Age of my 2 Veiled's

[JimG]

Hello everyone, new member and new to the hobby. Little about myself, 55 disabled, retire. I have 2 beautiful Veiled's, Ziggy (male) and Roxie(female). I bought everything from PETCO. No expense was spared as far as cost. I know I am going to hear about it from buying at big box store. It is a brand new store that's about 2 months old, anyway I am trying determine their closer age. I have had them both about a month and were in the same cage when I bought them. They live separately now side by side with a divider between them as so not to see each other. The male is smaller than the female but PETCO did not know there exact age. I am posting some pics as to maybe some of you experts can give me a better age by there size. The first 2 (showing his spots) is Ziggy the male and the other showing her bright green is Roxy the female. Thank in advance to everyone. This forum rocks.

 

[Theveiled]

I would say both are around the 5 month mark

 

[JimG]

Thanks for the reply. That gives me a base line for them.The female started hanging around the bottom of the cage the last day or 2. Me getting nervous about the whole eggbound thing I put a lay bin at the bottom of her cage. I did not know if she was old enough to lay eggs yet. Better safe than sorry I say. She has not touched the lay bin at all though. Big relief for me. I am not ready for that part of the hobby yet.

 

[VeiledMathis]

I agree with Theveiled, 5 months. Glad you rescued them congrats!

 

[JimG]

About what age will the females start laying there first clutch of eggs????

 

[jannb]

About what age will the females start laying there first clutch of eggs????

They can lay as early as five months old. Around five months I recommend providing them with a laying bin in their enclosure at all times. If not provided with a proper lay bin she would become egg bound and die. I didn't read everything here but wanted to make sure you have them housed separately and out of sight of each other?

Here's some good info about making a laying bin, females and egg laying.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/entry/egg-laying-and-the-laying-bin.345/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

General veiled care: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-with-young-veiled-or-panther-chameleons.325/

 

[JimG]

Thanks for the info and I will def read the info in the links. I have had the lay bin in for a couple of days. I put it in when I noticed her interest in the bottom of the cage for a day or two but she has not messed with it since then. I will def leave it in and make it a part of her cage. They were in the same cage when they were purchased but are now both in large seperate cages side by side with a black divided between them as so not to see each other. If she was to lay I would not know if the eggs would be fertile or not. I hope I am doing all the right things and asking all the right questions. I am not at the point in the hobby where I want to get into breeding at the moment, but down the road I would like to try breeding my two Veiled's. I would want to be fully prepared before I got into breeding. I have grown really attached to these two and do not want anything to happen to these two. Thanks for your input

 

[Decadancin]

Thanks for the info and I will def read the info in the links. I have had the lay bin in for a couple of days. I put it in when I noticed her interest in the bottom of the cage for a day or two but she has not messed with it since then. I will def leave it in and make it a part of her cage. They were in the same cage when they were purchased but are now both in large seperate cages side by side with a black divided between them as so not to see each other. If she was to lay I would not know if the eggs would be fertile or not. I hope I am doing all the righ things and asking the right questions. I have grow really attached to these two.

They would likely not be fertile. The male isn't quite ready for that sort of thing, especially if you've had them separated for a month. As for her, she is pretty plump looking, but I'm not sure if she has eggs or just a good appetite . Having the laying bin in there is definitely good. Best of luck with them and Welcome to the Forums!

 

[jannb]

Thanks for the info and I will def read the info in the links. I have had the lay bin in for a couple of days. I put it in when I noticed her interest in the bottom of the cage for a day or two but she has not messed with it since then. I will def leave it in and make it a part of her cage. They were in the same cage when they were purchased but are now both in large seperate cages side by side with a black divided between them as so not to see each other. If she was to lay I would not know if the eggs would be fertile or not. I hope I am doing all the righ things and asking the right questions. I have grow really attached to these two.

Are they related?

 

[JimG]

I do not think so. The female was a lot larger than the male when I first got them, if that means anything. They were bought from a big box store and they were not much help as far a an actual DOB'S.

 

[marley patches]

Thanks for the info and I will def read the info in the links. I have had the lay bin in for a couple of days. I put it in when I noticed her interest in the bottom of the cage for a day or two but she has not messed with it since then. I will def leave it in and make it a part of her cage. They were in the same cage when they were purchased but are now both in large seperate cages side by side with a black divided between them as so not to see each other. If she was to lay I would not know if the eggs would be fertile or not. I hope I am doing all the righ things and asking the right questions. I have grow really attached to these two.[/QUOTE I like this site but just a warning ,don't go by what one member says , not to be rude but some are just putting there point of view, you will have post with different ideas what to do ,,I tend to read what they say then read up more on there info ,,,I been a parent of two chams for a year now ,just putting this out there

 

[JimG]

Thanks Marley, I am kinda anal about doing a lot of reading and research before I do things or make a decision on things that are new to me. It has to all the years in the military and all the years building fire trucks.

 

[JimG]

Thanks

 

[Decadancin]

Are they related?

They probably are related (in my opinion) because they are likely from the same breeder. Nothing to back this up, but stores usually wont have multiple veiled cham suppliers.

 

[JimG]

Ok, would not be a good idea to breed together one day way down the road?????

 

[Decadancin]

Ok, would not be a good idea to need to two one day way down the road????

Two Veiled suppliers? Not necessarily. Not that my opinion holds that much weight when it comes to breeding, but there are a lot of people breeding captive veiled chameleons already, and there are probably already more near the store you got yours from. In one way I feel that having more babies available leads to more chameleons winding up as "disposable" pets. What I mean by that is that as people see chameleons in the store and say "Cool, lets get one of those!" without doing their research, it generally leads to sick or injured animals, or people "rescuing" animals already doing poorly. Admittedly, I brought home my chameleon a few years ago from this very situation. One very tiny chameleon in with a larger one and I could see the signs of stress from constantly trying to avoid the other. Later that night I was a new owner. Thankfully I was led to the forums for research from a keeper that also worked in another pet store when I was out looking for supplies and caresheets.
Personally, I wouldn't breed them, especially without tons of experience (which I don't have tons of) but that's just me. I hope I'm not sounding like I'm lecturing, that is not my intent at all. I just wouldn't want to see breeders doing this just for money, but more for advancing the captive bred populations of species that are currently wild caught. Having said that, we all start somewhere, and I wouldn't want someone starting off with a more difficult challenge and failing.