Female veiled laying eggs in plant pot

[Chainsaw Dave]

Hello, I am on my third clutch of eggs with 1.5 yr old female veiled. Previous 2clutches she refused her laying bin and went for her potted plant.
She laid her eggs and keeps returning to the eggs and repeating the whole process.
I read several previous threads about if they lay on their planter just leave them alone but I'm trying to understand why she keeps returning and repeating the process, is it because I did not pull the eggs yet?

I did not pull the eggs as I have seen her dig like every 2-3 days and I haven't wanted to stress her any more than necessary and it's been going on for about 2 weeks. I've covered it back up and tried to let her be done as we did the first 2 times that were successful however I'm just not sure what next to do her egg bin is 12x8x6" deep with 50/50 mix of play sand and regular dirt/potting soil and she will dig in it but then go lay her eggs in her potted plant so I pretty much just let her do that this time as I figured it was something that she liked about it.

She has been eating every other day, drinks normally, urates are normal and humidity and temp are same as always, (70deg 50% humidity) (78deg basking spot) her color is good , her attitude is normal and she returns at night to top of enclosure and puts on her pj's, and her gold spots have diminished, she also looks skinny like she laid her eggs I was not aware that I needed to remove the eggs I thought that they would just dissolve and feed the plant. So my question is will leaving the eggs in bin cause the chameleon to return again and again like a chicken laying an egg? Sorry if this is a silly question but I'm kind of at a loss of what she's doing most sincerely David

 

[elizaann2]

Hello, I am on my third clutch of eggs with 1.5 yr old female veiled. Previous 2clutches she refused her laying bin and went for her potted plant.
She laid her eggs and keeps returning to the eggs and repeating the whole process.
I read several previous threads about if they lay on their planter just leave them alone but I'm trying to understand why she keeps returning and repeating the process, is it because I did not pull the eggs yet?

I did not pull the eggs as I have seen her dig like every 2-3 days and I haven't wanted to stress her any more than necessary and it's been going on for about 2 weeks. I've covered it back up and tried to let her be done as we did the first 2 times that were successful however I'm just not sure what next to do her egg bin is 12x8x6" deep with 50/50 mix of play sand and regular dirt/potting soil and she will dig in it but then go lay her eggs in her potted plant so I pretty much just let her do that this time as I figured it was something that she liked about it.

She has been eating every other day, drinks normally, urates are normal and humidity and temp are same as always, (70deg 50% humidity) (78deg basking spot) her color is good , her attitude is normal and she returns at night to top of enclosure and puts on her pj's, and her gold spots have diminished, she also looks skinny like she laid her eggs I was not aware that I needed to remove the eggs I thought that they would just dissolve and feed the plant. So my question is will leaving the eggs in bin cause the chameleon to return again and again like a chicken laying an egg? Sorry if this is a silly question but I'm kind of at a loss of what she's doing most sincerely David

Hello! Can you share pics of your little lady, her enclosure and include the lights on th top?

How many eggs were in her last clutches and when did she lay them?

How often do you feed her and how much?

What is your supplement schedule?

What are your ambient temps and what is your basking temp?

@MissSkittles and @kinyonga can you assist since you both know so much more about our egg laying females?

 

[kinyonga]

Hello! Can you share pics of your little lady, her enclosure and include the lights on th top?

How many eggs were in her last clutches and when did she lay them?

How often do you feed her and how much?

What is your supplement schedule?

What are your ambient temps and what is your basking temp?

@MissSkittles and @kinyonga can you assist since you both know so much more about our egg laying females?

That @elizaann2 left me nothing to ask!

You asked…”will leaving the eggs in bin cause the chameleon to return again and again like a chicken laying an egg?”…
the reason she’s repeating the process is not because you didn’t pull the eggs. If she’s returning and digging again the same day or for a couple of days after, then she may be feeling like she still needs to lay egg….but that is not something they should do.

The reason we dig them up is to see how many eggs she laid so we know if her diet needs to be controlled more or if we have it at a good level mostly. They lay all the eggs at the same time…not over a period of days. If they are doing anything but laying them all at the same “sitting” then, there’s an issue.

 

[Chainsaw Dave]

Hello! Can you share pics of your little lady, her enclosure and include the lights on th top?

How many eggs were in her last clutches and when did she lay them?

How often do you feed her and how much?

What is your supplement schedule?

What are your ambient temps and what is your basking temp?

@MissSkittles and @kinyonga can you assist since you both know so much more about our egg laying females?

Hello thank you for your response please see my post as it answers the majority of those questions I've been using the forum for the last year and a half since I got her and all of the habitat stuff has been dialed in my main question is do they ever lay on their eggs or why would they return to a clutch her last clutch had 38 eggs
Why would they return for a couple weeks straight after laying

 

[Chainsaw Dave]

Hello thank you for your response please see my post as it answers the majority of those questions I've been using the forum for the last year and a half since I got her and all of the habitat stuff has been dialed in my main question is do they ever lay on their eggs or why would they return to a clutch her last clutch had 38 eggs
Why would they return for a couple weeks straight after laying

I just went and checked on her and I don't want to snap the picture as she is finally calmed down and laying in a branch comfortably she did not like me looking in on her as the vibe I got I can post one later tonight

 

[kinyonga]

You said “Previous 2clutches she refused her laying bin and went for her potted plant”…it’s fine for them to lay them in the planted pot soil. It’s important to know how many she laid in each clutch though…so it’s important to dig the eggs up a couple of days after she has laid them.

