Lay Bins and Female Chameleons

[reaganbullard]

I've looked over a few blogs, and have watched a few videos on lay bins. How do I know when my cham is about to lay? I was misinformed when I purchased my cham that it was a male.... and although I have a general idea of how female chams differ from males, I did not look into Female care as much as i had males. I would appreciate advice on lay bins and what to do.

 

[kinyonga]

How old is she? Can you post a photo of her please.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Welcome @reaganbullard could you please fill in the ask for help form in the health sec copy and past with pics . You will get better advice if we can see how you are currently keeping her .

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

 

[reaganbullard]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, female, approximately 3 mon. About two weeks.
• Handling - Very rarely- Only when i need to move her.
• Feeding - Staple is crickets gutloaded with different greens such as Collard, mustard, turnip. Occasionally I will throw in sweet potato, and fruits such as mango and apple (gutloading). She receives mealworms once a weak, and about 7-14 crickets (depending on size) a day/every other day
• Supplements - Currently dusting feeders with reptivite calcium w/o D3. later on in the month i plan to add multivites for a feeding, as well as calcium with D3 for a feeding.
• Watering - Hand misting currently, i spray for about 30 seconds about 3 times a day.
• Fecal Description - Feces is dark brown and has a definite shape, urates are a normal white color.
• History - Was initially told she was a male.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Screen reptibreeze 24x24x48
• Lighting - basking bulb is a zoomed daylight blue, and uvb is a linear 10.0 bulb (can't remember brand) lights go off at 8 p.m. and turn on at 8 a.m.
• Temperature - cage floor stays around low 70s and basking spot reaches lower to mid 80s.
• Humidity - humidity stays around 50-60% during day, and raises to around 70% for night.
• Plants - two live plants include pothos and hibiscus, the rest are fake, but i have a bromeliad picked out.
• Placement - Cage is located in my room. Not near any vents, windows, or fans.
• Location - Dallas area of Texas.

 

[reaganbullard]

Not entirely sure on age, but here is a pic!

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, female, approximately 3 mon. About two weeks.
• Handling - Very rarely- Only when i need to move her.
• Feeding - Staple is crickets gutloaded with different greens such as Collard, mustard, turnip. Occasionally I will throw in sweet potato, and fruits such as mango and apple (gutloading). She receives mealworms once a weak, and about 7-14 crickets (depending on size) a day/every other day
• Supplements - Currently dusting feeders with reptivite calcium w/o D3. later on in the month i plan to add multivites for a feeding, as well as calcium with D3 for a feeding.
• Watering - Hand misting currently, i spray for about 30 seconds about 3 times a day.
• Fecal Description - Feces is dark brown and has a definite shape, urates are a normal white color.
• History - Was initially told she was a male.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Screen reptibreeze 24x24x48
• Lighting - basking bulb is a zoomed daylight blue, and uvb is a linear 10.0 bulb (can't remember brand) lights go off at 8 p.m. and turn on at 8 a.m.
• Temperature - cage floor stays around low 70s and basking spot reaches lower to mid 80s.
• Humidity - humidity stays around 50-60% during day, and raises to around 70% for night.
• Plants - two live plants include pothos and hibiscus, the rest are fake, but i have a bromeliad picked out.
• Placement - Cage is located in my room. Not near any vents, windows, or fans.
• Location - Dallas area of Texas.

Can you add a pic of her condo please ?.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Im will hilight the changes that need to be made . As well as add lay in info .

 

[reaganbullard]

Can you add a pic of her condo please ?.

Of course, will try to as soon as possible, but unfortunately my phone is stuck at verizon . Replying from my computer. Really sorry for the inconvenience!!

 

[kinyonga]

I've looked over a few blogs, and have watched a few videos on lay bins. How do I know when my cham is about to lay? I was misinformed when I purchased my cham that it was a male.... and although I have a general idea of how female chams differ from males, I did not look into Female care as much as i had males. I would appreciate advice on lay bins and what to do.

Welcome to the forum...

Your female should get her adult/mature colors before she will be old enough to lay. She should develop mustardy yellow splotches and then bright blue dots.

Some veileds produce eggs and some don't depending to some extent on how you've been looking after them. In any case I would put a laybin in her cage and leave it there all the time. More on both of these things later.

If she does produce eggs, she will start to get fat in the body area and eventually start looking for a spot to lay the eggs. She will likely be thirsty more often and may stop eating as she nears the laying time. She may dig several test holes but should settle on one and dig it until she's happy with it. Then she should turn around butt down and lay the eggs ...likely in the evening. She may even sleep in the hole overnight.sometimes they lay fast and sometimes it takes quite a while. When she's done laying she should fill in the hole, tamp it down and return to the branches, hungry and thirsty. At this point you can dig up the eggs to see how many she laid...assuming they are infertile.

