Veiled Chameleon not laying eggs.

[Vibrant Chameleons]

My female has been in her tunnel all day. I hope that means that she's laying eggs. I saw her go in this morning, didn't see her come out when I was home for lunch and haven't seen her out since 6:00pm and now it's 7:45pm. I stuck my ear to the bottom of the tank and could hear digging at one point but haven't heard anything for a while. She doesn't usually stay in that long.

So I'm hoping it's not a problem and she's just trying to cover up the eggs as she goes. If I don't see her for another few hours should I dig her out and check on her or just leave her alone??

Thanks ... Dyesub Dave.

LEAVE her ALONE Dave!! lol She's laying and she'll come out when she's done to cover them up and fill the hole.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

But, please DO let us know when you see she's surfaced

 

[Dyesub Dave]

OK ... Thanks. My first instinct was to leave her alone but I was just hoping she wasn't too tired to crawl out or something.

It's now 9:30pm and still no sign of her. I've kept her heat lamp on to keep the cage warm for her. I'll keep checking and report when I find out anything!!

Thanks for all your help everybody!!

Dyesub Dave.

 

[kinyonga]

Any news?
I always let them finish filling in the hole and allow them to go back up into the branches before I dig the eggs up.They seem to "have" to complete that to feel settled about it.

 

[Dyesub Dave]

NO ... It is 8:00 am and she still hasn't come out of the hole. I'm getting very worried about her!

Dyesub Dave.

 

[Dyesub Dave]

HOORAY .... It's 8:50am and I can see her digging by the entrance of the tunnel !!!! I think she looks thinner but can't tell for sure as she keeps going in and out of the entrance. At least I know she's still alive!! WHEW !!

I see what you mean about patience with these guys now. I was starting to FREAK OUT a bit!!

Now ... once she comes back up on her branch I'm going to give her a nice warm shower and some food. Then hopefully on to the egg hunt. Kinna like easter!

Does anybody have any thoughts about the suggestion I had earlier? The container with vermiculite on top of the chameleon enclosure to have daily temp fluctuations like in the wild !!

Thanks ... Dyesub Dave.

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

HOORAY .... It's 8:50am and I can see her digging by the entrance of the tunnel !!!! I think she looks thinner but can't tell for sure as she keeps going in and out of the entrance. At least I know she's still alive!! WHEW !!

I see what you mean about patience with these guys now. I was starting to FREAK OUT a bit!!

Now ... once she comes back up on her branch I'm going to give her a nice warm shower and some food. Then hopefully on to the egg hunt. Kinna like easter!

Does anybody have any thoughts about the suggestion I had earlier? The container with vermiculite on top of the chameleon enclosure to have daily temp fluctuations like in the wild !!

Thanks ... Dyesub Dave.

Hey Dave. Looks like she has laid the eggs for you. You just have to leave them alone to do their thing and they will
As for your question, it never hurts to try. Why don't you take a tiny portion of the eggs (10) and try it that way. There is no one proper way of egg incubation. Everyone is always looking for new ideas and ways to incubate. Give it a shot.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Congratulations! (I would have been freaking out, too. )

 

[barnaby]

Congrats! (I sure hope that when the time comes my Brev won't make me freak out like you!)

 

[PardalisGirl]

Did she lay them?

So did she lay them for sure? Sounds like she did. She probably feel asleep in the tunnel over night and then finished up in the morning. This has happened to me several times. How many eggs did the good girl lay? It's really good for everyone to hear about this sort of experience. It is so hard to be patient and not to freak out when it takes so long. But as long as they are digging you know they have the right idea and will make it happen eventually

 

[Dyesub Dave]

My little Isabelle is now watered and fed and doing well. She ate 5 or 6 crickets and a Silkworm. I ended up getting 26 eggs!! These eggs are larger than I expected ... no wonder she's so thin now!!

I've put 18 of the eggs in my DIY incubator and 8 of the eggs are in a smaller container with which I'm going to try the closet or on top of the reptile cage method.

