First Infertile Clutch Success!

AngieL

Avid Member
After months of thinking my girl could have infertile eggs she finally laid on 6th December! I got suspicious of eggs a couple of weeks before and tried her in her big bin but she wasn’t ready yet!

She started to dig test holes on 30th November and didn’t eat from the day before! She had been acting receptive with bright colouring and very keen to eat for about 6 weeks prior but I only really noticed a big weight gain about 2 weeks ago then another huge difference 3 days ago. She chose to lay her eggs in the bin that I keep in her enclosure which was great because she was very cranky and I didn’t want to have to move her again!
After seeing her dig the first test hole I covered up her enclosure and was only checking in on her at lights on, lunch time, and about an hour before lights out.

Here she is about 2 weeks before laying. Believe it or not she got even bigger but I don't have a photo.

Fat Teal'c.jpg


She continued to dig little bits over the next 5 days, stopping to drink and bask. I was worried that she didn’t like the sand so I changed it for what was in the big bin (sand and eco earth mix) and dug her a big test tunnel. The next day I left her alone all day. When I checked her at bedtime she had dug a very long deep tunnel next to mine, all I could see was the tip of her tail! She wasn’t moving and I got a bit worried but she was just sleeping after a hard day’s work!

She slept in her tunnel all night and I heard her start to dig again when I turned the lights on in the morning. Poor girl, I thought her hole was deep enough but she wasn’t satisfied yet! I left her alone until about 15:30 when I got in from work. I saw that she was out of the tunnel now and was either laying or covering. I left her for a further 2 hours and when I returned she was finished!

My clever girl was all dirty and skinny so I gave her about 3 litres of a shower and a bunch of calcium dusted silk worms. She ate like a little piggy and drank a lot. At that point I knew everything was ok with her and could breathe again! She has continued to eat but is shedding too so not eating as much as I wanted!

Here are some pics of her now, poor skinny thing! Her face was still a bit dirty :) Her colours are still beautiful though.

skinny teal'c.jpg

teal'c plant.jpg


I waited before digging up the eggs because the bin was in her enclosure and I didn’t want to disturb her too much. She had laid 44 eggs! They were buried right at the bottom of the bin towards the back, she made a very very big tunnel! Because there are so many I'm going to cut back on her food again. She eats 2 bugs a day but still produced all these eggs! Her temps are at a constant 80f.

Here are the eggs!

eggs hand.jpg

eggs row.jpg

I’m just so happy that everything went how it should and we won’t have to worry about this for another little while! I have done so much research but I still had panicks and worries!

If you have female chameleons then this blog is a must read https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html and Dez's how to video too https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

If it hadn’t been for this great resource I wouldn’t have known what to expect or how to handle it! I am ever so grateful for the forums and the great supportive community around here, truly priceless!

Thanks a million! :)
 
Here's another of my skinny pretty girl :)

teal'c colours.jpg

Got some better ones on the camera, these are from my phone!
 
Glad, she is ok. Thank you for sharing, Im expecting my girl to lay and day now, so I know what you were feeling ;)
 
Glad, she is ok. Thank you for sharing, Im expecting my girl to lay and day now, so I know what you felt ;)

Thank You! I hope everything goes well for you and your girl :) The sweet relief when they finally do it is unbelievable!
 
Congrats on a job well done to Teal'c and you. I'm so glad that everything worked our and that she is ok. I normally feed well for the first 3 or 4 days after laying and then get back to their regular schedule.
 
Congrats on a job well done to Teal'c and you. I'm so glad that everything worked our and that she is ok. I normally feed well for the first 3 or 4 days after laying and then get back to their regular schedule.

Thank you so much Jann! Couldn't have done it without your help :) she's back on her normal diet as of tomorrow.
 
I am glad she laid and everything went well. It gets easier the more times you go threw it. Each female I have does it differently but they each have there own way and I find they prefer the same routine every time they lay. At least my females have. I cut back my females feeders because of large clutches and she still manages to lay large clutches. Hers were as big as 66 we have cut back food, cooler temps, no matings. Everything and her smallest clutch has been 52. I would like to do a poll and find out the average size for veiled chameleons in captivity. From people here on the forum. It would be nice to know if 40 is a big number as it sounds small compared to my female veileds. She's beautiful. What's her name?
 
