She has eggs and refuses to lay them

[Lizzy9207]

I took my girl to the vet bc she was shaking and had issues climbing. The vet told me she has eggs and needs to lay them. I took her home and set up her egg laying bin according to all my you tube research. A small bin but big enough for her to crawl around mixed with sand and soil, damp to dig and some coconut husk on top. She is refusing to dig and she is getting bigger and has slowed down on eating too. She still climbs a little but to took out a lot of her branches so she will focus on laying her eggs. What else can I do?? It’s been three weeks since her vet visit.

 

[kinyonga]

How long has she been showing those colours?

What supplements have you been using and how often for each?
if you post photos of the front and back of the containers I can see what I’m looking for.

Can you post a couple of photos of the whole cage, including the lights and the laybin please.

 

[Lizzy9207]

It’s been three weeks with the gold color/ beige/ brown color. I dusted her crickets 2x a week but now she has given up crickets and will take 1 or two worms every few days

 

[Beman]

Welcome to the forum. I hate to tell you this but your girl also has MBD. You can tell by the bend in her front arms. This is from incorrect UVB lighting along with incorrect supplementation. Egg laying for her is going to be harder as her bones will be brittle. Her enclosure needs an upgrade as well. The vines with the moss is dangerous for them as is the bark substrait and fake plants. Veileds eat plants and will go for anything they deem a plant. UVB lighting should be corrected asap for a linear T5HO fixture with a 5.0 or 6% bulb. The compact screw in bulbs do not put out the correct UVB level they need. This site will help you for what you need to change after she lays. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

Is the material in the laybin easy to dig in or did you push it all down? Did you moisten it to ensure it would hold a tunnel?


If you fill this out we can give more detailed info on what needs to be corrected moving forward.

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?

 

[kinyonga]

My post said containers…spellcheck changed it. I wanted photos of the legs and arms.

You need to remove the coconut husk from the laying bin. In my experience washed play sand is the best egg laying substrate. Although some people do add some soil, I never have had any luck with that.

 

[Lizzy9207]

Welcome to the forum. I hate to tell you this but your girl also has MBD. You can tell by the bend in her front arms. This is from incorrect UVB lighting along with incorrect supplementation. Egg laying for her is going to be harder as her bones will be brittle. Her enclosure needs an upgrade as well. The vines with the moss is dangerous for them as is the bark substrait and fake plants. Veileds eat plants and will go for anything they deem a plant. UVB lighting should be corrected asap for a linear T5HO fixture with a 5.0 or 6% bulb. The compact screw in bulbs do not put out the correct UVB level they need. This site will help you for what you need to change after she lays. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

Is the material in the laybin easy to dig in or did you push it all down? Did you moisten it to ensure it would hold a tunnel?


If you fill this out we can give more detailed info on what needs to be corrected moving forward.

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?

Okay thank you, I’m surprised the vet didn’t tell me she had MBD when I took her in. I can tell you it is a female veiled Cham. We have had her two 3 months. I bought a tank at pet smart that is glass and half screen. The lighting was what they recommended I don’t know the brands. We hold her daily and she really likes us and will stay on our shoulder. I bring her outside daily for natural sunlight too. Her humidity is between 50-70% mostly 50, it goes to 70 after her misting. We mist twice a day. We have a dripper but she licked the leaves for water. I guess I need to change her leaves and vines since those are not okay. Her temp is 80 during the day and 70 at night. We feed her crickets and super worms. We dust her crickets twice a week. Since she has eggs she is not eating
Much though.

I’m really worried about her. We love her and want to help her.

 

[kinyonga]

Can you post a couple more photos so I can see all of her from the side?

 

[MissSkittles]

Okay thank you, I’m surprised the vet didn’t tell me she had MBD when I took her in. I can tell you it is a female veiled Cham. We have had her two 3 months. I bought a tank at pet smart that is glass and half screen. The lighting was what they recommended I don’t know the brands. We hold her daily and she really likes us and will stay on our shoulder. I bring her outside daily for natural sunlight too. Her humidity is between 50-70% mostly 50, it goes to 70 after her misting. We mist twice a day. We have a dripper but she licked the leaves for water. I guess I need to change her leaves and vines since those are not okay. Her temp is 80 during the day and 70 at night. We feed her crickets and super worms. We dust her crickets twice a week. Since she has eggs she is not eating
Much though.

