Update on camilla

hi all
an update on camilla , she is showing signs of being gravid and we can see outlines of eggs near her back legs

here she is









we have had a laying box in for about 2 weeks now so as shes used to it being in with her , will she automaticaly go to the laying box when she is ready ??, it has playsand dampened down so its mouldable when handled but not soaking wet , and i make sure i spray it regularly to keep it that way , we went today and got the vermicalite ready for incubation of eggs , but no sign of her going near the laying site yet , but she has slowed down and dont seem to move much in the viv now so am guessing she wont be long

cheers rob

Hey Rob,

If you browse through the Chameleon Breeding forum there are many threads about veileds laying their eggs. When she lays will depend on how long ago she mated and if she's ready and from what I've heard if she approves of the laying spot you've provided.

My female that recently laid eggs was digging for 6 days!! It freaked me out!! You can read about my experience here ... https://www.chameleonforums.com/veiled-chameleon-not-laying-6156/

However there have been many that are concerned with their female not laying eggs or not digging properly and there is much advice on this topic alone in this section of the forum. I'm sure if you have a quick browse you'll find many of the answers / suggestions that you're looking for.

Good Luck and keep us posted on Camilla's progress!! BTW - She has beautiful gravid colours in the photos!

Dyesub Dave.

thanks dave

its our first time breeding chams so all is a bit hit and miss if you know what i mean i have researched loads on the net , but nothing can compare to actually doing it and having a result , thats the only way i think is learning as you go , there are loads of threads to look through and heaps of info of which is fantastic to get you well on your way to a very good result , its just a matter of patients and knowing what your cham needs , which im learning very fast , will keep you all updated as to her progress
thanks
rob

Hey Rob,

Yeah I know what you mean. I had some veileds breed many years ago and I had no clue what I was doing. So when my new female was gravid this time it had been so long since I'd been in this scenario that I wasn't sure what to expect.

I just said that because there's been a ton of threads lately with exactly the same questions but of course everybody's situation is slightly different. However many of the same practices still apply. So I just thought instead of all the experts here - which I am nowhere near one - having to reiterate what they've already said several times a quick search may help you find some of the more common answers that you're looking for.

Mind you I realize that when you're in this situation you want answers right away as I felt the same way about a month ago. Patience is the hardest thing to have right now as you're mixed between being excited and worrying about your female. As you browse some of the other threads with people in similar questions you'll likely feel somewhat reassured as you see how things worked out for them.

I hope that your female starts to dig soon and doesn't take 6-7 days like mine did. It certainly is a HUGE relief when they've laid their eggs and they start eating and drinking again ... for them and for us !!

Dyesub Dave.

Thanks dave

sorry didnt mean it as it came accross , im both excited and aprehensive at the same time , as you have said there is a wealth of info on this site alone which has helped immensly , with some questions i was going to ask , so all looks good at the minute i have been hand feeding her and gave her water from a pippette to make sure she is hydrated , been giving a bit more calypso over the last two weeks and today added a little to the water i spray in as a precaution , want her to have the best start before she tries to lay , thanks for the kind words , hopefully she wont be long and then its a matter of tlc and plenty to eat and drink for her

cheers rob

well still no sign of her digging , she is moving about and still eating well she sitts on the edge of the laying box but has not ventured onto the sand yet , im asuming she still isnt ready yet so am playing the waiting game

rob

Ok yesterday and today so far she has not eaten one thing even turning her nose up so to speak at a waxie , she has ben wandering the viv slowly and spent a lot of time in the cool end as opposed to the basking spot , she hasnt been near the laying box but hopefully when she is ready she will

rob

Sounds like she is getting close. Mine did not eat for 4-5 days before starting to dig. Make sure you keep her watered well, she has a hard job to do!

Yeah ... mine didn't eat much for a few days before laying either! Sometimes if their digging takes them several days they will eat a bit while digging but make sure to feed sparingly at this time.

Do you know how long ago she mated? Usually it's 20-30 days before egg laying starts. How big is the laying box? I've read that they like them fairly deep ... around 8" - 12". Also .. putting a plant in the top of it may help as apparently they like to bury under the protection of a plant.

Like Juli said ... sounds like it will be soon!!

Dyesub Dave.

Dyesub Dave said:

Yeah ... mine didn't eat much for a few days before laying either! Sometimes if their digging takes them several days they will eat a bit while digging but make sure to feed sparingly at this time.

Do you know how long ago she mated? Usually it's 20-30 days before egg laying starts. How big is the laying box? I've read that they like them fairly deep ... around 8" - 12". Also .. putting a plant in the top of it may help as apparently they like to bury under the protection of a plant.

Like Juli said ... sounds like it will be soon!!

Dyesub Dave.

