Folded up

[Laekyloo98]

Hey everyone. So I have a veiled female chameleon who is about a year old. She had laid several batches of egg and just laid another. I noticed that she is staying folded up in one spot in her cage and I’m not quite sure why. This isn’t a very great picture to show, but she hasn’t moved in several days. What should I do, and what is she doing? Thanks!

 

[Shanar808]

I hope someone with more experience will chime in soon but it looks like an odd position for her to be in for that long. Does she change position during feeding? Or maybe bait her to a different branch to eat? My chameleon goes into that pose to defecate, could she be impacted? Has she pooped recently? Idk if there could be some egg-retention or internal damaged tissue. If it continues you may want to see a vet, just in case.

 

[Laekyloo98]

Every time I reach into her cage or get her out she rocks back and forth. This is her this morning

 

[Laekyloo98]

@Beman you have helped me before!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Are those stress colors/markings?

 

[kinyonga]

When did she lay last?
The colors and pattern she's showing are gravid/non receptive colors.

 

[Laekyloo98]

When did she lay last?
The colors and pattern she's showing are gravid/non receptive colors.

She laid 38 eggs about a week ago which is a like low for her. She normally lays around 47

 

[Beman]

Yeah the only info I can offer is she is showing gravid colors, as in eggs... I wonder if she did not lay all her eggs.

@kinyonga is going to be the person you want to really listen to as she has a ton of experience with females and laying.

 

[Laekyloo98]

Yeah the only info I can offer is she is showing gravid colors, as in eggs... I wonder if she did not lay all her eggs.

@kinyonga is going to be the person you want to really listen to as she has a ton of experience with females and laying.

Okay. Thank you! @kenyonga do you think I should see if she can lay more eggs?

 

[Beman]

What exactly happen with the last laying? Walk us through it. What she did and what you did. Did you remove the bin?

 

[Laekyloo98]

Okay, so every time I see that she is ready to lay eggs I move her to another bin that has more soil in it. She doesn’t have any substrate in the bottom of her cage. She just has a pathos plant that has soil in the pot and then fake vines and other leaves along with the live ones. She digs a lot so I move her to a place that has more soil because she will dig a little nest for them that she can’t with the pot in her cage. Usually she will cover the nest back up when she is done laying and that is when I put her back in her cage. That’s what I did the first two times she has laid eggs and she has been fine. If this is bad please let me know! I did just look at the pot in her cage and there are a couple eggs in the back that are hard so they have probably been there a couple days and I just didn’t see them. Should I put her back in her laying bin and she if she tries to lay more? As far as her actions, she has never just swayed back and fourth when I go to get her, and when I do hold her she turns a very light green with really pretty blue and green like she does when she gets some sun so I think that means she’s happy. Here recently she stays almost black with the green and blue any time I get near her..

 

[Laekyloo98]

Okay, so every time I see that she is ready to lay eggs I move her to another bin that has more soil in it. She doesn’t have any substrate in the bottom of her cage. She just has a pathos plant that has soil in the pot and then fake vines and other leaves along with the live ones. She digs a lot so I move her to a place that has more soil because she will dig a little nest for them that she can’t with the pot in her cage. Usually she will cover the nest back up when she is done laying and that is when I put her back in her cage. That’s what I did the first two times she has laid eggs and she has been fine. If this is bad please let me know! I did just look at the pot in her cage and there are a couple eggs in the back that are hard so they have probably been there a couple days and I just didn’t see them. Should I put her back in her laying bin and she if she tries to lay more? As far as her actions, she has never just swayed back and fourth when I go to get her, and when I do hold her she turns a very light green with really pretty blue and green like she does when she gets some sun so I think that means she’s happy. Here recently she stays almost black with the green and blue any time I get near her..

@Beman I thought I clicked reply. Sorry

 

[Beman]

I do not think she was done laying when you removed her. This is why you really want to have the bin in the bottom of their enclosure as a permanent fixture. It does not need to be but 6 inches deep.

I think she has retained eggs. Between her gravid colors and the eggs you found in the cage.

This is my opinion though, only from what I have read. I do not have first hand experience with females.

@kinyonga what do you think?

 

[Laekyloo98]

I do not think she was done laying when you removed her. This is why you really want to have the bin in the bottom of their enclosure as a permanent fixture. It does not need to be but 6 inches deep.

I think she has retained eggs. Between her gravid colors and the eggs you found in the cage.

This is my opinion though, only from what I have read. I do not have first hand experience with females.

@kinyonga what do you think?

