Female Veiled Egg Questions

[Matt1851]

I know this is all over the forums but i wanted to make my own thread so if i ever forget i can find it easy as a reminder.

Question 1. What age do female veileds usually develope eggs?

Question 2. What age should i add the laying bin?

Question 3. What is a good age to breed her?

Question 4. Is it really better to breed in the spring or can she be bred any time she shows receptive coloration?

P.s I probably wont breed her for a while but its always good to know in advance

 

[jannb]

If you feed her to much and keep her to warm she could lay as early as 5 or 6 months old. If you cut back on the feeding at 5 months and keep her at 80 she shouldn't lay but keep a laying bin with her at 5 to 6 months anyway.

You should not breed until she's over a year old and then not very often or it will shorten her life.

 

[Miss Lily]

Jann is right. Let me tell you more about my first female, Lily...

I got her at 6 months and she had a laying bin in soon after that. However, she didn't lay her first clutch until she was 14 months old then she laid a second clutch 4 months later. Sadly she died a month after that second clutch. I am pretty sure that I contributed to her death by overfeeding her and keeping her too hot. It still hurts that I was partly to blame. Her first clutch was 104 and the second was 102, both clutches being infertile.

I only had my precious girl for a little over a year - she died at 18 months old. When I got her I was told that it was ok to feed her all she wanted so she would happily scoff everything I offered her - at one time she was eating up to 17 or so food items per day. Far, far too much for a female.

With Amy I am feeding her a LOT less than I did Lily and she is now 17 months old and, so far (fingers crossed), she hasn't laid. So please listen when people say not to overfeed a female - I know from personal experience how it is to feel 'mean' by not feeding them. It is a very enjoyable part of cham keeping and I constantly have to tell myself that it is for their benefit that I don't feed them every day.

 

[Matt1851]

Ok so main concern is to keep the temps low and not to feed as much. Whats your feeding scedual tiff? I usually feed my panther about 10 every feeding untill they run out or ill give him 10 and when they run out wait a day or 2 and give him another 10. And as for breeding like i said i wont be breeding her any time soon. Shes only 4 months anyways haha. I was thinking to breed her around spring time and she will be a year by that time. annd if i decide to breed ehr it will only be a 1 time thing. Shes my first female and i dont want her to die quick on me but i also want to breed chams at least once in my life

 

[Miss Lily]

Adults can be fed every other day - 5 or 6 crix. Mine don't like crix so they get a couple of locusts every other day. Tommy has more if he wants it. I found with Amy that she cut her own intake down when she hit 6 months. She carried on putting on the weight though so a couple of months ago I had to be really strict with myself and feed her only every other day. I am used to it now and can plan feeding days for when I am not working so I also get to enjoy them more!

It is best to let a female finish her own growing first before breeding her so she can use her calcium for her own bones so she grows up strong. If she was to breed too early the calcium supply would be used up by egg production, thus preventing her bones from growing fully. That is why it's not recommended to breed before a year old.

 

[Matt1851]

ok well i think im going to give her 6 crickets every other day and im going to try and place the lamp somewhere so the basking temp at her perch is 80 dagrese.

 

[Matt1851]

ok so problem. I only have a 50 watt bumb and even when i use the clamp to rais it over her cage it still rises above 80 dagrese! i dont want to move her perch lower because then it will be inside the hibiscus i have in there. Im doing to try and raise the lamp somehow untill the basking temp is 80 haha its going to be a challange considering where it is

 

[jannb]

I use a double fixture and have a UV light in one side and a regular bulb in the other and that keeps it the perfect 80 for me.

Here's an excellent link to keeping a female veiled. http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

 

[kinyonga]

Be careful not to cut her down too low when she's not sexually mature or finished growing herself. IMHO slow growth is okay, but you want to make sure they get enough to keep growing.

I always put an opaque container of washed sand in the cage once the female is about4 or 5 months old so that she has some place to dig to show me when/if she's ready to lay eggs.

This information I wrote might help...
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

BTW...I keep the veiled female's temperature a little lower only to try to slow down the metabolism.

One more thing...you might only breed her once but don't count on it meaning that she will only lay one clutch!

Oops...looks like Jann and I were posting the link at about the same time!

 

[Matt1851]

thanks jann i always looked at brads blog but never really looked at raising a female. As for the lighting im going to so how it goes tommorow. I dont want to wake her haha.