Nearly a year egg bound!!!

[Anaaa2182]

I have a female veiled chameleon who put out yellow and blue spots around late September or early October. I did research and found that means she has eggs and is interested in mating (if this is wrong please tell me what it actually means). Before I say the next part please don't be so harsh I know it was very wrong and I beat myself up for it. It was December and I decided to make a vet appointment since its been two months and she hadn't laid any eggs. I decided to cancel the appointment after doing research that there are few options. Giving medicine to induce egg laying & for supplementation, if that doesn't work I'm technically screwed as the only options would be surgery or to put down the chameleon. I didn't want her to be put down but I couldn't afford the surgery as I told myself it would at least be around $1,000 (not sure if this is correct). I decided to dedicate hours and days to videos and reading about making the best egg laying bin. I tried sand, sand & soil, topsoil, soil, dirt, fertilized soil, different bins BUT nothing worked. Fast forward to June, and I have a vets appointment booked after months I gave up trying to make her a bin. I realized it will be October in 4 months meaning she had gone NEARLY A YEAR with the eggs!!! Not only am I sure she had eggs due to the yellow and blue spots I am sure as I can see the shape of the eggs in her big round belly. I came to realize that most chameleons die within weeks or a few months, how is it possible that she is still alive? I am grateful she is still alive and will gladly pay the surgery since I can afford it now, if I can't I will look for somewhere where I can surrender her and they will do the surgery for free and rehome her. I just came to tell my story and ask if anyone knows a place where you can surrender chameleons so that they can get the help that they need. I rather have her with someone else as long as she can get the surgery and help she needs. Female veiled chameleon approximately 2 years. I respectfully ask and I hope this doesn't come out the wrong way but please refrain from asking the cage information questions( won't answer these) as I only need to know where I can surrender my chameleon if I can't afford the surgery? I will only surrender her if I truly can't afford it and if the place will do a surgery for free then Ill surrender her, I just don't want her to be put down she is a really sweet chameleon very docile, has NEVER been aggressive or showed hostility ever. Advice is greatly appreciated! If you're thinking I should have never bought a chameleon, even if it hurts me to say you are 100% right. I was lied to at petco/petsmart and without any reptile experience the employees convinced me it was pretty much the same as a dog or cat and that it did not require much. Had I known that with no reptile experience it would be this hard I would have never bought her in hopes that someone else who does have the proper experience and knowledge, got her. I already know what care chameleons need as I did research for months to make up for my lack of knowledge and experience and I'm more comfortable now. And I also managed to hatch two chameleons and raise them up until they were 5 months old before rehoming them but that's another story. Point is I am trying my best. Also the baby chameleons were sent to me by accident I promise I wasn't purposely trying to have chameleon eggs. Any advice on the egg bound would be appreciated, also how long do chameleons last egg bound before they die? My chameleon has had her eggs inside for about 9 months.

 

[Anaaa2182]

I have a female veiled chameleon who put out yellow and blue spots around late September or early October. I did research and found that means she has eggs and is interested in mating (if this is wrong please tell me what it actually means). Before I say the next part please don't be so harsh I know it was very wrong and I beat myself up for it. It was December and I decided to make a vet appointment since its been two months and she hadn't laid any eggs. I decided to cancel the appointment after doing research that there are few options. Giving medicine to induce egg laying & for supplementation, if that doesn't work I'm technically screwed as the only options would be surgery or to put down the chameleon. I didn't want her to be put down but I couldn't afford the surgery as I told myself it would at least be around $1,000 (not sure if this is correct). I decided to dedicate hours and days to videos and reading about making the best egg laying bin. I tried sand, sand & soil, topsoil, soil, dirt, fertilized soil, different bins BUT nothing worked. Fast forward to June, and I have a vets appointment booked after months I gave up trying to make her a bin. I realized it will be October in 4 months meaning she had gone NEARLY A YEAR with the eggs!!! Not only am I sure she had eggs due to the yellow and blue spots I am sure as I can see the shape of the eggs in her big round belly. I came to realize that most chameleons die within weeks or a few months, how is it possible that she is still alive? I am grateful she is still alive and will gladly pay the surgery since I can afford it now, if I can't I will look for somewhere where I can surrender her and they will do the surgery for free and rehome her. I just came to tell my story and ask if anyone knows a place where you can surrender chameleons so that they can get the help that they need. I rather have her with someone else as long as she can get the surgery and help she needs. Female veiled chameleon approximately 2 years. I respectfully ask and I hope this doesn't come out the wrong way but please refrain from asking the cage information questions( won't answer these) as I only need to know where I can surrender my chameleon if I can't afford the surgery? I will only surrender her if I truly can't afford it and if the place will do a surgery for free then Ill surrender her, I just don't want her to be put down she is a really sweet chameleon very docile, has NEVER been aggressive or showed hostility ever. Advice is greatly appreciated! If you're thinking I should have never bought a chameleon, even if it hurts me to say you are 100% right. I was lied to at petco/petsmart and without any reptile experience the employees convinced me it was pretty much the same as a dog or cat and that it did not require much. Had I known that with no reptile experience it would be this hard I would have never bought her in hopes that someone else who does have the proper experience and knowledge, got her. I already know what care chameleons need as I did research for months to make up for my lack of knowledge and experience and I'm more comfortable now. And I also managed to hatch two chameleons and raise them up until they were 5 months old before rehoming them but that's another story. Point is I am trying my best. Also the baby chameleons were sent to me by accident I promise I wasn't purposely trying to have chameleon eggs. Any advice on the egg bound would be appreciated, also how long do chameleons last egg bound before they die? My chameleon has had her eggs inside for about 9 months.

