Chameleon eggs HELPPP!!!! **RIGHT NOW** PLeASe

[busterboy]

I have a female chameleon who was all day digging, literally all day digging. I left the house for about an hour to go find some vermiculite and came back to see her turned around in her laying bin. (laying eggs i believe) I usually turn the lights off at this time, should i leave them on for her or just turn them off or what? Im new to this. Im sorry. Also, what i had left the house to do, was try to go find some vermiculite for incubation. I couldnt find any at home depot or walmart. What should i do? Any HELP would be greatly appreciated. Right now shes in her hole probably laying her eggs. I dont want to spy on her to much. Also I am from school 7am-6pm tomorrow. So i will be out all day. Also i saw that she had sand all over her face. I want to take the best care of her and the eggs. I love her a lot. She drank a lot yesterday also before she started to dig.

 

[carol5208]

was she mated??

 

[busterboy]

Yes she was

 

[busterboy]

I did not know the result of having a male and female. Dumb pet store workers didnt equipt me with proper information on how to care for them or that they needed to be seperated when they were older, or that they were male and female. He said that they were brothers and love to have company in their cage. Like an idiot i believed him. Shes also not an adult. So I am kind of worried.

 

[kinyonga]

Some people leave the lights on if this happens and others turn them off...so the choice is yours.
You might try a garden centre to find the vermiculite. I would recommend the coarse grain overthrow fine grain.

Let her finish laying the eggs and let her fill in the hole and tamp it down and return to the branches and before you dig up the eggs. In the meantime get a shoeboxed size tupperware type container and fill it about half full of slightly damp vermiculite. To test the vermiculite for dampness tame a fkst full of it and squeeze it. You should only be able to squeeze a drop or two of moisture out of it.

Lay the eggs in rows in dents you make with your thumb in the vermiculite. Punch two TINY holes in the lid of the container and put it on. Pjt the container somewhere where it will stay in the range of 74 to 76F.

 

[busterboy]

I appreciate the reply...and yeah i checked the garden centers at home depot and walmart. They dont have it But im still scared to turn the lights off. I dont want her to abandon the hole, but i also want her to rest. Right when I get home tomorrow I will have to take very good care of her and feed her and shower her. But I dont know whether to turn lights off or on. She keeps turning around like shes depositing the eggs and I will come back and she will be digging again.

 

[kinyonga]

Don't let her see you while she is digging and don't remove her from her hole. Let her finish digging the hole, etc. It doesn't sound like she is quite ready to lay them yet...so just let her do her own thing. You can turn the lights off at the normal time...she might even sleep in the hole and that's fine.
Your big problem at the moment is finding something (like the vermiculite) to put the eggs in to incubate them. You need it before you dig the eggs up..and you shouldn't leave the eggs buried for too long after she has filled in the hole after she lays them.

 

[busterboy]

Okay I am going to turn the lights off. They need to go back on tomorrow by 7:30 am thats the latest I can leave for school. I hope she doesnt abndoned her hole. Tomorrow I will look everywhere on the way back for the vermiculite. I cant believe home depot doesnt have it