Laying Eggs All Over Enclosure

[denise t]

I have a female veiled chameleon who did not use her bucket to lay her eggs. In the past she would dig to the bottom to lay. I woke up to find her eggs all over her enclosure. There does not seem to be anything wrong with the conditions/content of the bucket. It was just weird and surprising to me. Is this normal? She is happily eating and basking and acting completely fine. I do not know how old she is (she was a rescue)-but we have had her for almost 3 years. Could it have to do with her getting older?
If anyone has any insight, I would appreciate any input.
Thank you!
Denise

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and welcome! Can you share a picture of your pretty little lady and her enclosure and her lay bin? That is a bit odd that she just laid them all over her enclosure. Are you open to the idea of taking her to the vet for an xray to ensure that she got all the eggs out?

 

[denise t]

I took some photos. The bucket is organic topsoil with some sand-same brand as usual. Moist enough to "stick" together in the fist. She previously she would always dig down the side of the bucket in a semi spiral and lay at the bottom and come back up.

She is not super fond of being handled. I know her youth was not so pleasant and think that her preference to be left alone might be a result of that. I try not to handle her. I would take her to the vet if necessary, but it would be a major stress on her.

 

[Beman]

I took some photos. The bucket is organic topsoil with some sand-same brand as usual. Moist enough to "stick" together in the fist. She previously she would always dig down the side of the bucket in a semi spiral and lay at the bottom and come back up.

She is not super fond of being handled. I know her youth was not so pleasant and think that her preference to be left alone might be a result of that. I try not to handle her. I would take her to the vet if necessary, but it would be a major stress on her.

Can you post some more pics of her now. These are quite small not sure why but looking at the pic of her I can not blow it up large enough without losing focus. But in that image her bottom jaw looks swollen.

The biggest risk here is that she laid them by dropping them everywhere. This does not ensure that she laid the entire clutch and is more likely that she has retained some. Which is lethal for them if they retain them.

Do you now how many she normally lays and did you count how many she laid on the ground this time?

 

[kinyonga]

How many clutches has she laid? All infertile clutches? How many eggs in each clutch?

How many insects do you feed her in a week? What kind of insects?
What specific supplements do you dust with and how often for each and how heavily? I’m particularly interested in the calcium, pho’s, D3 and form of vitamin A in each.

What’s the basking temperature? Whatbdo you gutload or feed the insects with. Please be specific.

What UVB light do you use?

 

[denise t]

 

[denise t]

It was 32 this time (a little more than usual). Maybe feeding her too much? Usually in upper 20's.

 

[denise t]

Crickets and different worms (wax, meal, super & horn). I'm in FL, so dubias are illegal. 4 crickets and a worm daily. 1x per week zoo med reptivite w/o d3. 2x/week flukers repta calcium with d3-phosphorus free.
gut load with various lettuces. She likes to eat the hibiscus leaves in her enclosure.

 

[denise t]

I dont know the brand of the bulbs. I get them at pet smart. The ones that are for rainforest-not dessert. Every 6 months to change out. The basking bulb gets changed more often because it goes out.

 

[denise t]

when i dust the crickets, I put a small amount of supplement in the bottom of a larger container. I then add the crickets and swirl them gently around in it. Then I tip the container so that the crickets (coated in dust) fall out into her enclosure.

 

[denise t]

This is her 6th. Usually one in the spring and one in

 

[Beman]

Crickets and different worms (wax, meal, super & horn). I'm in FL, so dubias are illegal. 4 crickets and a worm daily. 1x per week zoo med reptivite w/o d3. 2x/week flukers repta calcium with d3-phosphorus free.
gut load with various lettuces. She likes to eat the hibiscus leaves in her enclosure.

So you are over feeding her but also your supplementation is incorrect. She is getting too much D3. She should be getting Calcium without D3 at all feedings and then 2 times a month a multivitamin with Vitamin A and D3. We supplement to not only provide things they need but to balance the phosphorus to calcium levels of the insects we feed.

Your reptivite has vitamin A in it and is being given too frequently as well. Vitamin A and D3 both can be overdosed. When too much D3 is given you can do the opposite of what you want and they end up pulling calcium from their bones to compensate.

Per feeding females should be fed 3 days a week with 3-4 feeders. This combined with basking temps of 78-80 max reduce clutch sizes.

It does look like she has some swelling to the bottom jaw... Could be an abscess or mouth rot issue.

 

[denise t]

I am open to purchasing different items. So please let me know what you have found to be ideal. I can order online if necessary. Just want her to be healthy!

 

[denise t]

So you are over feeding her but also your supplementation is incorrect. She is getting too much D3. She should be getting Calcium without D3 at all feedings and then 2 times a month a multivitamin with Vitamin A and D3. We supplement to not only provide things they need but to balance the phosphorus to calcium levels of the insects we feed.

Your reptivite has vitamin A in it and is being given too frequently as well. Vitamin A and D3 both can be overdosed. When too much D3 is given you can do the opposite of what you want and they end up pulling calcium from their bones to compensate.

Per feeding females should be fed 3 days a week with 3-4 feeders. This combined with basking temps of 78-80 max reduce clutch sizes.

It does look like she has some swelling to the bottom jaw... Could be an abscess or mouth rot issue.

ok. Got it. Thank you for the advice. I will research abcess/mouth rot.

 

[Beman]

ok. Got it. Thank you for the advice. I will research abcess/mouth rot.

She would need a really good reptile vet to get it checked out. The only way to treat both is with antibiotics. If it is an abscess they normally open them up and flush them out.

Per supplements buy calcium without D3 and then that is your most of the time supplement. Then get Reptivite with D3 this would be 2 times a month only say the 1st and the 15th.

 

[Ghostbirb]

Here are some links to the stuff many of us use,
Calcium without D3
Reptivite with D3

I wish you luck with your girl! She is awfully cute! I have a soft spot for rescues as my girl is also one.
I would also agree that it's probably best to get to a vet sooner than later as egg binding is very very dangerous.
Here is a list of reptile vets: https://www.chameleonforums.com/attachments/chameleon-forums-vet-list-2024-u-s-a-pdf.353934/

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. You’ve gotten great advice so far and I’m just popping in because I too am in Florida. You don’t say what part you’re in, but for central Florida we have a fantastic vet with years of experience with chameleons in Orlando - Dr Bruce Bogoslavsky https://myavho.com/ Unfortunately, he no longer does surgery on chameleons so if your girl has retained eggs and needs surgery to remove them, you’d have to go to https://www.orlandoexoticveterinarian.com/ While this vet does have experience with chameleons, for some unknown reason they insisted that I enclosure my sick girl in a bin of warm water sitting on a heating pad…this would be a torture for a chameleon and would not add any hydration. Just keep that in mind if you need go there. In Brevard, Dr Brennan at https://cocoaveterinary.com/ is ok, but she too does not do chameleon surgery and might also suggest soaking to hydrate which is to be ignored.
Just fyi - we can’t have dubia, but we can have discoid roaches which are very similar. Some PetSupermarkets have been selling discoids or you can get them on line from http://www.lindasgonebuggie.com/page/397479218