shes digging!!!

[clairf]

Evening Update: has anyone ever experienced this where they dig a second tunnel? im only 29 and i feel as if im going bald and grey already due to the stress!!!! but shes worth it without a doubt.....

I haven't well not that has actually covered up the unwanted hole again anyway....

Hoping tomorrow finds you both safe, finished and calm

 

[kinyonga]

clarif said..."note to self..open your mind and look at the whole picture not just one direction"...you were doing pretty good with all the advise...so don't kick yourself! I've likely been keeping chameleons a lot longer than you!

 

[clairf]

clarif said..."note to self..open your mind and look at the whole picture not just one direction"...you were doing pretty good with all the advise...so don't kick yourself! I've likely been keeping chameleons a lot longer than you!

very kind - thank you

So ADS, come on...< drumming fingers on keyboard > whats the news this morning ?

 

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Hey Clair

Ok well this moring she was back in the 2nd hole digging away and i came home at lunch and she was still in there!

ive not long been home from work and she is still in the hole... i can hear her scratching / digging and she has pretty much dug round the edge of the bin and it sounds like she is the oppersite side to the entrance of the tunnel.....

im getting totally worried now.. like what if she cant get back out the way she came as she may have blocked her exit?? im really worried that she cant get out.... i take it that i shouldnt attempt to get her out... but she could have laid and is stuck.... im gonna take a few pics and up load them now.....

 

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heres some pics and ive sort of highlighted where she is.... excuse the messy writing.....

 

[clairf]

DON'T PANIC !

She most likely will dig at an angle right to the bottom. As long as you have the right consistancy of sand the tunnel shouldn't cave in. As long as you can hear her - leave her do not dig her out. She wont / wouldn't lay until she was happy with the laying site.

As she has been at it all day there is a chance she has laid and now has to spend ages backing up and covering in and patting down the tunnel

Hang in there ...you are doing fine
Stay in touch

Hey Clair

Ok well this moring she was back in the 2nd hole digging away and i came home at lunch and she was still in there!

ive not long been home from work and she is still in the hole... i can hear her scratching / digging and she has pretty much dug round the edge of the bin and it sounds like she is the oppersite side to the entrance of the tunnel.....

im getting totally worried now.. like what if she cant get back out the way she came as she may have blocked her exit?? im really worried that she cant get out.... i take it that i shouldnt attempt to get her out... but she could have laid and is stuck.... im gonna take a few pics and up load them now.....

 

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Thanks Clair!

The lights are out now and im going to keep checking on her..... she is still going now! im quite confident the mix of sand and soil is good and i did compact it a bit when filling up the bucket.. i dug a little hole a minute ago with my hand and its sill nice and moist after an inch deep.....

thanks soooooooo much for all the help!

 

[clairf]

Phew ok. It's more the dampness I ment than the mixture of sand and soil. As long as there's the dampness to hold the tunnel......but it's looking ok atm

Hang in there and am here all evening if you need to yell, scream, panic, worry or question
x

 

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thanks clair..... i really really appreciate all the help you have given me!

 

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Update:

ok so she stayed in the tunnel last night and this morning when i went in after about 20mins of the lights going on just after 7am i could hear her digging/scratching.... its coming from the same area as i highlighted in the pics so she is still around the same spot in the tunnel..... it does sound like she is back filling but i cant be 100% sure......

im in all day so will keep checking in on her

 

[clairf]

Phew ! Lets hope so....

I imagine you would only hear her backfilling if she is up the side, once more ' inland ' you wouldn't really hear her...there is a possability she is still completing her hole .....but because she is in the same area I wonder if she did what Doris did. Doris went through the night too, and I really worried about her down in the damp cold sand all night, when I got up she had begun backfilling and was in view, just, but appeared lifeless. Heart hit the floor.
All her lights came on and after about 5 mins she was up and filling again. Doris was VERY particular about covering her hole, filling layer by layer and padding down each one thouroughly before starting the next. She took hours and hours and was totally exhausted when she came out.
Be ready to give her a good drink and meal when she is finished.
Poor girl she's been at it ages now....must be shattered. Lets pray when she emerges she is wafer thin and it's all sorted...

One last thought, your pics show the first tunnel...in what direction did she did down ? In same direction as where she has ended up with the second hole or not?
Keep us updated

 

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Hey.... yea i think she is bascially in the same area where the first tunnel was.... ive not heard anything for the last hour now..... im gonna leave her for a bit longer and see..... im just worried that she might be stuck down there.....

 

[clairf]

This is the tricky bit because if you can't hear her you don't know whats going on in there.....the next few hours will be hell on earth for you. Knowing that in advance will help you stay calm...

I've not heard of a stuck Cham before ( has anyone else? ) they are pretty good at making sure all holes are big enough to move / turn / exit.

As long as you don't see any additional movement of the sand in the bucket ( cave in - sorry had to say it ) then you have to make a bucket of tea, put the sport or NCIS on and just pace the floor till you see her head poping back out of the hole.....

Mother nature has usually equiped them with all they need

 

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Thanks clair....

yea i did think about it caving in..... but no soil/sand has moved on the top...... i will just keep an eye on her......

well the football is on today!! im just glad im at home today to keep an eye on her....

 

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ok just checked on her again and i can now hear her again and sounds likes shes has move a little bit round the laying bin..... so maybe when it went quite she was laying?? or just having a rest...... shes litrally been down this tunnel for a day now!! shes still going tho - bless her.....

 

[clairf]

ok just checked on her again and i can now hear her again and sounds likes shes has move a little bit round the laying bin..... so maybe when it went quite she was laying?? or just having a rest...... shes litrally been down this tunnel for a day now!! shes still going tho - bless her.....

If she had laid she would be backing out of / filling in, the same hole and the noise would be the backfilling just while she is near the edge then go quite, but in any case would be the same area, so if you can hear noise in a slightly different place she may of just been resting and now carrying on...

Jeez she is wearing me out now....she must be tired and you must be wired

 

[clairf]

well....well....wellllllll

Just reduced my shopping trip to bare provisions so I wasn't out long......wellll how's she doing?

 

[ChameleonRave]

Congrats hopefully you will have eggs today!

 

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hey!!!

shes is still in there scratching away...... it still sounds like she is in the same spot!!

i duno...... ive got the football on so im sort of chilled out lol

 

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hey..... oh my god what a nightmare

shes bascially been in the same spot all day.... i couldnt take it anymore so i decided to dig her out and im glad i did because tunnel 2 had collapsed and she was lying on her side when i dug her out...... i was soooo careful when digging to get her out, i started at the entrance of tunnel 2 and halfway along it was blocked and she had bascially dug all the way over to the frist hole that she dug and that part she had back filled herself so it wasnt compacted....

she does look thinner but i have searched the whole tub of sand and there is no sign of any eggs i can deffinatly feel and see eggs in her right above her back legs.

she didnt once hiss at me when i got her out and i washed the sand off her and she had a drink but wont eat anything......

i have put the laying bin back in and this time i compacted the sand/soil in layers..... she is still looking strong and climbing all over the place considering she hasnt seen day light for nearly 2 days....

i am totally stressed out now think i will ring the vet on Monday and see if its worth taking her to see him.....

so the first tunnel she dug and back filled had no eggs..... if i had left her down there i dont think she would have ever got out..... to think i left her in there nearly all day i feel so bad about it....

im just hoping that i have disturb her too much that she wont digg again.... when i put her in her cage after washing her down all she wanted to do was climb out onto my hand... fingers crossed she diggs again...