You said…”She laid her eggs and keeps returning to the eggs and repeating the whole process”…what do you mean by the “whole process”? Did she dig a hole in the first place, turn around butt down in the hole and sit like that for a period of time, climb out of the hole and fill it in, tamp it down and return to the branches….and then later do the whike thing all over again or what? Or do you mean she continues to dig the same hole for several days before she turns around in the hole and lays them?

if you covered up a hole she was trying to dig to lay her eggs in, then you were making her have to start all over again. If she saw you watching her when she was digging, that might be why she kept going back…because she wasn’t done and likely figured it wasn’t safe to keep digging.

You did say that you fed her every other day…but how much do you feed her every other day?

 

[elizaann2]

That @elizaann2 left me nothing to ask!

You asked…”will leaving the eggs in bin cause the chameleon to return again and again like a chicken laying an egg?”…
the reason she’s repeating the process is not because you didn’t pull the eggs. If she’s returning and digging again the same day or for a couple of days after, then she may be feeling like she still needs to lay egg….but that is not something they should do.

The reason we dig them up is to see how many eggs she laid so we know if her diet needs to be controlled more or if we have it at a good level mostly. They lay all the eggs at the same time…not over a period of days. If they are doing anything but laying them all at the same “sitting” then, there’s an issue.

Just trying to get the info for you so you could just jump in

 

[Chainsaw Dave]

Okay here is a couple pictures one in her habitat the other in my hand as she was very hungry and came right to me so I figured I would do an inspection as I haven't checked her as I've tried not to stress her for the last 2 weeks her belly looks distended in one picture yet flat in the other. Her clutch was covered and she was just back to normal basking she ate from my hand one large superworm and two crickets

 

[Chainsaw Dave]

You said “Previous 2clutches she refused her laying bin and went for her potted plant”…it’s fine for them to lay them in the planted pot soil. It’s important to know how many she laid in each clutch though…so it’s important to dig the eggs up a couple of days after she has laid them.

You said…”She laid her eggs and keeps returning to the eggs and repeating the whole process”…what do you mean by the “whole process”? Did she dig a hole in the first place, turn around butt down in the hole and sit like that for a period of time, climb out of the hole and fill it in, tamp it down and return to the branches….and then later do the whike thing all over again or what? Or do you mean she continues to dig the same hole for several days before she turns around in the hole and lays them?

if you covered up a hole she was trying to dig to lay her eggs in, then you were making her have to start all over again. If she saw you watching her when she was digging, that might be why she kept going back…because she wasn’t done and likely figured it wasn’t safe to keep digging.

You did say that you fed her every other day…but how much do you feed her every other day?

Thank you for your response what I mean by repeating the process is exactly what you described preparing to lay digging a hole spending half a day down there covering then returning to her branch where I may have messed up is to keep her cage tidy and her water drainage system from getting clogged I cleaned up the dirt and put it back in the pot cuz I didn't want the plant to get lack of nutrients or clogged my drainage so she basically did the whole cycle again and then a couple days went by I did not pull the eggs I fed her one superworm and 2 crickets and then repeat all of this two or three days later this has been going on for 2 weeks

 

[Beman]

You want to pull the pot and dig up the eggs. Count them. See how many. Then replace the pot into the cage. She could be holding eggs. but in the pics I am not seeing clear signs of that. The fact that she is eating and drinking are good signs especially since she laid the clutch 2 weeks ago. If she had retained eggs you would already see her declining due to it.

There are some females that refuse to use a lay bin and prefer the pots lol. Sounds like she is one of them.

 

[kinyonga]

You said…”where I may have messed up is to keep her cage tidy and her water drainage system from getting clogged I cleaned up the dirt and put it back in the pot cuz I didn't want the plant to get lack of nutrients or clogged my drainage so she basically did the whole cycle again”…by filling in her holes, you’re forcing her to have to dig it all over again….this wastes her energy and can make her miss the time when she should have been laying eggs and lead to egg binding…and death. They need to be able to dig the hole for as many days as it takes for them to be happy with it….without having to start over again every day. You also should not let them see you watching while they are digging or they might abandon the digging altogether and become egg bound.

 

[Camiezone]

One of my girls did this as well. And of course it was in the big ficus tree. (Sometimes I could have sworn she was sitting grinning at me)
So I had to take tree w pot out of enclosure, carefully go thru substrate while taking tree out, this part was nerve-racking and took forever.
Once eggs were located and removed, go thru all the dirt making sure all eggs were found. Thankfully eggs tend to cluster up into one clump, so fairly easy to locate.
Chameleons will most of the time dig as deep as the bin, sometimes even turn sideways once bottom is reached before satisfied w hole and laying eggs.
I have a layer of light color sand cover the surface of entire bin,which makes it easier to see where she disturbed the sand and dug.
I changed her laying behavior, by mixing 2/3 of the plants substrate into my lay bin, that did the trick.

I recommend getting one of those tiny spy cams w no red light. And installing with clear view of the pots n laybin that wY u can keep eye on her while not disturbing while she lays.
Camilla