Attached is the coloration of my chameleon.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. It’s very possible that your girl isn’t egg bound and just hasn’t produced eggs. However, in order to determine this, you’d need an x ray done. Are you not willing to answer any questions about your husbandry? That makes it impossible to try and help figure anything out. I can tell you that with limiting feeding to 3-4 feeder bugs, 3 days a week and keeping basking temperature no higher than 80, you can reduce egg production. One of my veiled girls keeps her pretty colors and markings pretty much year round except when she darkens once a year when she does produce and lay eggs. The more we feed our ladies, the more egg they produce and with more frequency. Producing large clutches increase risks for egg binding. Incorrect husbandry also greatly increases risks. I’m not a vet, but I don’t believe an egg bound chameleon can live beyond maybe a couple of weeks max and would be in excruciating pain. She’s stay on the bottom of the enclosure, not eat, possibly not drink and you’d be able to tell she’s in great distress. If you’d like to answer questions and perhaps be able to keep your girl, I’d ask for you to post some pics of her whole body and from a couple of angles. @kinyonga would be the best one to help you. If you are just wishing to rehome her, perhaps @jannb knows of some resources that can help.

 

[MzLaurie11]

Chams are like chickens, they dont need fertilazation to lay eggs. Unfertilized eggs just wont hatch. Also the fertilization takes place begore the eggs are formed. Also if a cham is not ready to lay, they wont show any interest in a lay bin. When they get ready to lay the behavior changes. Eating may stop completely, they hide, they go to the bottom and scout, stop drinking, etc..the first time my panther laid eggs, she did it over a three day period and everywhere on the bottom but the laybin. i spoke with several breeders who said they think the floor of the cage is the forest floor and many wont use a laybin so i rebuilt her cage so the bottom third is bioactive with planted plants and all. The nect time she laid she dug for two days right into the roots of a plant and laid perfectly. Then entire time she dug she did not go gravid (color change with mainly black) then went black when she laid. They like privacy so i put a piece of cardboard in front of the cage. If you interrupt them they can get eggbound. You neef to tell us where you are located so wecan find a rescue in your area.

 

[Beman]

I agree with @MissSkittles. Food intake can greatly impact clutch size and if they lay eggs. Most of the keepers here have their females on a reduced food plan with reduced basking temps. This can control the clutch size and in some cases make it to where they rarely lay.

 

[kinyonga]

Sorry you’re having all this worry with your chameleon.

Since you don’t seem to want to give us information we might need to help you figure things out…all I can do is give you information that might help.

In my 30+ years of experience with chameleons and other reptiles, I only saw one female veiled that was able to reabsorb her eggs. I’ve never understood why she could/did when all the others couldn’t/didn’t. We knew for sure she had eggs because the owner‘s vet did X-rays and the female was full of them.

Female veiled produce eggs like chickens do, as was already explained to you.…and if they are overfed and the temperatures are kept too high, the number of eggs will be huge and they will almost always end up with follicular stasis and/or egg binding. They may get away with laying one or two clutches before this happens, but usually not.

To prevent these things from happening, we feed only 3 to 5 crickets or other insects of equal caloric value as the female approaches sexual maturity. This either decreases the number of eggs they will lay in the clutch or in some cases, turns the reproduction off completely and the females will live much longer lives. This needs to be done with proper supplementing and husbandry.

There is only one ”cure“ for egg binding and follicular stasis so far…and that is spaying.

X-rays will show if the female has eggs…but many vets don’t seem to know much about the eggs in the X-ray…whether they are close to lay time or not, etc.

As for how long they last eggbound, it usually isn’t very long maybe a month or two at the most.
Her poor health when you first got her may have helped her to live this long eggbound …but I don’t know what that will do for her future. I’m expecting she will need to be spayed from the photos in your o5er thread.

I‘m not a vet and can only give you my best opinion. I’m not always right!

I hope you will get it figured out and either rehome her or get her spayed in time. Please keep us posted.