If it doesn't go this way then you should post on here so we can help you. If she becomes lethargic, sits low in the cage, sleeps during the day, etc. or phantom lays she needs help right away.

Laying bin...opaque container MINIMUM size 12" long by 8" deep by 8" wide...filled with washed playsand that is moist enough to hole a tunnel. I use a sand produced by kings that comes in a white bag with red, yellow, blue sandbox toys on the front.

Regarding whether they will lay eggs or not...controlling the temperature and the diet, etc can slow or even stop them from producing them. If you oversees them as they reach adulthood they will likely produce huge clutches which is hard on them. This can also lead to MBD and prolapsed etc. So as your female nears maturity she needs to be fed enough to sustain her without her being too thin but not giving her enough to push her into huge egg production. Making the temperature slightly lower in the basking area helps to keep them less hungry.

Hope this helps!

 

[reaganbullard]

Welcome to the forum...

Your female should get her adult/mature colors before she will be old enough to lay. She should develop mustardy yellow splotches and then bright blue dots.

Some veileds produce eggs and some don't depending to some extent on how you've been looking after them. In any case I would put a laybin in her cage and leave it there all the time. More on both of these things later.

If she does produce eggs, she will start to get fat in the body area and eventually start looking for a spot to lay the eggs. She will likely be thirsty more often and may stop eating as she nears the laying time. She may dig several test holes but should settle on one and dig it until she's happy with it. Then she should turn around butt down and lay the eggs ...likely in the evening. She may even sleep in the hole overnight.sometimes they lay fast and sometimes it takes quite a while. When she's done laying she should fill in the hole, tamp it down and return to the branches, hungry and thirsty. At this point you can dig up the eggs to see how many she laid...assuming they are infertile.

If it doesn't go this way then you should post on here so we can help you. If she becomes lethargic, sits low in the cage, sleeps during the day, etc. or phantom lays she needs help right away.

Laying bin...opaque container MINIMUM size 12" long by 8" deep by 8" wide...filled with washed playsand that is moist enough to hole a tunnel. I use a sand produced by kings that comes in a white bag with red, yellow, blue sandbox toys on the front.

Regarding whether they will lay eggs or not...controlling the temperature and the diet, etc can slow or even stop them from producing them. If you oversees them as they reach adulthood they will likely produce huge clutches which is hard on them. This can also lead to MBD and prolapsed etc. So as your female nears maturity she needs to be fed enough to sustain her without her being too thin but not giving her enough to push her into huge egg production. Making the temperature slightly lower in the basking area helps to keep them less hungry.

Hope this helps!

Really helpful info! Thank you so much for the help

 

[kinyonga]

Hope it helps. Ask if you need more info...there are lots of people who can help on here.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, female, approximately 3 mon. About two weeks.
• Handling - Very rarely- Only when i need to move her.
• Feeding - Staple is crickets gutloaded with different greens such as Collard, mustard, turnip. Occasionally I will throw in sweet potato, and fruits such as mango and apple (gutloading). She receives mealworms once a weak, and about 7-14 crickets (depending on size) a day/every other day
• you can add , silks , Bsf , roaches variety for theses babies . I would stop meal worms they are hard to and digest and have no nutritional value . Switch for horns if it’s soli a treat .
• Supplements - Currently dusting feeders with reptivite calcium w/o D3. later on in the month i plan to add multivites for a feeding, as well as calcium with D3 for a feeding.
• r
• Watering - Hand misting currently, i spray for about 30 seconds about 3 times a day.
• you can add a dripper . Adding a timer (kitchen) to be sure you are watering long enough.
  
  
  
• Fecal Description - Feces is dark brown and has a definite shape, urates are a normal white color.
• get a fecal .
  
  
• History - Was initially told she was a male.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Screen reptibreeze 24x24x48
• Lighting - basking bulb is a zoomed daylight blue, and uvb is a linear 10.0 bulb (can't remember brand) lights go off at 8 p.m. and turn on at 8 a.m.
• 5.0 for her age .
• Temperature - cage floor stays around low 70s and basking spot reaches lower to mid 80s.
• Humidity - humidity stays around 50-60% during day, and raises to around 70% for night.
• Plants - two live plants include pothos and hibiscus, the rest are fake, but i have a bromeliad picked out.
• Placement - Cage is located in my room. Not near any vents, windows, or fans.
• Location - Dallas area of Texas.
• she should have a lay bin all the time . She can start egg production as early as 6 months . The little girls tend to get very restless . Want out of their condo , have intense coloring including mustard yellow , blues , and teals . However they do not always Display this that’s why we always keep a lay bin .