Eggs

joeandsoph

Established Member
Tilly is around 5 months now. How do I know when she is going to lay any eggs and if she will at all. want to be prepared.

Thanks!!
 
Firstly, she could lay infertiles at any time (usually after 6 months of age). Lily didn't lay her first clutch until she was 14 months old - they are all different, just like humans, in their rate of development. Watch for a change in colour to indicate that she is receptive. Do you have a recent pic of her? She will get blue and gold/yellow spots - very pretty!:D Here's a pic of Lily's rather large colourful bottom, lol! In the meantime check out the Raising Kitty website so you can monitor her temps and feeding and hopefully she won't produce any eggs! http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

FemaleColours150309.jpg
 
Oh cool well she's about 5 months (think they same as Amy). Isn't showing any other colours yet, so is that the main thing to look out for? Or anything else? If she does show that she i going to lay eggs soon...then what!!! I mean I do know partly what has to be done but want to be totally certain so everything is ok for her.
 
Once an egglaying female is about 5 months old I recommend that you provide a suitable place in the cage for her to dig in case she needs to lay eggs. That way you shouldn't have to worry about when exactly she will lay the eggs.

The container needs to be opaque and at least big enough that when empty she can fit into it with at least 2" to spare on all sides of her including above and below. I use washed playsand and fill the container at least 2/3rds full.

Once the female starts to dig in the container the sand should kept moist enough to hold a tunnel....and its very important that you do not let her see you watching her when she's digging. It will make her abandon the hole and can lead to eggbinding.

When she is getting ready to lay eggs some of the things to watch for include roaming the cage (looking for a site to lay in), drinking more, gaining girth in the back half of her body and near the end she may stop eating (not all of them stop eating though).

I also recommend that you watch her diet and don't overfeed her so that she will hopefully lay a small clutch when/if she does lay eggs.
 
About a week to 10 days before Lily laid both her clutches I could see and feel the egg shapes just above her back legs when she was resting. She still managed to suck them all in (dunno where though!) when she was walking around!:D
 
Ah thanks guys that's been a great help. I'll get it sorted. Thing is how will I know if she's laid the eggs and how do I know when to remove the container, or does it need to stay in there permanently now? And just play sand? Or is there anything else I can use?
 
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