Advice on gravid female

[HermannChameleon]

Hi guys,

My female ambilobe panther Dusty appears to have scattered some eggs in her enclosure which we found today there were 6 in total. We only got her last saturday from the pet shop so is a bit sudden. I did think she looked gravid as had a bit of a pot belly but thought we'd have at least a month until she starts doing this. (She supposedly hatched in August 2011 so 5/6 months old).

I presume she will have more to come, I have got a container ready with some sand and top soil mix in it. Do I need this or will she just scatter infertile eggs?

Would really appreciate some advice from you guys!

This is Dusty when we got her last weekend

 

[JoeG]

You need to provide a laying bin with 8-12 inches of moist sand so she can dig a tunnel to deposit her eggs. If she binds up it could become a serious problem. Give her some privacy so she feels comfortable digging. The sand should be moist enough to dig a tunnel & not collapse on her & you can even give her a head start with a spoon...

 

[jannb]

You need to provide a laying bin with 8-12 inches of moist sand so she can dig a tunnel to deposit her eggs. If she binds up it could become a serious problem. Give her some privacy so she feels comfortable digging. The sand should be moist enough to dig a tunnel & not collapse on her & you can even give her a head start with a spoon...

I totally agree. She probably has more eggs to lay. I'm attaching my egg laying/laying bin blog. You might find it useful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

 

[HermannChameleon]

You need to provide a laying bin with 8-12 inches of moist sand so she can dig a tunnel to deposit her eggs. If she binds up it could become a serious problem. Give her some privacy so she feels comfortable digging. The sand should be moist enough to dig a tunnel & not collapse on her & you can even give her a head start with a spoon...

I totally agree. She probably has more eggs to lay. I'm attaching my egg laying/laying bin blog. You might find it useful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

thank you for the replies, just read the blog extremely helpful thank you very much. just wasn't sure whether or not to leave the laying bin in there or not. looks like we're doing everything okay then!

 

[laurie]

Hopefully she will finish up soon. Let us know how it comes out. Are you sure the eggs are infertile? She may have been with a male at the shop. I hope she is a bit older that they told you as that is young to be laying eggs. It does happen but is it hard on the females. Best of luck to you.

 

[HermannChameleon]

Hopefully she will finish up soon. Let us know how it comes out. Are you sure the eggs are infertile? She may have been with a male at the shop. I hope she is a bit older that they told you as that is young to be laying eggs. It does happen but is it hard on the females. Best of luck to you.

just been speaking to somebody in another forum who thinks she may have been mated by one of her brothers!!!!

the pet shop had just got them in from the breeder a couple of days before we bought her but they had males in there with her. I reckon one of the males prob did mate with her. it would be wrong to incubate the eggs if her brother is the father. I know in the wild they may come across siblings without knowing on a rare occasion but captive bred it just isn't the done thing to do.

How long do they retain sperm for? I am really annoyed about this as I was going to breed her with Ziggy in about a years time. In 2 weeks of having chameleons for the first time, I've had to learn about husbandry, food, and now egg laying females! Just wish the egg laying part could have waited a while so I could get to know her personality and can look out for the signs in the future.

Poor thing, she does seem perfectly happy though, she is very tame!