Egg laying question

[elizaann2]

Hi All,

Sorry I have so many questions right now. My female veiled chameleon has been showing receptive signs since 6/7. This would be her her third clutch since I’ve had her in May 2022.

She was climbing all over he enclosure including on the floor but hasn’t laid eggs yet. I haven’t seen her go in her lay bin yet or any digging behaviors. Since it’s been over 30 days do I need to worry about her being egg bound yet or am I still in a safe period with her? Attached photos of her from this morning including her enclosure and lay bin.

 

[kinyonga]

How many eggs did she lay in her other clutches?
How much per week do you feed her…please be specific?

 

[elizaann2]

Her first clutch was 31 eggs around September 2020, second clutch was on January 28th 2021 with 24 eggs.

I feed her 3-5 bugs Monday, Wednesday, Friday dusted with calcium w/o vitamin D. Saturdays are treat bug days with a rotating multi vitamin or calcium with vitamin D.

 

[elizaann2]

Wow... apparently I don't know what year it is. First clutch Sept 2022, second clutch January 2023.

Also, I just starting tracking all this with a spreadsheet on January 13th so I don't have exact dates on how long her receptive and egg laying process is but I know it feels like ages and near the end I am usually pretty anxious.

 

[elizaann2]

Spreadsheet is attached. As I've gotten more comfortable with my feeding schedule, humidity and temps, I tend to only track things like her poop schedule, color changes and when there are behaviors that are out of the norm for her.

 

[elizaann2]

Ugh... attached. I'm having struggles today apparently...

 

[elizaann2]

Last thing and then I'll wait for your reply @kinyonga, my biggest concern is that she maybe couldn't get into her lay bin. I had it on the other side of her enclosure until this morning and added some extra sticks to go down into it. Before then I don't think she could really find it or find a way to get in it?

 

[kinyonga]

I forgot to ask what the basking temperature is for her.

Veiled females generally produce eggs every 120 to 140 days…so 3 or 4 times a year...so since the last clutch was laid January 28th…she should have laid in the first half of June. Your feeding schedule may have been low enough to stop the reproduction altogether…hard to be sure.

Just keep an eye on her and if she shows any signs of lethargy, sitting low in the cage, or other signs that something is off post again here right away…those things can indicate egg binding and you want to catch it quickly.

 

[elizaann2]

I forgot to ask what the basking temperature is for her.

Veiled females generally produce eggs every 120 to 140 days…so 3 or 4 times a year...so since the last clutch was laid January 28th…she should have laid in the first half of June. Your feeding schedule may have been low enough to stop the reproduction altogether…hard to be sure.

Just keep an eye on her and if she shows any signs of lethargy, sitting low in the cage, or other signs that something is off post again here right away…those things can indicate egg binding and you want to catch it quickly.

No worries! Her basking temp is around 80. I usually watch her enclosure pretty close to ensure temps don’t get too high, there has been a few times it’s snuck up to 83 and it turned her heat lamp off immediately.

I’ve got a baby cam set up on her enclosure so I can keep a close eye on her. I just worry with where her lay bin was before she might have not been able to find a way in and now I missed her window where she needed to lay. I haven’t seen her pacing yet but hopefully that doesn’t mean anything. I’ve only been watching her for about 2 hours at this point.

 

[MissSkittles]

Just need to say that it’s possible she isn’t gravid at all. You’re following the ‘regimen’ for reducing egg production and it may have kicked in completely to where she hasn’t produced eggs this time. It kind of freaked me out when both of my girls kept getting receptive and then didn’t lay eggs. Stella is so active most of the time and always pretty like she’s receptive, but only lays about once a year. I just keep watch for signs that she may be having a problem.

 

[elizaann2]

Just need to say that it’s possible she isn’t gravid at all. You’re following the ‘regimen’ for reducing egg production and it may have kicked in completely to where she hasn’t produced eggs this time. It kind of freaked me out when both of my girls kept getting receptive and then didn’t lay eggs. Stella is so active most of the time and always pretty like she’s receptive, but only lays about once a year. I just keep watch for signs that she may be having a problem.

Oh I didn’t realize she may not lay eggs but could still have receptive colors. I’m going to keep a super close eye on her. I’m really hoping she will be ok and I’m just being overly paranoid. It’s crazy how attached to her I am.

 

[elizaann2]

Update today: I fed her a little later than normal today so she sat on her feeding branch until I got her silk worms. I haven't noticed any pacing today but I'm spying on her on my 'cham cam' to see if anything changes. No signs of destress. I'm very hopeful that she is either still in her egg laying period OR she just wont produce any eggs this time around due to her 'diet'. If anything changes for the negative I'll post on here again.

Thank you for all of your help and support. I appreciate the community here

 

[elizaann2]

@kinyonga @MissSkittles @Beman - An update on my lovely little lady. She is still showing receptive colors. Just a reminder she started showing receptive colors on 6/7. She started pacing the enclosure around 6/30 but did not ever go into her lay bin.

I looked at my handy dandy spreadsheet and can see that on 3/17 she went to the vet to get a spot on her lip checked out, at this vet appointment she weighed 65 grams.

She has since stopped pacing but has continued to show receptive colors. I do not see any major destress signs, however yesterday she had her little black 'irritated' strips on pretty much all day. I purchased a little kitchen scale to weigh her to see if that would help give me an idea on if she is carrying eggs or not because she doesn't look like it. She currently weighs 80 grams (the scale was zeroed out with the plant on it). I feel like this is a pretty drastic weight change in a little over 4 months. Most likely this is due to eggs, correct?

