When can I remove the egg bucket?

[Willie]

My supposed "male" laid eggs in the 5 gal. bucket.. but when is it o.k. to remove the bucket? They are not fertile, was a last second effort to get it in there since I thought she was a male... so needless to say I need to rearrange everything. When can I take it out and check it out and give her the room back? I'm just worried she may not be finished. She laid them yesterday afternoon and I keep noticing she hangs around in there and acts like she wants to bury them better. They must be more than 1/2 way down though, and nicely buried already. I know that it's good to leave it in there for good, just don't want to mess with it if she's still guarding it.
Also, already posted lots of info about her and my set up in "General Discussion" if you need any further info .. thanks to the people there, I was able to get thru the male or female question just in time.
It's listed under the thread "Is it male or female.
Thanks!

 

[camimom]

My supposed "male" laid eggs in the 5 gal. bucket.. but when is it o.k. to remove the bucket? They are not fertile, was a last second effort to get it in there since I thought she was a male... so needless to say I need to rearrange everything. When can I take it out and check it out and give her the room back? I'm just worried she may not be finished. She laid them yesterday afternoon and I keep noticing she hangs around in there and acts like she wants to bury them better. They must be more than 1/2 way down though, and nicely buried already. I know that it's good to leave it in there for good, just don't want to mess with it if she's still guarding it.
Also, already posted lots of info about her and my set up in "General Discussion" if you need any further info .. thanks to the people there, I was able to get thru the male or female question just in time.
It's listed under the thread "Is it male or female.
Thanks!

Many people leave the bucket in 24/7 so that you never miss the egg laying signs.

 

[Willie]

Yes, I would like to leave it in there... but what I wanted to find out is when can I take it out to remove the eggs and rearrange things properly? Is the day after she came out of there too soon? I just don't want to stress her out, but evidently I need to change out my plants and fix up the basking spot better and now I need to make the bucket more accessable for her. This was a hurry up and throw it in there kind of thing and it didn't end up that great..
Thanks

 

[ataraxia]

you can take it out anytime you would like. i personally dont keep any laying containers in the cages. normally the size of the female or (he she in your case), coloring, appetite, positioning in the cage is just to name a few signs of "hey you, i need something to drop these eggs in asap".

if you do decide to keep the container in the cage. make sure to keep the sand moist. its added work imo to your chores.

 

[imcurt]

I take the laying bin out after the females go to sleep. Im guessing its easyer on the females removing the bin while there sleeping. they wake to there happy home with misting and a meal. After your GIRL recovers, you should consider cutting her feed back so your not going threw this every 60-90 days

 

[Willie]

O.k. cool, I will take it out this evening after she goes to sleep. Thank you very much! By the way, we're changing Wally's name to Beans. Seems that's a girl lizard's name on the Rango movie... (my 11 year old's idea). After watching her do all that work, seems Joan of Ark is more appropriate!

 

[Willie]

Eggs! 50!!

Ok, I removed the bucket, dug 1/2 way down, discovered 50 eggs!!! I still can't believe all of this. Thought she was a male, threw a bucket in there, down she went, out she came, and there you go, 50 eggs. So exciting even though they're not fertile. I'm glad she made it, I'll be ready next time.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Ok, I removed the bucket, dug 1/2 way down, discovered 50 eggs!!! I still can't believe all of this. Thought she was a male, threw a bucket in there, down she went, out she came, and there you go, 50 eggs. So exciting even though they're not fertile. I'm glad she made it, I'll be ready next time.

Excellent stuff mate - don't Chameleons just keep you guessing? My first 'male' Veiled decided to lay on the very day we were moving house....lucky for us all I prefer the 'naturalistic' look and there was soil in there. Would never have known.........I know a bit more now, mostly thanks to this forum. My female just laid a batch of 31 unfertilised eggs too. I guess you know to give her extra mistings and Calcium for a while. Let her eat and drink as much as she likes for a few days too, she deserves it!