52 Eggs from a Juvenile Veiled

[CombatWombat]

I asked for some advice in the health section yesterday on my Veiled but with no response. I figure I'd address it in this forum instead to see if it gets any attention seeing I'm looking for advice before I do anything stupid. This is my first clutch of Chameleon eggs and I do have the expenses available to raise them correctly and that's what I want to do.

My juvenile veiled, Penelope...had 52 eggs over the past 3 days. They are currently incubating in a Exo Terra Incubator at 74 Degrees. http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/incubator.php.

She is a juvenile and this process has taken a lot out of her. She previously has shown signs of MBD back in May of this year when I got her from a friend who was moving and could no longer take care of her. I took her to the vet where they confirmed this and just told me to provide calcium with D3 supplements on her half size crickets once a week. I was also feeding her every other day like I do with my adult Mellers, Hubble (except he gets Adult crickets in larger portions).

Since I am also a novice keeper (Chameleons became legal here in January). I thought Penelope was just getting fat seeing I didn't see any marble looking protrusions from her belly. I thought in the back of my mind she might be pregnant but 5 months is just kind of ridiculous. Then she had an egg back on 7/15 followed by 51 more on 7/16. I candled the first egg and there was an embryo.

Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreciated. You can see the majority of the eggs in the picture below.

 

[kinyonga]

Advice on what? Her recovery and health or the care of the eggs?

If she's been showing signs of MBD you need to first correct the imbalance of nutrients and then follow a husbandry regime to keep it from coming back. If things are not being done appropriately for her you likely aren't doing things properly for the Meller's either.

If she has MBD she needs extra calcium until her levels are brought back in line so her bones will be strong again and other systems in her will also come back in line. She needs to have good exposure to a source of UVB so she can produce enough to use the calcium. You want to be careful with D3 from supplements since that can build up in the system. Phosphorous, calcium, D3 and vitamin A are all important players in bone health, etc and need to be in balance. Vitamin A from prEformed sources can build up in the system too so using a vitamin powder with a beta carotene ( prOformed ) source is safer since it won't build up and leaves it up to you to provide the prEformed if the chameleon needs it.

In addition to appropriate nutrients and exposure to the UVB its important to feed/gutload the insects properly. Crickets, locusts, superworms, roaches can be fed a wide range of greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, kale, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc.

You also need to provide appropriate temperatures to aid in proper digestion.


I would also try to slow down her reproduction so she won't produce so many eggs. I have had success with this with veileds. I feed he female well for a couple of days after she lays then cut the diet back and lower the basking temperature to the low 80's F.

 

[sharp229]

She should be getting plain calcium (NO D3) every feeding, calcium with d3 twice a month, and multivitamin twice a month. At 5 months she should be fed every day as much as she wants. 10-15 crickets of the proper size is pretty average. When she is over a year old she can be fed every couple days or so.

I'm sure laying eggs at that age while still growing has taken a lot out of her, and she is going to need lots of food and calcium. She will also need a good UVB light that is less than 6 months old.

If you fill out the following form, it would allow us to better check over the setup:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[CombatWombat]

Thank you kinyonga

That really helps.

I took her to a reptile vet when she first showed signs and they are the ones who got me on this regiment and that calcium has helped (she has amazing grip). I will definitely switch to this as well as your suggestions of green to better improve the situation.

She does have a hibiscus plant and a pothos in her enclosure as well.

She really doesn't like the calcium though, even with a sprinkle. I'll sprinkle about 10 of them and she'll eat one...realize it has calcium on it and then refuse to eat the rest. She does really love superworms and roaches though..my mellers does as well - except he couldn't care about the calcium because he loves to eat.

 

[kinyonga]

If the chameleon won't eat he dusted insects you can try injecting he insects with a small amount of liquid calcium or try feeding/gutloading them with high calcium greens and veggies to get them into your chameleon.

 

[junglefries]

I am just curious as to why you would breed her if she has mbd? Eggs by themselves are rough on a female veil. 50 veil babies in four weeks will be eating 500-600 crickets a day, minimum. Good luck. Been there, done that. Never again!