proceedures before/during/after egg laying

[smyth]

howdy peeps well im just tryin to soak up as much info as possible about egg laying so hopefully i can have my female cham come out healthy after laying. i was just wondering if people have any tips or rules they stick to when it comes to egg laying.

ive just mated my two chams shud i be feeding my female heavily calcium dusted food from now? and feed her as much food as she wants? also whilst she is laying do u drop liquid calcium on her snout, also when she is digging will she stop for food and water? if so how do u get her to drink? do u drop water on her snout? then after shes done laying do u give her liquid calcium? ive never used this before but will buy some if u guys say its worth buying. sorry for the long essay and all the questions lol i just hope i can get as much info as poss in the month before she drops her eggs/ thanks. Craig.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

There's some info here:

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

Look at 2 articles specifically:

Breeding and
Keeping a female

-Brad

 

[smyth]

thanks brad m8

 

[kinyonga]

Just a few comments...do not let the female see you watching her when she is digging to lay the eggs. It will cause her to abandon the hole. If it happens often enough it can lead to eggbinding.

When watering or feeding her during the digging time, make sure she is up in the branches or can not see you spraying the cage/container that she is in. If feeding her while she is in the process be sure that all uneaten insects are not left in the cage during this time...they may chew on the eggs or the female.

I always let the female bury the eggs and return to the branches before I dig them up too.

 

[smyth]

thanks for the tips kinyonga if i cud just pick ur brain with a couple of questions please lol, how often do u spray her and feed her during the laying process? im goin to be putting a big tub in her flexarium and to put food in her cage im goin to ave to unzip the front which can be quite loud and disruptive, i think ill leave the top of the cage open whilst shes digging so as not to cause any disruption to her.

 

[Julirs]

I wouldn't leave the top of the cage open-she may disappear! My female has laid 3 times in a Reptarium. Basically when she was digging I left her alone, but when she would take breaks and go up into her plant I would mist her. She never eats during the entire laying process, which could be 3 days to a week. I always covered all sides of the Reptarium by safety-pinning a towel to all of the sides so she could not see me, but I could hear her nails sraping the plastic flowerpot I used as a laying container. I would just leave her alone and let her do her job-if they see you or if you disturb them too much she may abandon the process and become eggbound.

 

[smyth]

thanks julirs, right so the main thing is to not disturb her, ill do as uve suggested and pin some towels around the sides, and i only mist and feed her when shes havin a break. lol sorry i got another question, my heat and uv light is at the top of the flexarium which is like 4ft high so shall i lower it to the height of the laying tub? so that she keeps warm and gets the necessary uva/uvb. thanks again craig.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."how often do u spray her and feed her during the laying process?"...I don't feed them if they are just there a day or two. If they are there longer, then I feed them...one bug at a time....but (as was mentioned) only when the female is taking a break from the digging and is back up in the branches. I spray the cage down just like normal...every day.

For the egglaying...some females will use the container I have in the cage and in that case I don't move the lights....the whole cage is warm enough.

If I have to move the female to an egglaying bin, the bin has its own lighting.

 

[smyth]

right, thanks kinyonga, well im gona put an egg laying container in her flexarium so i wont mess with the lights then. and ill spray the cage as normal cheers,Craig.