laying infertile eggs

[mimibozzo]

I just got a female panther chameleon about a month ago, she is about 5 months old now, I have a 7 month old male who I plan on breeding her with eventually. I need to know a couple things. How will I know when she is getting ready to lay eggs? (the infertile ones that they lay without being bred) I need to know this so I will know when to prepare a sand filled bin for her to lay them in.
I would also like to know people's different opinions as to how long I should wait before breeding her and why. I've heard that waiting until she is a year old is best but if females go through the process of laying eggs anyway whether they have been bred or not, why is it so important to wait until she is a year old to breed her so she can lay fertile eggs? Just curious.....

 

[Chameleon Brothers]

Egg laying

Usually she will be ready to lay eggs when you see her climbing around the bottom of the cage. I'd recommend buying some play sand from Home Depot and putting a bucket with some added water for her to lay in when she wants.

 

[NHenn]

I would watch Dez's video was well as read Jann's blog as they will give you everything you need to know about the laying bin.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

As for age, most recommend a year as that is generally safe for a female to breed at that age and weight. If you have a female that is healthy and large enough to bred at 8 months you can do so but without seeing your exact female it would be hard to tell someone your safe to do so. So that is why most recommend a year to be safe.

Laying infertile eggs take less of a toll on the female in comparison to fertile eggs. That is why they might lay infertile clutches at 6 months but I wouldn't recommend breeding her at 6 months as she most likely isn't fully developed. Unless you have past experience with breeding I wouldn't recommend you breed her until she is a year old, whether she is laying infertile clutches or not. It isn't worth risking or greatly reducing her life span to breed her if you can wait a few months to do so.

 

[jannb]

I recommend waiting until a year old and a good weight to breed. Under a year the female still needs the calcium for her body that the eggs would take away. IMO fertile eggs are larger and much harder on their bodies to lay. She could very well lay an infertile clutch before she's a years old especially if she is overfed and kept to hot so be prepared with liquid calcium glubionate and provide her with a laying bin at all times after the age of 5 months old. You might find these blogs and videos helpful.

Egg laying and the laying bin: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

The female veiled (this helps with panther females also): http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

Video about making a laying bin: https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

Receptive/gravid females video: https://www.chameleonforums.com/receptive-female-chameleons-educational-video-62869/

Info about breeding: https://www.chameleonforums.com/some-thoughts-breeding-2612/

 

[mimibozzo]

Thank you for your responses, I appreciate them. Everything you said makes sense and I will definately wait until she is fully developed! And I will make her a bucket of moist play sand also after my husband builds her a bigger cage, which he is going to do in the next week or so...