I’m really worried about her. We love her and want to help her.

We can best help you and your sweet girl but it’s easiest for all if you answer the questions provided above and include pics of your entire enclosure and more of your girl.

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and welcome! I can chime in to help while we are waiting for Beman and Kinyonga to continue to assist you.

Did you take your sweet girl to an exotic vet with chameleon care experience? Because chameleons are such a unique animal with very specific husbandry requirements, it's important to find a vet with experience in them in order to help her the best. Let me know if you need help looking for a vet near you.

Enclosure - you will need a minimum size of 24x24x48. Great examples can be found here, here, and here. The Dragon Strand enclosures are amazing, and I especially like them because, depending on where you live and the humidity levels in your home, you can get a hybrid cage that will help hold in humidity levels.

Lighting - You will need a HO T5 Linear bulb. Either 5% or 6%, depending on the brand you get. Here is the fixture for the linear light, and this is the light you will need. The Archadia bulb you will need to replace the light every 12 months; just to be safe, I put a sticker on my fixture of the date I last replaced the light, and I replace the light every 11 months.

Handling - I personally would not recommend handling unless absolutely necessary, especially if you are worried about her laying eggs and MBD. Chameleons are very shy creatures and stress easily. View them as more like a goldfish. It's are really cool pet that you look at and visually enjoy. I don't handle my chameleons unless I have to (cleaning their enclosure, taking them to the vet, and for a visual check to ensure they look healthy). My veiled has a more subtle way of communicating with me that she is stressed, she will puff her body out to look bigger, and she gets black/brown stripes on the sides of her body. Very rarely will she gape at me or puff out her gular (neck). My panther instantly gapes at me every time.

Fantastic with getting her some natural sunlight! I bet she loves that!

Humidity & Hydration- During the day you want her humidity levels to be around 40-50%, at night, you want her humidity levels to be 80-100%. You want the humidity to drop during the day because between the high humidity level and the heat in the enclosure, she could develop an upper respiratory infection. High humidity at night with lower temperatures (60-70 degrees) will help keep her hydrated at night. Mist in the morning just before her lights turn on so she has a drinking opportunity in the morning when she first wakes up. At night, mist her enclosure after her lights turn off so that the mist on the leaves, this will help hold in humidity at night. If you cant keep the humidity levels high enough at night, you can get a fog machine to go off at night to help with that.

What kind of dripper do you have?

Feeding & Supplements - Crickets are awesome feeders, super worms are more of a 'treat' bug and arent as nutritional as crickets, dubia roaches, BSFL, or silkworms. You will want to dust her bugs every feeding with phosphorus-free calcium without vitamin d supplement and then every 1st and 15th of every month dust her feeders with Repashy LoD, you can buy that here. A link for the calcium can be found here. I like to buy my feeders here. You will want to gut load your bugs with sweet potatoes, apple, carrots, red pepper, and mustard greens. I feed my bugs fresh produce every other day.

Temperatures - For your sweet girl, her basking temperature should be around 80-85 degrees. The ambient temperature of her enclosure should be around 72-75 degrees during the day and then at night you want a temperature drop around 60 degrees. The temperature drop allows her to get a good night's rest.

I wouldn't change anything until after she has laid her eggs, but maybe you can start getting the stuff you need while you are waiting. Let us know what else we can do to help!

 

[Beman]

Please note basking for females should only be 78-80 max.

Please fill out the entire form and post pics of your supplement labels.

Most Vets that do not work with Chameleons do not have the skill set needed to fully treat them. They miss stuff and can end up making incorrect recommendations.

 

[elizaann2]

Please note basking for females should only be 78-80 max.

Please fill out the entire form and post pics of your supplement labels.

Most Vets that do not work with Chameleons do not have the skill set needed to fully treat them. They miss stuff and can end up making incorrect recommendations.

Oops! Thanks for catching that incorrect temperature recommendation!

 

[Lizzy9207]

We can best help you and your sweet girl but it’s easiest for all if you answer the questions provided above and include pics of your entire enclosure and more of your girl.

