep herself healthy.make sure you dust with calcium at each feeding too.

Please post a photo of her.

 

[fester2226]

looks like a female need laying bin

 

[RyU]

If she is producing eggs IMHO you need to feed her more than three crickets every other day. She needs enough nutrition to produce the eggs and keep herself healthy.make sure you dust with calcium at each feeding too.

Please post a photo of her.

Suggested feeding less because of the smaller size of the chameleon. I'm worried that she may have problems with too many eggs. One of my buddies bred a Lateralis very young and near lost her because there were not enough room in her belly for the eggs. She looked like she was going to pop yet more eggs were being produced and just dropped on the ground. Luckily, she survived but I don't think think any of the eggs will, only time will tell.

That said, I think Kinyonga has some great advice and I've yet to hear anything bad come from him.

 

[camimom]

Ok so since no one answered the rest of your questions.

1. once a female breeds it takes 30-45 days for her to lay, since you don't know when she bred, get a lay bin in her cage now.

2. you want a bucket 12 inches deep and 10-12 wide, filled with moist (not wet) dirt or sand or combo of both. it should be wet enough to dig a tunnel and have it hold the shape.

3. eventually she may go off food, which is a good sign she needs to lay. Once she starts to dig, leave her alone, don't touch her, go near her, spy etc. nothing. if you interrupt it can lead to egg binding. which requires a vet and surgery.

4. its ok if you find her asleep in the tunnel she dug, totally normal. It can take her 1-3ish days for her to get a good tunnel dug and lay.

5. for incubating, perlite or vermiculite is totally fine. you want it wet enough that you can squeeze a drop or two of water out of a fistful of it. once the eggs are all laid, and youre sure shes done, you can dig the eggs up, an dplace them in the container of whatever you used. just make a small divet in the top, and place the egg in it. Once placed, DO NOT roll the egg. the baby can drown if you do this after a certain point.

6. place the entire container in a warm closet, no more than 76 deg, and then just check the moisture levels every few days from now till they hatch (which takes 6-9 months, usually closer to 9)

7. youll want to make sure she gets good quality food and calcium, because if she doesn't have that, the eggs will steal the calcium from her bones.

8. 3 bugs is too little. I would do around 6 bugs every day to every other day, depending on her eating habits.

if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

Good luck!

 

[reptileguy112]

When I said 3 crickets I didn't mean every other day.I ment 3 crickets A DAY.I will make sure to get some extra powder on those little guys.

 

[reptileguy112]

So do I need to go to local park and swipe some sand?!?!?

 

[camimom]

So do I need to go to local park and swipe some sand?!?!?

you can use washed play sand from a store.

I used organic top soil when my girls need to lay.

 

[RyU]

So do I need to go to local park and swipe some sand?!?!?

I did this for my very first clutch. Problem is you don't know what could be in that sand. Chemicals like pesticides and such. A bag of sand costs a few bucks at Home Depot.

 

[kinyonga]

It's been my understanding that once the follicles have ovulate that will be a batch of eggs so once the batch is set there's no stopping them you you then want to concentrate on the health of the female and the eggs she's producing. If I'm wrong I'm sureone of the vets on here can let me know.

Thanks for the compliment. I try to give good advice.
Btw...I'm female!

 

[reptileguy112]

I just took some sand from park..... Its ok, I heated it!Will she start digging in it right away?I know you need to leave them alone but can I turn on/off lights and feed her?

 

[RyU]

It's been my understanding that once the follicles have ovulate that will be a batch of eggs so once the batch is set there's no stopping them you you then want to concentrate on the health of the female and the eggs she's producing. If I'm wrong I'm sureone of the vets on here can let me know.

Thanks for the compliment. I try to give good advice.
Btw...I'm female!

My fault! -=). I do kind of remember reading somewhere that feeding affects the clutch size. I'm not entirely sure about this either.

 

[RyU]

I just took some sand from park..... Its ok, I heated it!Will she start digging in it right away?I know you need to leave them alone but can I turn on/off lights and feed her?

Feed her as long as she'll eat. When she is ready to lay she will refuse food and start wandering around on the bottom of the enclosure. I find they will lay about a day or two after this behaviour. Check out that post. I think someone has mentioned it already. I think she is using perlite for incubation medium.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

 

[reptileguy112]

I turned on her lights yesterday with her on the floor feeling around.She still eats.I feed her 3 crickets in moring as of new news and maybe 2 more around diner.Is that still too much?

 

[kinyonga]

Why are younasking if five crickets a daybisntoo much? Five a day is definitely not too much to be feeding her when she's producing eggs.
Are you trying to cut her diet down??