Veiled Chameleon absorbing eggs?

[reaperreptiles]

Hello Everybody,
I am a new to this site but I have a question for all you veiled cham owners. I have been working with chameleons for a while but have never had one so difficult as my female high orange named Peaches. She is currently gravid with infertile eggs, I was becoming concerned because she hasn't been showing typical signs of wanting to lay. She was huge a few days ago but has been slowly losing wieght. I have checked her egg box and nothing at all. Has anybody ever had females absorb their infertile eggs?

 

[ChameleonNerd]

if i'm not mistaken... isn't that part of egg binding?

 

[reaperreptiles]

well I have had females egg bind before but never like this. She is acting completely healthy, taking food and water like a champ (as always) and moving around. I have already moved her into the egg laying container and I can feel the eggs. She is soaking up light and observant. Her belly just got a bit smaller? Ive read before that it is possible for them to not lay and absorb them but that it is very rare. Just wondering if anybody else has had this happen?

 

[jannb]

It's not part of being egg bound. My daughter has had females reabsorb eggs before, usually with the help of the vet.

 

[pssh]

One of the female panthers absorbed her eggs. She was still recovering from being sick/under weight/moving from home to home though. I also had a female take over 50 days to lay from becoming gravid.

 

[reaperreptiles]

Well that's a relief. She's two and this is her first time being gravid. I had a female a while back who was gravid at 4 months and died from binding. Had to put her down, vet said she was too young to do surgery on and that the contraction meds were too powerful for her. So my choice was give her a week to go slowly and painfully or just euthanize her. Hopefully peaches will safely lay these these eggs. I have a high trans I would like to breed her too. Im trying to come up with a male of my own that looks like frost from flchams. Gonna be tricky but its one of my goals.

 

[kinyonga]

I have only known of one veiled that somehow resorbed her eggs although most people say its not possible. In most instances I would expect that the female would become eggbound though. I think that at best, the resorption is rare.

 

[Georgia]

on the topic of eggs!

I have had my female veiled chameleon for aprox. 8 months now. She was brought in to clinic where I work with severe MBD... the owners were going to euthanise her so I offered to give her her a chance, they surrendered her over to me. After lots of research and TLC she has been gaining weight consistently and eating well, doing great despite her bone deformities... for the past week she has been digging in her enclosure. I have 4'' of soil on entire bottom and as soon as i noticed her hanging out on the bottom I gave her a mound of sand aprox. one foot high. I am a first time cham owner but I have done my research and do have reptile experience in general. There is a lot of conflicting information out there. Should I continue to give her oral calcium daily? or leave her be? do I check for eggs after she looks like she is finished digging? or is it a no no to disturb the sand? should I have x-rays done sooner than later just so I know for sure if there is going to be potential issues with laying?( I.E egg deformities.) or could transporting to the vet be more detremental than helpful? Could her very poor start in life 8 months ago have an effect on the egg laying ability for today , even though properly cared for and supplemented now?? any answers or information would be greatly appreciated. I have kept a journal of her life with me meds given ect. I can elaborate on anything if more information is needed to help me.

 

[jannb]

Georgia,
If she's digging leave her alone and give her complete privacy. After she lays and cover the hole give her a good long misting and plenty of water to drink and some good food. I like to use silkworms. I would give her a couple of drops of calcium each day after laying for three days and feed her well for 3 day and then back to feeding every 2 to 3 days and lower her temps to 80 or 81. I'm attacking my egg laying blog for you below.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

 

[kinyonga]

As Jann said...when she's digging do not let her see you watching her or she will likely abandon the hole.

She could dig more than one hole but should settle on one and dig it until its to her liking. She should then turn around butt down (likely in the evening) and lay the eggs, fill in the hole, tamp it down and return to the branches. Putting the sand in a container would likely be better since she will likely try to dig to a "corner" (12" deep x 12" x 8" and opaque should be good for inside her cage).

Once she has filled in the hole and returned to the branches you can dig the eggs up to see how many she laid.

If you need to give her calcium, do it when she is up in the branches.

I wouldn't take her for x-rays or disturb her in any other way (other than to feed, water or give her calcium when she's NOT digging) so that she has every chance to do her job.

Good luck with her!