Thanks everybody for your help, suggestions and support. It certainly is stressful waiting to find out if the female is alright!

I've attached some pics of the eggs, Isabelle, and the DIY incubator. I'm sure I'll have questions over the coming months regarding the eggs. Now the LOONNGG wait!!

BTW - That temp and humidity reading is because the container was out of the incubator. It's normally around 78 - 79 deg. F. and 98-99% humidity!!

Dyesub Dave.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Hey, that's great. What a nice tidy set up you've got there too.

 

[bg77]

Wow, what a great story. I have been following it since day one. I am so glad all is well. Good Luck

 

[danielle609]

Congrats!! Our females laid the same amount of eggs! Sorta cool....well maybe not but I find that sorta stuff interesting Wouldn't it be cool if they started hatching on the same day? Have fun with the eggs and we can both be patient together!!(I think that veiled eggs normally hatch earlier though)

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Hey, that's great. What a nice tidy set up you've got there too.

Thanks ... I hope that NICE & TIDY = SUCCESSFUL !!

Wow, what a great story. I have been following it since day one. I am so glad all is well. Good Luck

I hope this fairytale has another happy ending in 6 months! Thanks.

Congrats!! Our females laid the same amount of eggs! Sorta cool....well maybe not but I find that sorta stuff interesting Wouldn't it be cool if they started hatching on the same day? Have fun with the eggs and we can both be patient together!!(I think that veiled eggs normally hatch earlier though)

Thank you!! Yeah that is kinna strange isn't it?? I think I have enough other pets to help me pass the time so as not to constantly worry about the eggs! LOL Maybe we can compare egg notes!! Do you have Panther Chameleon eggs? Do you incubate them similar to the Veiled eggs?


Dyesub Dave.

 

[kinyonga]

And now the really tough part starss...waiting for them to hatch!
Glad she finally laid the eggs!

 

[danielle609]

Thank you!! Yeah that is kinna strange isn't it?? I think I have enough other pets to help me pass the time so as not to constantly worry about the eggs! LOL Maybe we can compare egg notes!! Do you have Panther Chameleon eggs? Do you incubate them similar to the Veiled eggs?


Dyesub Dave.

Yeah as of now just 26 panther eggs. I am not sure if there is a difference in incubation. I currently have all 26 eggs in a dresser drawer. So far the low has been 67 and the high 72. If it starts to get too cold in the winter I will praobably just move them into a warmer room. I think veileds hatch at a little higher temps. But from what I understand everyone seems to have their own way of hatching out the lil' buggers. I am just hoping that my method works, after all the stress I (and she) went through I would hate to lose them!!

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Hey Danielle,

I know exactly what you mean. I'm trying an incubator for some eggs and the rest I'm putting on top of a lizard cage so it gets the highs and lows like in nature. Apparently Veiled eggs take from 5-8 months to hatch! It will be interesting to see if there are differences between to two incubation methods.

Too bad you're not a little closer I would love to get some Panther Chams. Although I am running out of space here. I'm looking a getting a couple of Crested Geckos and perhaps a Tarantula for my little guy. I'm adding my signature so that people can see what I currently have. Check it out!!

Dyesub Dave.

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Hey ... where's my signature!! OH ... There it is!! Another aquariuim forum that I'm subscribed to changes all your posts when you add a signature so I was momentarily confused !!

 

[danielle609]

I use to have some cresties. I named them Pongo and Perty because they were dalmations. I swear to you almost everytime I checked the lay box there where 2 cute little eggs sitting in there. I also see that you have a Honduran milk snake. I use to work with milk snakes at my high school, and the Hondurans were by far my favorite. I named my favorite Teguciguilpa(sp?) after the capital of Honduras. I am not into snakes anymore, but if I were I would def. have some milksnakes! (and a rainbow boa, and a GTP......and probably others but I like my chams and thats all I have room for ) But I think it is smart of you to test out the 2 diferent methods, I'm sure they will both hatch, but it will be nice to see the difference in hatching time. Sorry about my ramblings, you probably don't care what I named my previous animals but I am pretty bored right now