My Male Wants to Lay Eggs?

[SaijLorelei]

My chameleon, Aevin, is acting like a female. He has spurs on his feet but I've read in other places that when a female Veiled Chameleon is going to lay eggs she will lay on the ground and not eat and close her eyes and just be... there. I've taken him to the vet because I thought there was something wrong with him and the vet doesn't know what's up with him. But I found that female info just tonight and now I'm wondering if Aevin looks like a male but is female and needs to lay eggs... Should I put down some sand for him/her?

 

[Olimpia]

Welcome to the forum!

Could you post some photos of him? They'll help us a lot.

Also, if you wouldn't mind, please fill out this. It'll help us figure out if something is wrong in his environment that might be making him act this way. I know it's long, but try to use as much detail as possible:

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.

 

[kinyonga]

Can you please post some photos?

 

[Elizadolots]

That isn't really typical behavior for a female who needs to lay.

I agree, you should fill in the form so the experts here can help you.

 

[SaijLorelei]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?

Veiled, male (we think), between 1.5 years and 2.5 years old, he's been with us for 9 months.

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

We don't handle him often, he hangs out in his cage and we pretty much sit around him and do our own thing. We let him out when he scratches on the door of the cage which is a couple times a month.

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

we feed him crickets and superworms. Around 10 crickets every other day, 1 or 2 superworms when he wants them. The gut loading is just the cricket food from Flukers. We dust the worms and crickets with multi vitamins and calcium.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?

Flukers calcium and we dust every other time we feed him.

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

He doesn't drink from drippers or flowing water, he only drinks standing water, so we change the water every day. We used to see him drink but now he has stopped completely. We no longer mist because we were told veiled chameleons were desert-like lizards and didn't need misting.

Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

Regular brown and firm droppings. White soft droppings. Never been tested for parasites

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Been taken to the vet and they don't know what's wrong with him but they gave him an antibiotic.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?

Screen cage, 2 feet wide, 2 feet long, 4 feet tall

Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?

Exo Terra's infared 75 watt bulb, Exo terra's Night Glo 50 watt bulb, and white UVB 5.0 by repti-... something. he gets 12 hours of the red and white bulb during our day, and 12 hours of the nightglow while we sleep.

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?

I honestly don't know what the temperatures are in the cage, but it's pretty warm in there.

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?

We were told he didn't need any humidity, so we took the humidifier we had in there out.

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

No live plants, we have black thumbs.

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?

The cage is in our bedroom in a low traffic area and the top of the cage is about even with everything else in the room.

Location - Where are you geographically located?

The desert. El Paso, Texas.


Current Problem - He is not eating, drinking, or basking. He lays on the floor and sleeps. His joints of his feet are very large and swollen, and his crown is swollen.

 

[SaijLorelei]

Sorry, open them in a new tab, I can't get them to show up here.

 

[imcurt]

First of all loose that night heat source unless the room you keep him in is under 55 at night.A temp drop at night does them well. 2nd how old is the uvb bulb.They only last 6 months.3rd Do some research on gut loading your feeders. What your gut loading with will keep the crickets alive, but its lacking what the chameleon needs!4th You need to add a mutli-vit a couple times a month. Both my veilds are adults and like to munch on leafy vegies try some char or collar greens. Most leafy greens that are brightly colored are high in vit-A (there a good start for gut loading too)key word being start! Post A picture of your wholes setup and of your chameleom as well.

 

[SaijLorelei]

First of all loose that night heat source unless the room you keep him in is under 55 at night.A temp drop at night does them well. 2nd how old is the uvb bulb.They only last 6 months.3rd Do some research on gut loading your feeders. What your gut loading with will keep the crickets alive, but its lacking what the chameleon needs!4th You need to add a mutli-vit a couple times a month. Both my veilds are adults and like to munch on leafy vegies try some char or collar greens. Most leafy greens that are brightly colored are high in vit-A (there a good start for gut loading too)key word being start! Post A picture of your wholes setup and of your chameleom as well.

The UVB is 2 weeks old. And when he was healthy we had to trick him into eating greens, we had to put worms or crickets in a dish with them so he suck em up with the feed. But that's all well and dandy to do when he gets better, we'll be sure to do all of that, but my problem right now is that he's pretty much dying and I don't know what's wrong with him or how to help him. And I posted pictures of him above you (the little squares with the question marks in them, they work but need to be opened in another window or tab)

 

[Mredhorse]

Is that your chameleon in your avatar?
Looks female to me..

 

[SaijLorelei]

Is that your chameleon in your avitar?
Looks female to me..

ja that's him when we first got him, 9 months ago. He's maybe 3 times bigger than that now, he sheds all the time and his crown is huge now. He has spurs on his feet, so we know he's male but we read on the internet about the behaviour of females when they want to lay eggs and it sounds just like him right now... so we really don't know.

 

[Elizadolots]

I'm wondering if it's too warm in the enclosure. For a male veiled (let's say we believe that for the moment) you want something like 85-90 at the basking point, which is about 6 to 10 inches from the top of the cage. The bottom of the cage should be "room temperature" even if that's 70 degrees.

