Overweight veiled?

[ampharosy]

Recently my female veils has gotten larger, and rounder than she was when I first got her, and I can't tell if she's overweight, or if she needs to lay eggs, or if she looks normal? I've been reading a lot about egg binding and it makes me nervous and I thought I'd see what you guys think

 

[jannb]

Do you have a laying bin for her? She looks to be over weight and have eggs. How much and how often do you feed her?

 

[ampharosy]

I do have a laying bin, she dug a bit in it but now she completely ignores it. I feed her every other day around 10-15 crickets. I was only feeding her 8-10 but she seemed pretty hungry still so I upped it a bit. She's a pretty voracious eater so I'm not sure if that's just her personality or if she was hungry?

 

[jannb]

I do have a laying bin, she dug a bit in it but now she completely ignores it. I feed her every other day around 10-15 crickets. I was only feeding her 8-10 but she seemed pretty hungry still so I upped it a bit. She's a pretty voracious eater so I'm not sure if that's just her personality or if she was hungry?

All female veileds are starving all the time.

I feed my veiled girls 3 times a week about the equivalent to 3 adult crickets. I also give them greens such as collards, mustard, turnip, kale, dandelion or endive a couple times a week.

 

[ampharosy]

Oh dear no wonder she's looking a bit chubby. She doesn't seem too interested in greens, I've tried offering them but they wilt uneaten. Do you have any recommendations for her lay box? I don't know why she's avoiding it.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

All female veileds are starving all the time.

I feed my veiled girls 3 times a week about the equivalent to 3 adult crickets. I also give them greens such as collards, mustard, turnip, kale, dandelion or endive a couple times a week.

Do you feed her 3 crickets, 3x a week... so approx 9 crickets each week?

 

[Charmeleon005]

I also have a female veiled and know to set her set bin when she starts to get yellow markings. My preference is to use plastic 5 gal bucket from lowes or h depot and pick up vermiculite and washed play sand from the gardening area. I mix it enough so that it won't collapse when wet when she digs but won't he too rough on her. Afterwards i clean her off with water and cotton swabs

 

[jannb]

Do you feed her 3 crickets, 3x a week... so approx 9 crickets each week?

If crickets were the only feeders I had then 3 LARGE crickets or 5 medium. I feed a variety of feeders. I feed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. This past Tuesday Lottie had two very large crickets and a medium size silkworm. Fiona has one large cricket, a medium silk and a small Hornworm. Yesterday both girls has some Hibiscus leaves while they were in their outside trees. You can look at the pictures of my present and past girls. None of them look skinny except for right after laying eggs.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

If crickets were the only feeders I had then 3 LARGE crickets or 5 medium. I feed a variety of feeders. I feed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. This past Tuesday Lottie had two very large crickets and a medium size silkworm. Fiona has one large cricket, a medium silk and a small Hornworm. Yesterday both girls has some Hibiscus leaves while they were in their outside trees. You can look at the pictures of my present and past girls. None of them look skinny except for right after laying eggs.

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks! I have realized that I probably have been over feeding, not by much, but I could definitely cut down a little more. It's difficult to gauge by her interest because she will eat 10 items, or more, a day, if i fed her that much!

 

[ampharosy]

Yeah that's how my girl is too! She'll eat anything and everything that moves

 

[ampharosy]

Update: I've put her in a separate lay bin, because she completely ignores the first, and she doesn't seem to be very interested in digging. Will it just take her time to get used to it or is something wrong?

 

[kinyonga]

Ampharosy...when she was digging a bit was she digging a hole or just pawing at the substrate? If she was digging a hole did she see you watching her while she was digging?
Are you now going to leave her in the lay bin until she lays? Does she have heat/light there? What's the substrate in the bin?

 

[ampharosy]

She dug a hole about an inch deep, I saw the hole later so she abandoned it while I was away. She's going to be in the lay bin until she lays. She has her light on half of the bin so she can still control her temp a bit. In the bin I have a mix of potting soil and play sand.

 

[ampharosy]

She was in her bin overnight and throughout the day and I think she's been digging around, I heard her this morning, but I haven't seen any holes but she looks a little thinner

 

[serenaj25]

you could gently feel her stomach and see if you can feel any more eggs

 

[ampharosy]

you could gently feel her stomach and see if you can feel any more eggs

I did that and I couldn't feel anything but I could never. Are they pretty noticeable? Also she recently got the yellow and blue on her, do I just have my timing wrong?

 

[serenaj25]

I did that and I couldn't feel anything but I could never. Are they pretty noticeable? Also she recently got the yellow and blue on her, do I just have my timing wrong?

I wouldn't keep her in her laying bin 24/7 as that may induce lots of stress. just leave it in her enclosure and cover the sides of her cage with a sheet or something for privacy and if you think she layed look around in the bin and see if there are eggs in there usually they will be near the bottom. its different for different chameleons, my Cham had her spots for around a month before she began digging.Just try to be patient and if you see that something is wrong (sleeping during the day, dehydrated, trouble holding her own weight etc) see a vet. If not, just give her privacy and let her do her thing

 

[ampharosy]

Alright, thanks! I'll keep an eye out for those signs. She's still been pretty active and she's been well hydrated. I have noticed that she hasn't been eating as readily, but that could be due to stress

 

[serenaj25]

Alright, thanks! I'll keep an eye out for those signs. She's still been pretty active and she's been well hydrated. I have noticed that she hasn't been eating as readily, but that could be due to stress

lack of eating shouldn't be a concern. most if not all gravid females stop eating for a while before they lay. Mine didn't eat anything for like almost a week and a half but I was able to get her to eat some hornworms (and a lot of them too) right before she layed that night. Chameleons continue to amaze me!

 

[ampharosy]

lack of eating shouldn't be a concern. most if not all gravid females stop eating for a while before they lay. Mine didn't eat anything for like almost a week and a half but I was able to get her to eat some hornworms (and a lot of them too) right before she layed that night. Chameleons continue to amaze me!

Thank you so much! This has eased some of my anxieties She's back in her cage. I'm going to look into getting a better fitting laying box for inside the enclosure (right now it's very tall) I've covered her cage with a towel and I'll see if anything changes. She still hasn't seemed too interested in the dirt.