Sorry, I started her in repti+boost tonight so I can help her MBD, we are using zoo med repticalcium. We are located in Florida. My house temp where she is 76 she is off the kitchen of our home so she gets natural light too in front of French doors. She always seems happy there and would watch us. She is on a table about 3 feet off the floor.we have the little dripper for her drip. I water her dirt in her laying bin daily and stir is so it’s soft. I have t seen her poop in a week. Which she used to do daily but she is not eating as much. I see her lick the leaves for water which also has reptisafe in it. I think she ate three crickets that were dusted today. I also ordered the light for uvb that you recommended. I think j that was everything

 

[Beppo]

Sorry, I started her in repti+boost tonight so I can help her MBD, we are using zoo med repticalcium. We are located in Florida. My house temp where she is 76 she is off the kitchen of our home so she gets natural light too in front of French doors. She always seems happy there and would watch us. She is on a table about 3 feet off the floor.we have the little dripper for her drip. I water her dirt in her laying bin daily and stir is so it’s soft. I have t seen her poop in a week. Which she used to do daily but she is not eating as much. I see her lick the leaves for water which also has reptisafe in it. I think she ate three crickets that were dusted today. I also ordered the light for uvb that you recommended. I think j that was everything

I think people asking you to answer the questions, they mean the husbandry help questionnaire posted above. If you copy and paste it you can fill in your answers attach some pictures and re paste it here on this thread. I'm a new owner as well and I have received so much help after filling that out. There are a lot of ver knowledgeable keepers here

 

[Beppo]

It's post #4

 

[Lizzy9207]

Thanks

 

[Lizzy9207]

Welcome to the forum. I hate to tell you this but your girl also has MBD. You can tell by the bend in her front arms. This is from incorrect UVB lighting along with incorrect supplementation. Egg laying for her is going to be harder as her bones will be brittle. Her enclosure needs an upgrade as well. The vines with the moss is dangerous for them as is the bark substrait and fake plants. Veileds eat plants and will go for anything they deem a plant. UVB lighting should be corrected asap for a linear T5HO fixture with a 5.0 or 6% bulb. The compact screw in bulbs do not put out the correct UVB level they need. This site will help you for what you need to change after she lays. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

Is the material in the laybin easy to dig in or did you push it all down? Did you moisten it to ensure it would hold a tunnel?


If you fill this out we can give more detailed info on what needs to be corrected moving forward.

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?

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Female veiled chameleon-7-9 months old. I have had her 3 months
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Daily she seems happy to come out, sits on the porch for sun
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Was eating twice a day about 10 crickets daily, super worms for a snack. I have not gut loaded the crickets just gave them the food from the store.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Repti- calcium, repti- safe. Repti safe daily in misting water, calcium was twice a week
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I spray her cage twice a day for about 2-3 minutes she drinks from the leaves
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Brown and white, was daily this has slowed down. Not tested
• 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? Glass screen combo, I don’t know the dimensions
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 7am - 7 pm uvb ( I ordered a new one based off recommendations already) and 100 watt heat lamp
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?80 degree near the top and 78 below near base, over night it’s 73. Thermometer in the cage
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? 50-69 misting with spray
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?no I had fake plants I’m charging this.
• 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? Not near fans or air vents on a table 3ft off the ground near French doors, it is a traffic area of the home but she didn’t seem to mind it
• Location - Where are you geographically located?Orlando, fl

 

[MissSkittles]

Give me a little time to go thru your husbandry. Which vet clinic did you go to in Orlando?

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ll be putting my feedback in bold and probably split this into two parts - I talk a lot.

