my pygmy laid one egg?

S

Sarah B

New Member
I brought a Pygmy home from the place I work on Tuesday. Her belly looked really big until I put her in her 10 gal with some hide and a light misting. So the question of whether she was gravid sorta left my mind. BUT! this morning I woke up to see one little egg next to some of the moss I gave her! just one .... I'm wondering if there will be more or do they usually lay them all at once?

Also what kind of container should I put them in to incubate? Is it a bad idea to just leave them with her in the tank? Thank you.

Sarah

I'm so excited I've never done any breeding before!! :D
 
Sarah I don't know about the only egg, maybe she will drop more. I would leave the egg in where it is, but we have several people who have had pgymy babies lately. So I would talk to them. If you can't find the threads let me know and I will locate a couple for you. Congratulations, new mommy to be.
 
I've been doing research and some people say it takes all day for them to lay the eggs and others say it should be all in one clutch. The problem is when I bought her she was burrowing and most likely ready to lay the clutch. so when I brought her home and moved her to a new tank I "interrupted" the process. I hope this does not cause too much strain on her and she doesn't become egg bound. But one egg is a good sign right? Its nice and white and round so Im keeping my fingers crossed and humidity up. I don't want to move it for a day or so until I see what happens next.

As of now she's trying to burrow and dig but somewhat active still. I think she may be ready to lay more but Im still worried as heck..

Should I put a hide box with moistened moss in it for her? or is 1 inch of eco- earth enough? She does have hiding places and a bit of moss underneath. I'm at a loss here I've never done this before, I hope someone can help.
 
I've found that they usually lay the eggs one after another, but hopefully yours will continue later if she's allowed some privacy.
I don't know if you left the egg on top, but if so, it needs to go into the ground or you need to incubate it seperately. If you want to keep it in the enclosure, stick your pinky finger in the dirt and put the egg in. Don't tip it or roll it around, just put it in the way it's sitting.
It's a very good sign that she's continuing to dig. They don't need a hide box or moss, just the substrate you have.
Just try not to peek in on her too much so she can have some privacy (I know it's tough!).
Keep us posted and good luck!!
 
Hi Giaindell and lisa..

pics are coming soon, i promise ;)

lisa, i AM guilty of peeping a lot, maybe that's pissing her off!! lol i might cover her tank a bit more so it's more private .. thank you for telling me about the egg needing to be buried a little, i was wondering about that. I wont take it from the tank yet though. maybe just wait atleast until she's dropped the rest. Is it a problem that she's been burrowed for 3 hours and no signs of anything yet? that could be my fault!

edited to update:

She's covered now with just enough of the screen uncovered to allow ventilation. I dug a little spot with my finger right next to where she had it, and carefully moved it...also covered it just enough so you can still see the top of the egg. is that ok??

Like I said I tried to be as careful as possible but it did turn *a little* because the hole I made was hard to put it in without doing that. grrr..I'll be so mad at myself if I screwed this up. Atleast she's covered now..so that should help. Thanks again everyone I was a mess trying to figure out how to do this.

Sarah
 
Last edited:
O.K. I am back for another update. After burying her egg for her, and covering her tank, and squashing two crickets that were probably annoying the heck out of her ( found it easier than having to chase them around the tank and cause disturbance ) ... i cheated and peeked a little bc I was afraid I upset her by being in there doing that. and of course she moved. She's on to of her vine now. this makes me think that shes not in distress from being egg bound :::sigh of relief::: but also makes me very confused because I thought she burrowed to lay her clutch. and nothing! hmmmm....
 
I'm always looking in my pygmy enclosure! I know who slept by whom, where they spent their day, etc. I'm the worst!! The only time I DON'T bother them is when I see some activity at the bottom. I don't want to interrupt the egg laying process, as I worry about egg binding. Unfortunately, because of their size, if your girl gets egg bound there is not much you can do, and she will die. Some of the folks here who have big chams (Veileds, Panthers) have had egg binding problems, and sometimes the chameleon can be saved by a skilled vet. Egg binding is pretty serious (in birds too), so the odds aren't great if it should happen.

Having said that, just try not to look so much (I know, I know LOL). With the egg you put back in, cover it with dirt all the way. When the female buries them she does not leave any part visible. Take the egg out, dig a wee bit deeper, and put the egg back in. Then throw some more dirt over. Do wait until the female is "done" at the bottom, so as not to interrupt her.

Don't worry if the egg turned a little. My first attempt at incubating I turned the eggs every which way when I moved them, and I still got babies. You CAN keep them in the enclosure and they will still hatch. Some people on the forum just leave them. I took them out the first time because I had to set up a new enclosure. Now I leave them in. I have 5 females and I have no clue where they laid eggs. One day I'll see babies at the tops of branches!

If you DON'T get babies, keep in mind that the eggs could be infertile, and it may not be due to anything you've done wrong. Please don't be mad at yourself! Chameleons are very delicate creatures.

Thanks for the update!! :)
 
Sarah B said:
O.K. I am back for another update. After burying her egg for her, and covering her tank, and squashing two crickets that were probably annoying the heck out of her ( found it easier than having to chase them around the tank and cause disturbance ) ... i cheated and peeked a little bc I was afraid I upset her by being in there doing that. and of course she moved. She's on to of her vine now. this makes me think that shes not in distress from being egg bound :::sigh of relief::: but also makes me very confused because I thought she burrowed to lay her clutch. and nothing! hmmmm....
Click to expand...

Breathe and chill! It's all good! :D

(Just try to leave her alone. If she's healthy, crickets will not bother her, so just leave them for when she gets hungry).
 
hahaaha! chill is not a word in my dictionary. LOL. I'm actually researching on how to make an egg laying box now. She left her burrow and is still up on her vine and she looks stressed/mad. I think she wants these eggs OUT!

I'm not sure if I should get a tupperware container that is shorter in height and turn it right side up (so i can get the eggs more easily), with some eco earth on bottom and moss on top, or if I should get a higher tupperware container, cut an opening, and turn it upside down. if i did it that way i may harm the eggs.

reading into this a little more i'm finding the eggs may be infertile anyway because this is her first time.

what worries me the most is impaction because then she'll die!!! but if shes climbing around and everything maybe thats not whats going on. either way, im still panicking......:::::deep breath in::::: :::::deep breath ouuutttt::::

im fine. really. hahahah
 
Sarah no laying box is needed from what little I know. I have never heard anyone use a laying bin. Did you hear from Julie? She will know all the answers. If you haven't got in touch with her let me know and I will give her a call.

Try to relax, I know I couldn't but you are a strong woman -- I hope.:D:D
 
Laurie. You will be happy to know that I've decided that I going to be strong. I left her with everything she needs..nesting box and all..misted and covered the enclosure and will not be making one peep until tomorrow. I'm determined! Maybe a bit of a spazz but all in good fun ;)

Never heard back from Julie, maybe she has not been on the forums yet today. If you could do that I'd appreciate it. Not sure what else needs to be done but if she's experienced with breeding it couldn't hurt. Still trying to decide whether I want to remove the eggs and put in vermiculite, or just leave them/it in the enclosure. As a beginner,...Im thinking just leave them be and see if they hatch! :)

With all that said, my main concern is that my little momma's not egg bound. from what I've read if a female chameleon lays eggs once, its "bound" -no pun intended- to happen again.
 
I'm glad to hear you're fine LOL. The nesting box is uneccesary, but it sounds like you've already put it in there. Pygmies lay where they're going to lay, because they have soil at their disposal all the time. The "big" chams are in enclosures with no substrate, hence the deep laying bins they require.

As for her sitting on her vine looking mad -- that's their look! :D
 
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