Also note - in the photo she is pretty puffed up from being irritated, she doesn't normally look that round, even right now.

 

[Beman]

@kinyonga @MissSkittles @Beman - An update on my lovely little lady. She is still showing receptive colors. Just a reminder she started showing receptive colors on 6/7. She started pacing the enclosure around 6/30 but did not ever go into her lay bin.

I looked at my handy dandy spreadsheet and can see that on 3/17 she went to the vet to get a spot on her lip checked out, at this vet appointment she weighed 65 grams.

She has since stopped pacing but has continued to show receptive colors. I do not see any major destress signs, however yesterday she had her little black 'irritated' strips on pretty much all day. I purchased a little kitchen scale to weigh her to see if that would help give me an idea on if she is carrying eggs or not because she doesn't look like it. She currently weighs 80 grams (the scale was zeroed out with the plant on it). I feel like this is a pretty drastic weight change in a little over 4 months. Most likely this is due to eggs, correct?

Also note - in the photo she is pretty puffed up from being irritated, she doesn't normally look that round, even right now.

Dang she is gorgeous...

And yes looks like she is developing eggs. Especially with the weight gain.

@Sonny13 also has a female veiled so I am tagging him for you as well.

 

[elizaann2]

Dang she is gorgeous...

And yes looks like she is developing eggs. Especially with the weight gain.

@Sonny13 also has a female veiled so I am tagging him for you as well.

Do you think I should take her in to get checked out? Its been so long I am just worried about egg binding.

 

[Beman]

Do you think I should take her in to get checked out? Its been so long I am just worried about egg binding.

I am like the worst person you could ask about specifics like this just because I do not have the hands on experience with a female only males.

I wanna say that when they lay a fertile clutch it is anywhere from 30-45 days after mating. I am not sure if this is the same for an unmated female. @Sonny13 @MissSkittles and @kinyonga would know more about that then me.

 

[elizaann2]

I am like the worst person you could ask about specifics like this just because I do not have the hands on experience with a female only males.

I wanna say that when they lay a fertile clutch it is anywhere from 30-45 days after mating. I am not sure if this is the same for an unmated female. @Sonny13 @MissSkittles and @kinyonga would know more about that then me.

Understandable. Thank you for responding just the same . I wish I would have been tracking her cycle more when I first got her so I had a better idea of how long she typically takes to lay her infertile eggs. She is currently on day 53 since she first started showing her receptive colors.

Not going to lie, I hate the egg laying process, it always stresses me out. I much prefer sperm plugs

 

[Beman]

Understandable. Thank you for responding just the same . I wish I would have been tracking her cycle more when I first got her so I had a better idea of how long she typically takes to lay her infertile eggs. She is currently on day 53 since she first started showing her receptive colors.

Not going to lie, I hate the egg laying process, it always stresses me out. I much prefer sperm plugs

Is this the first clutch?

 

[elizaann2]

Is this the first clutch?

This is her third clutch. The first one was in September 2022 - 31 eggs. Second clutch was January 28th 2023 (around the time I started recording everything) - 24 eggs.

Her basking temp is 80, if I see it go any higher I promptly turn it off.

She gets 3-5 feeders Monday, Wednesday, Friday dusted with calcium w/o D3. If I feed 5 small feeders (not common), then the other days I do 3. Saturday is treat bug day, 3 feeders dusted with a rotation of either calcium or Repashy LoD. Before I was doing a rotation with Calcium with Vitamin D and a multivitamin without D3.

My concern with her being egg bound (besides how long I feel like it is taking) is when I re-did her enclosure after her 2nd clutch I did not create easy ways to allow her to get into her lay bin. I honestly didn't think about it. I have since fixed the issue there are sticks going in and out of the lay bin for her to access it easily, but I am really worried that she was unable to find it/get into it when she needed to lay. She was pacing a lot a while back but has since stopped and is no longer pacing her enclosure at all.

 

[Beman]

This is her third clutch. The first one was in September 2022 - 31 eggs. Second clutch was January 28th 2023 (around the time I started recording everything) - 24 eggs.

Her basking temp is 80, if I see it go any higher I promptly turn it off.

She gets 3-5 feeders Monday, Wednesday, Friday dusted with calcium w/o D3. If I feed 5 small feeders (not common), then the other days I do 3. Saturday is treat bug day, 3 feeders dusted with a rotation of either calcium or Repashy LoD. Before I was doing a rotation with Calcium with Vitamin D and a multivitamin without D3.

My concern with her being egg bound (besides how long I feel like it is taking) is when I re-did her enclosure after her 2nd clutch I did not create easy ways to allow her to get into her lay bin. I honestly didn't think about it. I have since fixed the issue there are sticks going in and out of the lay bin for her to access it easily, but I am really worried that she was unable to find it/get into it when she needed to lay. She was pacing a lot a while back but has since stopped and is no longer pacing her enclosure at all.

Ok so I will never tell someone not to go get an xray done to see what is going on. I feel like peace of mind is really important especially with females.

Everything your doing with husbandry is good. And her clutch sizes are fantastic. Most commonly they will go off food right before they get ready to lay. Maybe dig a test tunnel or two and leave them for her. Double check all her pathways and that the lay bin is hidden well.