Egg Laying Bin

[RachelRiot]

I am wondering what you used for your female to lay her eggs in. Someone said a 5 gallon bucket but that will take up most of her enclosure she is in right now. I am confused.

Her enclosure is 15" x 15" x 29" We are upgrading to a much bigger cage in a few months but for now this cage is where she is. She is only 4 months now so it is no emergency.

 

[Chameleons Canada]

I am glad you asked, I was on a very similar situation myself last week, my panther female was restless, wondering the botom and I put a little plastic container inside her cage hoping she would laid there. (the container was 12x12x8inches) However after a few days she was not showing any interest.

What did the trick was: I went to home depot and bought a big grey trash can, I would say it was about 3ft high, 2ft wide. And I bought a small pack of peatmoss.

I filled 3/4 of the can with peatmoss. Add water to the peat moss and get it damped, not too wet. It will take a lot of water but just give it the consistency of planting dirt.

Since I didn't know how long was going to take for her to lay eggs, I planted a small plant in the middle, I put a couple of branches for her to perch and then I sprayed the whole inside, so she had humidity and water to drink.

I placed the can below my uv lights. And then I put the female in, I left the room and I started just picking trying not be noticed, not to disturb her.

15 minutes after I placed her she was digging! To make the story short, she started around 9am and she finished around 5pm. She laid 22 eggs.

Once you see where is she digging, you can leave her alone. This helps so it's easier to digg out the eggs.

I am at work right now, but as soon as I get home, I'll try to post pics for you to see.

Good Luck.

P.S. I spent $18ca on my "laying" setup

 

[RachelRiot]

Thank you. Wow, it really does need to be a bigger area. Great idea though.

Another question.

Someone at a local Petco was telling me that some of the eggs can be fertile without a male being present. Is this true? I was under the impression that they lay eggs no matter what but that they are only fertile if the cham has mated.

 

[Chameleons Canada]

I only know a few invertebrates that are "hermaphrodites" meaning they are male and female at the same time thus they can reproduce by themselves. Not the case with chameleons. You need a male in order to have fertile eggs. What I think they meant is once you mate your female (with a male), it can produce a fertile clutch, and then they have a sperm reserve, meaning they can have two or three more fertile clutches after the first one. In all cases, you can have a few infertile eggs.

If you don't mate your female, not even once with a male, she can still produce eggs, but ALL this eggs will be unfertile. Have in mind though that fertile or not, the laying procedure is still the same.

 

[RachelRiot]

Thanks I thought that was how it worked. I never trust what pet store people say. Especially at Petco and chain places. :/

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I use a 2 gallon bucket or trash can, make sure there is at least 10 inches of medium for her to dig in.
This size should fit in your enclosure.

An animal that can reproduce without a male is parthenogenic, not hermaphrodite, and chameleons are not.

-Brad

 

[RachelRiot]

Thanks Brad. I have a 2 gallon bucket that I bought to try and rig up my own mister (which failed miserably) so it is clean and ready to go. I will purchase the stuff for her later this week and have it handy for when I need it.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Here is a picture of Agnes' current enclosure with laying bin in place.
This enclosure is 18x18x36, but I have used the same container in a 16x17x30 enclosure.
The container came from Biglots.

-Brad

 

[RachelRiot]

Again thanks Brad. You guys are awesome on this board.

We originally thought we had a male until I realized he was a she. How often to they lay eggs? I read all of the raising kitty site but didnt see that, maybe I missed it. :/

 

[Brad Ramsey]

If conditions are optimum (ie: lots of food, temps in the high eighties, etc.) every four to five months.
If you can figure out how Lynda does it (I'm still working on it) per her article on the Kitty site, you may be able to greatly reduce or even halt egg production.
In the last 12 months Agnes has laid 3 clutches (1 fertile and 2 infertile)

-Brad

 

[Chameleons Canada]

Hi Guys,

Here are some pics of my set up. It worked like a charm. Again, I put my panther female in at 9am, she was digging 15 minutes later, she finished around 5pm, 22eggs.