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Female veiled chameleon-7-9 months old. I have had her 3 months
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Daily she seems happy to come out, sits on the porch for sun Veileds are usually not happy to have any interaction with us. You may have one of the rare exceptions or there is something about her enclosure that she is wanting to escape from.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Was eating twice a day about 10 crickets daily, super worms for a snack. I have not gut loaded the crickets just gave them the food from the store. That’s way too much feeding. There is a high likelihood that she will be having a very large clutch of eggs. After she lays her eggs you need to drastically reduce her diet to 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week. Not only will this prevent her from becoming obese, but will help reduce her egg production.
  Like us, chams like and need variety of food. Crickets are a good staple, but you need to add more. Discoid roaches (legal in Fl), silkworms, bsfl, etc are all great staples. Then you need to keep those feeder bugs as healthy as possible by feeding them a variety of fresh produce. Healthy well fed insects will be much more nutritious for your chameleon. Attaching graphics for you.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Repti- calcium, repti- safe. Repti safe daily in misting water, calcium was twice a week Very important to know - does your calcium contain vitamin D3?
  Here is an easy supplement regimen. Phosphorus-free calcium without D3 lightly dusted at every feeding except one every other week. That one feeding every other week you want to use a multivitamin/D3 combo like Repashy Calcium Plus LoD or Reptivite with D3.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I spray her cage twice a day for about 2-3 minutes she drinks from the leaves Perfect! You’re very lucky to see her drink and I’m jealous. Many chams (like all of mine) are secretive drinkers.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Brown and white, was daily this has slowed down. Not tested Call and ask the vet you recently went to if you can drop off a fresh fecal sample for parasite testing.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

So far, your sweet and pretty girl is vitamin and mineral deficient and possibly calcium deficient too (depending on if your calcium contains D3). This is not good, especially since she’s gravid. All of the nutrients needed by the eggs are being drawn out of her own stores, which make things worse for her. Please, stop handling her as she may be more fragile than we know.
To be continued….

• 
  

 

[MissSkittles]

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Glass screen combo, I don’t know the dimensions Nor do I, but I do know that they do not make glass enclosures large enough for adult chameleons. She needs a much larger enclosure, with a minimum size of 2x2x4’ or equivalent. Being in Florida, a screen or hybrid enclosure is best to ensure she has good air ventilation.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 7am - 7 pm uvb ( I ordered a new one based off recommendations already) and 100 watt heat lamp Your schedule is great - your lights, not so much. The screw in uvb is not able to provide the uvb that chameleons need any farther away than 2”. So, essentially she hasn’t gotten any uvb except for the times that you’ve taken her outside in the sun. I hope you’ve ordered the correct T5HO fixture with either a 5.0 or 6% uvb. When you get that, her basking area needs to be about 8-9” away from the light. Don’t forget that the uvb bulb needs to be changed every 6 -12 months.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?80 degree near the top and 78 below near base, over night it’s 73. Thermometer in the cage Perfect
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? 50-69 misting with spray Not sure I understand. Do you mean after misting the humidity is 50-60%? If so, what is the humidity in between mistings? Ideal daytime humidity is between 30-50%. Your night time temps aren’t low enough to have a night time boost up to 80-100% and that’s ok. I’m not far from you and I can’t get my temps low enough.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?no I had fake plants I’m charging this. Yes! Please! Pothos is your new bff. I always think it’s nice to have a large/tall center plant such as a schefflera and then pothos or other vining plant around it. Most plants however will need a special plant grow light. Pothos does ok without one. Move all of the fake plants to the outside of the enclosure. I hang mine on the door to give my chams a sense of privacy. Your girl may eat her plants, so they need to be alive and safe. Veileds have been known to eat a fake leaf and then get a serious bowel obstruction/impaction.
• 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? Not near fans or air vents on a table 3ft off the ground near French doors, it is a traffic area of the home but she didn’t seem to mind it I’m going to advise moving her to a lower traffic area. Not only does heavy traffic stress chameleons, but it’s way too much while she is trying/needing to lay eggs. They need to feel safe in order to lay and that means not seeing any humans or animals. I cover up the bottom half of my girls’ enclosures when they are close to or actually laying. I have tiny peek holes in the sheet to monitor progress without her seeing me.
• Location - Where are you geographically located?Orlando, fl We have some great vets in Orlando. I go to Dr Bogoslavsky https://myavho.com/ who has years of experience with chameleons and keeps up to date. I have heard though that he no longer does egg bound surgery for chameleons. The other great vet is Dr Santiago Diaz. https://www.orlandoexoticveterinarian.com/ Dr Diaz and other vets at his clinic are also experienced with chameleons. I‘ve no idea of their fees. I can only tell you that Dr Bruce’s fees are very reasonable.

 

[Lizzy9207]

Give me a little time to go thru your husbandry. Which vet clinic did you go to in Orlando?

Give me a little time to go thru your husbandry. Which vet clinic did you go to in Orlando?

East Orange Animal Hospital. I’m reading through your replies now, thank you so much