carpet chameleon laying questions

Ekproject

New Member
Hey, i have a carpet chameleon whom i purchased about 2 weeks ago. She is definetly gravid with fertile eggs. i have her mate as well. i was told she would be due in about 10 days (from purchase). About a week ago i found an egg that she had dropped, she hasnt been on the ground digging or wandering at all. As soon as i saw that egg i put her in the laying bin. she is so stubborn and hasnt layed anything. i am concerned that she is going to hold them. should i just permanently leave her in the laying bin? wont she get cold without heat light? She definetly still has eggs in her. you can see them inside her. I need some advice. anything you have would be great. Thanks in advance.
 
In the past I would use a large rubber maid garbage type bin for laying. I found the deeper ones to work best. Deep enough to hold about a foot of washed moist sand/soil mix and not allow the female to escape and be isolated from other distractions. I would place some leaf litter on the surface of the laying mix along with a nice stick for perching/basking and clamp a light of appropriate wattage to the rim for general light and basking/heat. Leaving the female in it till she has finished. Running the light on a timer if she was reluctant to lay and the occasional misting and cricket, she could stay in there for days. I found the isolation and security of this set up usually worked for me.
 
Hey, i have a carpet chameleon whom i purchased about 2 weeks ago. She is definetly gravid with fertile eggs. i have her mate as well. i was told she would be due in about 10 days (from purchase). About a week ago i found an egg that she had dropped, she hasnt been on the ground digging or wandering at all. As soon as i saw that egg i put her in the laying bin. she is so stubborn and hasnt layed anything. i am concerned that she is going to hold them. should i just permanently leave her in the laying bin? wont she get cold without heat light? She definetly still has eggs in her. you can see them inside her. I need some advice. anything you have would be great. Thanks in advance.

a friend of mine bred his carpet chameleons and his female never dug a hole and layed eggs, she always dropped them on the viv floor. i had a panther female like it 2-3 years ago.

just a thought for you

rob
 
That article definitely needs a LOT of updating. I don't follow all of the practices I did back in '06. That's especially true for nesting and incubation.

When I began breeding lats I routinely had females drop eggs. This was due more to the fact that I was still learning a lot about nesting them properly, that it being "ok." In the past 2 years I've only had one female drop eggs if I remember correctly. They nest just like panthers and other chameleons, but you need to be much more persistent.

1. They like their sand/soil mixture fairly moist. Perhaps more than you're used to, but be very wary of collapsing tunnels that could kill the digging chameleon.

2. Put a 60 watt heat bulb above the 5 gallon laying bucket.

3. Leave them in the bucket all day. They may not dig for hours and then all of the sudden decide they "know" what to do.

4. This could go on for a week. I may keep the lat in the bucket for one day, then the next put her in the cage to stay hydrated & eat if necessary. They usually dig and lay by the 3rd time. And don't be surprised if they dig multiple nests at first and don't utilize any of them.

Oh yes, and eggs that are dropped incubate and hatch into healthy babies just fine as long as they don't break on impact or dehydrate too much before you find them, so don't beat yourself up if that happens.

Good luck! :)

Kevin
 
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