As noted, no heat or light at night. They're sleepers...they want it dark and cool.

 

[SaijLorelei]

I'm wondering if it's too warm in the enclosure. For a male veiled (let's say we believe that for the moment) you want something like 85-90 at the basking point, which is about 6 to 10 inches from the top of the cage. The bottom of the cage should be "room temperature" even if that's 70 degrees.

As noted, no heat or light at night. They're sleepers...they want it dark and cool.

He has access to those levels of the cage, he goes where he wants. We just don't know the exact temperatures in the cage. We've been told that a night light is required, that's why he has one, he even switches sides of the cage at night when we turn it on to sleep under it, so he likes it. He doesn't feel warm though. He never really has but it is warm in his basking spot, he sits in that area all the time. Do you think that the warmth is causing his sickness? If that were true, why would it show up all of a sudden? Wouldn't he be ill the whole time we've had him? This all started happening 4 days ago and it happened quick.

 

[HerbsForMyChameleon]

Definietly a male, not female

 

[Banders675]

new vet

you should take him to another vet one that knows chams. you might try and force water with an eye dropper if his eyes are sinking in. He looks like he is not doing well. did he fall and maybe get hurt? you should get gauges for the temp and humidity they are like 11 bucks at pet co. did he eat something bad? maybe he is not getting the proper vitamins or enough of them. I wish I could help you better but the pictures are not that great are you sure on the age? maybe he is older then you were told.

 

[Angrychair]

well the "spur" pictures you posted are pictures of his front feet. Those are just some weird lumps, maybe from metabolic bone disease, i dont know. Male spurs are on the REAR feet, in between the toes, on the heel, where a spur would be.

color and pattern wise it looks like a male, but I'm no expert by far.

 

[Olimpia]

Ooph, he doesn't look like he's doing well. I'll tell you that no healthy lizard lies down like that, he must be really ill. Mist mist mist! Get the cage soaking wet, and we'll see if he drinks, but chameleons need lots of water. You have to provide it somehow, hopefully misting will be enough.

I second the vet recommendation, those are not spurs (he is male though) they look like bone deformities. Try to find a vet that has seen chameleons before in his life and knows more about how they're treated. I can't believe your other vet said he looked OK.

 

[SaijLorelei]

I took him to the only exotic vet in town and she said Aevin was the biggest chameleon she's ever seen in person so I'm guessing she hasn't seen many. I took pictures of his feet like that because I wanted to show the joints/bones, how swollen they are, he has spurs on his back feet- they're huge. We got him from petsmart and they said he was only a few months old and when we took him to a local pet store who bred veiled chameleons, they said he was much older. They said he looked like he was 2 or 3 years because of how big he is. We've been force feeding him water and misting him like crazy but now he's just freezing because he wont climb to his warm spots. When he lays down it's like his legs don't work, they just lay there. I've seen him try to move around, when he does he uses only his right side legs and just drags himself... Maybe he has Edema?

 

[SaijLorelei]

Are you thinking he's just old? Do they act like this when they're too old?

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I've read in other places that when a female Veiled Chameleon is going to lay eggs she will lay on the ground and not eat and close her eyes and just be... there.

That is not egglaying behavior. They go to the ground dig their hole, lay their eggs and get back in the trees. Laying on the ground with eyes closed is a sign of a very ill chameleon. In the wild they would be snatched up by a predator if they did that. Sounds like your cham is very ill. Veiled chameleons can live up to 7+ years so yours is not too old, he is sick.

You are not gutloading appropriately. The Flukers stuff is very low in nutritional value and should not be used alone. You need to gutload with fresh veggies that are high in calcium like dandelions, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, butternut squash, etc.

They do definitely need mistings. Even veiled chameleons because it stimulates drinking activity and helps with skin and eye issues. Not all of Yemen is a desert, and they are certainly not desert animals. They need humidity at least 50%., especially in El Paso when you don't really have any natural humidity. It sounds like you talked to someone who didn't actually know what they were doing and they've steered you in the wrong direction.

You do not need a red light during the day or a night light at all unless temps are below 60 degrees. A drop in temperature at night is good for their metabolism. You NEED to know what the temperature is. Veileds should have a basking area around 95 degrees with a gradient so it's around 80 lower in the cage. They need to be able to thermoregulate since they can't control their own body temperature on their own so there needs to be a warm area for basking and a cooler area for him to cool down!

Looking at your pictures your cham is definitely male and definitely very ill. The swollen joints of his legs make me suspicious of gout - a very painful condition of uric acid crystals building up in the joints from improper nutrition and chronic dehydration. People can get it too. It's nearly impossible to treat in chameleons and very painful. There could be other issues at work too, looks like he has evidence of metabolic bone disease as well, again from improper nutrition. It takes a long time to build up and a long time to heal from. Unfortunately he does not look good.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."when a female Veiled Chameleon is going to lay eggs she will lay on the ground and not eat and close her eyes"...this is not what a female does when she needs to lay eggs...this is what she would do when she's eggbound.

He needs to get to a good reptile vet RIGHT AWAY.