Click to expand...

hi dave

by our calculations its day 19 today , the laying box is about a foot deep and i have stuck a long branch out of the back of it for her to climb up and down on , she has just eaten a few mealies i put in a feeding pot for her but she wont eat crix or locusts at the min , i am still adding calcium to the water i spray on the plants for her to get something when she drinks , crossed fingers she will be soon so we can get her up and eating again

rob

Hey Rob,

Well they don't eat much before they're going to lay their eggs. I think it's a good sign that she ate anything at all. You could try handfeeding some silkworms to her however mine wouldn't touch them at all until after she deposited her eggs. Your laying box sounds about right ... perhaps stick a fake plant with some large leaves at one end of it.

Also .. when she starts digging it's best that she has a lot of privacy. Cover the cage up with a towel or something and leave yourself a little peephole to check on her. I would think that she should start digging within the next week or so. With mine the eggs became EXTREMELY visible at her back end just before she started digging.


Dyesub Dave.

cheers dave

tried hand feeding she was having none of it she turned quick and was nervous of my hand in the viv so i withdrew pretty quick not to upset her more than she was i will try a fake plant in one corner of the laying box and see what happens , im not overly worried about her at the min as she has now eaten and has now gone back up to the top but the cool side , but have seen posts to say that they do this . do you know if she would lay at night ??
normally at around 7.30 pm she goes to her sleeping spot , i then knock off the spot and leave the uv on till 8pm then switch that off so she is in darkness and wondered if she might do it at night in the dark maybe ??

thanks rob

Well my female dug during the daytime taking small breaks and sleeping at night for 6 days. On the 6th night she stayed in her tunnel overnight and I was extremely concerned for her. The next morning I could see her coming out head first and filling the hole behind her. When she was done she went up on her branch and was finished so I gave her lots of food and water.

I think that she probably just slept in the tunnel from exhaustion as I couldn't hear her digging after about 9:00 pm or so. I was very happy to see her eat about 8 or 9 crickets after that and have a large drink of water. That was a month ago and she's starting to look like normal again. YAY !!

So I would just keep your schedule going the way it is as she's used to it. Hopefully you will be reporting eggs very soon!

Dyesub Dave.

Dyesub Dave said:

Well my female dug during the daytime taking small breaks and sleeping at night for 6 days. On the 6th night she stayed in her tunnel overnight and I was extremely concerned for her. The next morning I could see her coming out head first and filling the hole behind her. When she was done she went up on her branch and was finished so I gave her lots of food and water.

I think that she probably just slept in the tunnel from exhaustion as I couldn't hear her digging after about 9:00 pm or so. I was very happy to see her eat about 8 or 9 crickets after that and have a large drink of water. That was a month ago and she's starting to look like normal again. YAY !!

So I would just keep your schedule going the way it is as she's used to it. Hopefully you will be reporting eggs very soon!

Dyesub Dave.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info

will keep you all informed how she goes and will let you know when we have eggs

cheers rob

well update time
still no eggs she has been to the laying box and seemed to be tasting the sand ?? dont know what that was all about , she has eaten again today and i keep giving her plenty to drink , but still waiting

rob

Waiting is the hardest part!! After she lays the eggs is the BIG WAIT for the eggs to hatch!!

Dyesub Dave.

You have a beautiful female, she looks very like one of my girls, I stay in the UK too. I wonder if they are related? I hope all goes well with the laying, my female did all her digging and laying in 1 day, I feel quite lucky about that! I remember reading about Daves girl and thinking I hope my girl will be quicker than this! Thankfully she was. Hope she does well for you!

Thanks all

quick update still nothing no digging and no eggs , guess it still a waiting game

here is a pic showing her from behind with large egg outlines
cheers rob

Go Camilla Go

Wow! Camilla does have some nice eggs in there. It is really hard to wait. There are several agonizing threads here from people waiting for their Veiled to lay. My one female Veiled became gravid two weeks ago. It will be her first time. I'm going to put a big laying "pot" in her cage this week. I've only experienced egg laying with Panthers until now. I had one female Sambava that constantly paced her cage for over a week and then dug for several days before she laid. That was her first clutch. The second took about four hours of digging with no pacing before. She knew the drill the second time. Keep us updated. Keeping my fingers crossed for some healthy eggs

PardalisGirl said:

Wow! Camilla does have some nice eggs in there. It is really hard to wait. There are several agonizing threads here from people waiting for their Veiled to lay. My one female Veiled became gravid two weeks ago. It will be her first time. I'm going to put a big laying "pot" in her cage this week. I've only experienced egg laying with Panthers until now. I had one female Sambava that constantly paced her cage for over a week and then dug for several days before she laid. That was her first clutch. The second took about four hours of digging with no pacing before. She knew the drill the second time. Keep us updated. Keeping my fingers crossed for some healthy eggs

Click to expand...

thanks pardalisgirl
its our first time breding camilla also so not been through it before , we put the laying tub in about 3 weeks ago so she gets used to the tub being there , hopefully all will go well when she decides to lay , she is moving around but very slowly and is off her food again today so maybe we will have some luck in the next few days

cheers rob