Okay. At this point would it be best for me to put her back in the laying bin for a little until I can put something in her cage?

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."so every time I see that she is ready to lay eggs I move her to another bin that has more soil in it"...do you always leave her there until she lays the eggs or keep moving her back to her cage?

You said..."She digs a lot so I move her to a place that has more soil because she will dig a little nest for them that she can’t with the pot in her cage"...that's good....did youndomit the way I explained to you in a precious thread?

You said..."Usually she will cover the nest back up" and"That’s what I did the first two times she has laid eggs" ...how many times has she laid eggs? You said usually...does she not fill the hole in sometimes when she's done laying? Omyoumlet her see you when she's digging?

You said..."I did just look at the pot in her cage and there are a couple eggs in the back that are hard so they have probably been there a couple days"... So she might have dropped them before the last batch was laid...or after?

You asked..."Should I put her back in her laying bin and she if she tries to lay more?" ...you can try but she likely won't lay if she filled the hole in already.

You said..."As far as her actions, she has never just swayed back and fourth when I go to get her, and when I do hold her she turns a very light green with really pretty blue and green like she does when she gets some sun so I think that means she’s happy"... the swaying is warning you off.
You said..."Here recently she stays almost black with the green and blue any time I get near her"...that's normally non receptive/ gravid colouring.

More in a minute.

 

[kinyonga]

When a female veiled chameleon lays more than a couple of dozen eggs, it's very hard on her...usually means you're feeding her too much and likely have her basking temperatures too high.

Producing as many eggs as you said yours is will shorten her life and lead to reproductive and other issues. She will likely develop MBD, may prolapse, may suffer from follicular stasis or eggbinding and can die in the end if you don't react quickly enough to help her.

Once a female lays a clutch, I feed her well for a day or two and then cut her back to 3 to 5 crickets every two or three days (or equal caloric value in other insects) and keep her basking temperature at 80F. This will lower the number of eggs she lays and quite likely even stop reproduction altogether....it can take a couple of clutches to get to that though.

You need to make sure her supplements are right, insects are fed a nutitious diet, provide proper UVB, etc as well of course.

Supplements...I dust at all feedings but one a week with a phos free calcium powder lightly. On the one day a week that I don't use th at supplement I alternate between a phos free calcium powder dusted lightly and a vitamin powder with no D3 and with vitamin A. There are other ways to do the supplements as well...I'll leave it up to others to explain that.

Insects such as crickets, locusts, superworms may be fed dandelion greens, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, kale, squash, zucchini, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, etc and a very small amount of fruit such as berries, apples, pears, papaya, etc.

I use a Reptisun 5.0 long linear tube light...NOT a curly bulb or a compact.


My concern right now is that your chameleon hasn't laid all her eggs and may be heading to egg binding. A vet can do an X-ray and tell you if she has eggs or follicles inside her still.

If she shows signs of decline you need to get her there ASAP before she gets to weak to spay or help. Some signs are lethargy, sitting low in the cage, eyes shut during the day, phantom laying.

Hope this helps and that you can get her through this.

 

[Beman]

I think you need to slide a lay bin into the cage. Let her go down and try... If retained eggs are an issue she has to be able to lay them or it will kill her.

cover the front bottom part of the cage so your not seeing her directly. This will give her the privacy she needs.

 

[Laekyloo98]

I think you need to slide a lay bin into the cage. Let her go down and try... If retained eggs are an issue she has to be able to lay them or it will kill her.

cover the front bottom part of the cage so your not seeing her directly. This will give her the privacy she needs.

Okay so this is what I have going on. I bought a bigger plant holder with more room for her to dig in her cage. I’m open to criticism/thoughts! Any suggestions?

 

[Beman]

Okay so this is what I have going on. I bought a bigger plant holder with more room for her to dig in her cage. I’m open to criticism/thoughts! Any suggestions?

Pictures, dimensions?
It can be as simple as a plastic tub. Either all washed playsand or a 50/50 mix with organic soil mixed in with the sand. Needs to be moist enough to hold a tunnel. 5-6 inches in depth is good. Does not need to be extremely deep.

 

[Laekyloo98]

Pictures, dimensions?
It can be as simple as a plastic tub. Either all washed playsand or a 50/50 mix with organic soil mixed in with the sand. Needs to be moist enough to hold a tunnel. 5-6 inches in depth is good. Does not need to be extremely deep.



View attachment 294068

Sorry I thought I added the picture. It is probably a little deeper than 6 inches but it’s not super deep. I got the soil from Petco in the reptile isle. It is moist enough to hold a tunnel.