Veiled egg laying

[Mdiin]

I was at a small pet store the other day and a female veiled that I have had my eye on looked gravid. I went in a few days later for crickets and now she was digging in the tank but she only had about 2 inches of substrate and I knew that I would either need to buy her and get her into a laying bin or she would die. I had a cage from a previous chameleon but it was a male and I haven't had any experiences with females. I took her home and made her a nice bin and she wasn't interested (probably the stress of a change in environment). A week has gone by and I got her a nice schefflera plant that she loves and as I walked by today she was digging in the plant. I just put it in there yesterday and hadn't potted it yet as I wasn't prepared to bring her home but I noticed she was digging in the crappy pot that came with the plant still in it. I knew she would never be able to dig a suitable hole in there so I pulled her out and put her in the laying bin and she immediately started digging. I had a camera on her to avoid disturbing her by checking on her and she dug a big hole and then backed into it and then she wanted out of the bin. When I went to check and see if there were eggs I didn't find any. She wanted up on her branch under the light. Is this OK? Is there something I need to do? She seemed to back into the hole twice before calling it a day. Is it possible that she tried to lay and couldn't?

Shes very sweet and since she grew up around people she isn't shy and she wants to be held as much as possible so I don't think she got spooked and abandoned the hole.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Michelle Maxwell]

Just leave her be she will lay in it it will take a week or so she still going up for heat and food and maybe not hold her till she's been with you a month or so

 

[BKO Overdrive]

make sure you dug all of it out, down to the bottom, i thought my girl hadnt layed until i dug to the absolute bottom and i found them.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Hi there my Frances just layed her first clutch a few weeks ago . She dug all her bins small and large . Not little hole big hole . Slept one night in one of her hole in the Am warmed up then started agin took 4 days . I had a very hard time finding her eggs she dug all the way to bottom of a 5 gallon bucket .

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons. Not a good way to jumpminto it...but now you need to gomfrom here.

IMHO you need to leave her alone...don't handle/hold/play with her until she's done laying the eggs. If she decides to dig a hole in the plant pot...let her.

Don't let her see you watching her when she's digging. It will make her abandon the hole. If it happens too often she will become eggbound.

You either need to provide a proper laying site in the cage...an opaque bin at least 12" x 8" x 8" filled with washed playsand that is moist enough to hold a tunnel OR buy a 65 litre rubbermade type container to put her in outside the cage.

If you get the Rubbermade container set it up like this.....Cut a large hole in the lid and cover it with screen. Fill the container about half full of washed playsand that is moist enough to hold a tunnel. Add a branch in the bin. Place the chameleon in the bin...put the lid on and add a light over the screen to keep her warm and provide light. Be careful not to overheat the bin. You can feed and water her in this container...jus don't leave extra insects in the bin.

Do not move her back and forth from one setup to the other. She needs peace to do the job.

Now...if she dug/digs a hole and sits butt down and then fills the hole in but hasn't laid the eggs it's called a phantom laying and usually indicates eggbinding. Sitting low in the branches...sitting with her eyes shut during the day...lethargy are other signs of eggbinding.

Egglaying should go like this...she will dig a hole or several but should decide on one in the end and dig it until she's happy with it. This can take several days. She should then turn around butt down and lay the eggs...usually in the evening. She should fill the hole in and tamp it down and return to the branches, hungry and thirsty. At this point you can dig the eggs up and incubate them if they are fertile. It's important IMHO to dig them up even if infertile so you know how many she laid.

If you need info on incubating just ask.
Good luck!

 

[BayChams]

She wanted up on her branch under the light. Is this OK?

My chameleon just layed eggs yesterday and she would often take breaks from digging to quickly sit in the light for about five minutes and then go back to work. I believe it is probably normal but I'm not really an experienced chameleon owner...
Good luck with your new chameleon!
P.S. what's her name?

 

[Mdiin]

Update...

I don't know where to go from here but I'll give my observations and hopefully someone will have some good feedback. The last 2 days she has been laying on a branch with her legs hanging straight down. She is alive and has been moving and she is very dirty on her legs and feet but not her face. She is refusing to use her front legs and I don't know if she has been digging and is exhausted or if she is eggbound. She could not use them to climb up the tree. I looked in the planter (14x14x14ish) and there is a previous hole but it isn't filled in and I don't see any signs that she was digging in another spot. She is shedding and has plenty of food and water.

Guidance? Thoughts?

 

[kinyonga]

It's possible she's eggbound. Time for a vet I think.