FVC questions on egg binding

[Ethan]

1 FVC. 48x24x24. Cage. 160 W UVB/heat lamp.
Drip system and spray daily. She had her 1st cluche 2and a half months ago
With success. She is a healthy eater She seems fine eats and drinks with vigor. but 2 weeks ago started the going to ground again. So I put her in her bucket day 1 no luck day 2 no luck day 3 she lays 2 eggs and has gone to ground since. She is not as fat as she was when she had her 1st clutch and eats and drinks like a champ but 2 issues distress me. 1 there is a large piece of word high up that she now sits on unless she wants to bask eat or drink. I've given her much less food cause I was overfeeding. Any tips or does anyone think she has a chance?

 

[Texas Panther Man]

You say she laid 2 eggs? Did she actually dig and lay or just drop them on the floor of the cage? If shes dropping eggs, I would get her to a vet that can give her a shot of oxytocin and a calcium injection. Dont wait if shes dropping eggs! She will not make it if you procrastinate.

You said you were overfeeding her? How much food was offered? Do you supplement? What food items does she receive? All these things play into the chams health/husbandry.

First thing after she either lays or drops this clutch. I would lower her basking temps. A 160W bulb is overkill on a normal 2x2x4 cage. Get that basking temp down to around 84-85 deg and you can use a simple incandescent 60-75 watt bulb. Incandescent is the normal household bulbs you use in a lamp.

If you lower her basking temps and monitor her food intake you should be able to control her egg production somewhat. Now that she's starting laying you might not be able to stop her from producing eggs but you can control the size of the clutches and the frequency of production.

Keep up with the every other day feeding schedule and feed 8 approp sized insects every other day. Less, if your feeding big feeders like hornworms or large silks. Then I might drop it to 4-5 every wo days. Thats only after shes had a chance to recover from this ordeal. Let her recover first for a few days. For the first two or three days I feed mine every day after laying a clutch then I go back to a normal routine once I know they are ok. Hope she is ok and keep us posted after the vet visit.

 

[jandie]

i agree with ^....if she's dropping eggs, she definitely needs to be seen by a vet.... anything that "unusual" about the process she should be going through is a definite sign of something wrong...

we had a female lay only 4 eggs the first time she laid any....which worried me a little, but she went back to her "normal" routine and the process itself was pretty much "by the book"...so we didn't take her in. she laid a second, retained clutch later...with about 20 in it...but she's small, so the small number didn't concern me, and again, it was by the book....

but it sounds like she is not displaying that "expected" behavior and that part is what would concern me....

 

[kinyonga]

IMHO...by not providing a sexually mature egglaying female chameleon with a place to dig IN HER CAGE one might miss the sometimes subtle indications that she needs to lay. If she holds the eggs in too long, they can grow and she won't be able to lay them and will become eggbound. Just my opinion.

Also...IMHO the time to cut the food down is a couple of days after the clutch is laid not while the female is growing eggs.