I will. She was bred after 30days from first xray that showed eggs, so Im not sure if eggs will be fertile or not.

Ooooh that's exciting, bit of a mystery! You'll be going mad waiting to see if the eggs are good!

I am glad she laid and everything went well. It gets easier the more times you go threw it. Each female I have does it differently but they each have there own way and I find they prefer the same routine every time they lay. At least my females have. I cut back my females feeders because of large clutches and she still manages to lay large clutches. Hers were as big as 66 we have cut back food, cooler temps, no matings. Everything and her smallest clutch has been 52. I would like to do a poll and find out the average size for veiled chameleons in captivity. From people here on the forum. It would be nice to know if 40 is a big number as it sounds small compared to my female veileds. She's beautiful. What's her name?

Thank you! I think veileds are prone to laying big clutches anyway. I would have preffered around the 20 mark because I do think 40 is quite a lot for infertiles. But I do only feed her a little and keep her cool and she still managed! I just hope she doesn't lay every 3-4 months like some do. That's a great idea for a poll............Braaaaaad????? :D
 
Angie I am SO jealous!! Great job though.... You obviously have more patience than me!! High 'eight's' to Teal'c!! :D

Lol! It wasn't easy by an means! My gut told me to keep out so I did. Was so fidgety and lost for things to do though, just about went mad haha! Teal'c did all the hard work though and I'm very proud of her.
 
Poll

Veiled Female
1st clutch - 54 eggs (fertile)
2nd clutch - 84 eggs (fertile)
3rd clutch - 65 eggs (infertile)
*We feed our female well, especially when she is getting ready to lay.
 
Update

Teal'c is all bright orange again and looking a little plump! :eek: I think we have more infertile eggs on the way. I re did the laying bin yesterday and found two stray eggs from the last time!

Watch this space, we will have real Easter eggs soon!
 
I have always fed my veiled females well for a couple of days after laying the eggs and then cut back on the food until I know the female is producing eggs again. I think that this decreases the number of follicles that will ovulate and thus decreases (or stops) egg production. I have no scientific proof of this....it's just from my experience. Just randomly cutting down he food and temperatures IMHO doesn't work...it has to happen at the right time. Also...the only reason I decrease the temperatures slightly is to slow the metabolism to slow the hunger. Again...only my opinion from my experience.
 
I have always fed my veiled females well for a couple of days after laying the eggs and then cut back on the food until I know the female is producing eggs again. I think that this decreases the number of follicles that will ovulate and thus decreases (or stops) egg production. I have no scientific proof of this....it's just from my experience. Just randomly cutting down he food and temperatures IMHO doesn't work...it has to happen at the right time. Also...the only reason I decrease the temperatures slightly is to slow the metabolism to slow the hunger. Again...only my opinion from my experience.

I very much value your opinions and experience :) I have raised my girl by the words of jannb, you and dez. I only feed my girl one or two bugs a day and keep her at a constant 80f but if its hot outside maybe raises to 85f at the most. I fed her well for about 4 days after laying, mostly silkworms and locust heavily dusted with plain calcium. Then I went back to the normal feeding regime.

Is it wise to feed a girl extra while she's developing infertiles? I always thought not because then she would have more? I do give her extra calcium at that time though.

I think my girl is going to be one of the girls that produces every cycle. I have done my best to keep the numbers down though but thus will only be her second clutch.
 
really glad that first infertile clutch went well!

I agree - that's a lot of eggs! and that you might want to reduce food and temp when you are not breeding her later, to try to reduce number of unnecessary eggs.
 
really glad that first infertile clutch went well!

I agree - that's a lot of eggs! and that you might want to reduce food and temp when you are not breeding her later, to try to reduce number of unnecessary eggs.

Can I go lower than 80f and 1-2 bugs? I feel like I starve her already :( temps are measured with an infrared gun so are accurate and the bugs are only medium, not the biggest.
 
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