New to Chameleons, Female has eggs

[Kameo13]

Hi there,

I am looking for some advice as I am brand new to chameleons and I recently acquired a pregnant veiled female (named her Kameo). I'm not sure how long she has been carrying eggs for as the person I got her from had no clue... Also told me to put the lights on from 10pm-6am????? what the heck lol I have not been doing that as research has told me daylight during the day and nothing else required at night unless it's under 40 degrees (mine stays around 65at night). Any way back to my point, I really don't know much about chameleons and honestly have never dealt with a reptile carrying eggs. I have prepared a laying bin for her but do not think she is ready to lay yet,
I can definitely see the egg bulges in her, I will include a photo of her in the comments. Anyway I've had her about 2 full days, today being my third, so far everytime I have put food in her dish she climbs down her vines gulps them up and heads back up to the top. Today I put them in and she hasn't hardly moved. I only just put a laying tray in her enclosure last night so I hope I'm not too late. I don't know if she knows the tray is there, should I pick her up and put her in it? I do not want to stress her out and as I said don't know a lot about them so don't want to make her egg bound. It just seems weird to me that today she randomly didn't want to eat, it's still early so I'm not toooo worried, she may make her way down in a while to eat something, but just wanted some advice.

 

[Kameo13]

Photo of Kameo

 

[jpowell86]

Welcome to the Forums! Good lord, that little girl looks she is about to bust. With her being gravid, she should start exploring her enclosure to find a suitable area to dig. I hope that she isn't at the point that she is already egg bound since a laying bin hasn't been available to her prior to you having her. I would cover her enclosure with some towels or sheets and give her complete privacy. It doesn't help she was moved to a new environment with a new owner so late in the game. So, privacy is a must. Check on her periodically and hopefully she will lay her eggs. Is your laying bin at least inches deep and what substrate did you use?

 

[Kameo13]

Welcome to the Forums! Good lord, that little girl looks she is about to bust. With her being gravid, she should start exploring her enclosure to find a suitable area to dig. I hope that she isn't at the point that she is already egg bound since a laying bin hasn't been available to her prior to you having her. I would cover her enclosure with some towels or sheets and give her complete privacy. It doesn't help she was moved to a new environment with a new owner so late in the game. So, privacy is a must. Check on her periodically and hopefully she will lay her eggs. Is your laying bin at least inches deep and what substrate did you use?

Thank you for replying!

I thought so but wasnt sure what they are supposed to look like! At least how many inches deep, your post does not say? It's about 3 inches deep in a big tub, I don't even think she has seen it yet though as she has been at the top of her encloser since I put it in. I filled it with reptile sand substrate, please let me know if this is wrong as I found very conflicting results for what to use:S She hasn't displayed any signs for wanting to lay from what I've read, aside from today she has been eating very well, actually now that I think about it I did notice a the bottom of the terrier was ruffled around with she must have done that in the night time not last night but night before I hope she is not egg bound because of that should I pick her up and place her in the tray then cover with towels?? Thank you so much again!!!

 

[jpowell86]

The laying bin needs to be 12 inches deep minimum. Moist play sand works well because it holds it's form while she is digging. So before anything, change that bin out. Once you do that hopefully she will naturally do what she needs to do.

 

[Kameo13]

The laying bin needs to be 12 inches deep minimum. Moist play sand works well because it holds it's form while she is digging. So before anything, change that bin out. Once you do that hopefully she will naturally do what she needs to do.

ooohh ok I will get more sand right away then, hope she isn't egg bound already, thank you so much again for your help!

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the world of chameleons! This is not the best way to

I use an opaque container at least 12" deep by 12" by 8" full of moistened washed playsand. At this point I would dig a tunnel in the sand for her and put her in it...and pray its not too late. I'm concerned about eggbinding.

You need to provide well fed/gutloaded insects for her that have been dusted approximately with proper supplements and provide appropriate temperatures to aid in proper digestion and access to UVB light.

It's recommended that you dust the insects just before feeding them to he chameleon with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at most feedings to make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects.

Its recommended that you dust twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving it to produce the rest from its exposure to the UVB light.

It's recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A cannot build up in the system and lead to health issues while prEformed sources can. This leaves it up to you to decide whether the chameleon needs prEformed or not.

Appropriate temperatures allow for proper digestion and thus indirectly in the nutrient absorption. The basking temperature should be in the low to mid 80'sF for a female veiled.

Exposure to UVB allows the chameleon to produce the D3 needed to use the calcium in the system that is needed for strong bones, muscle contractions, etc.

 

[Kameo13]

Welcome to the world of chameleons! This is not the best way to

I use an opaque container at least 12" deep by 12" by 8" full of moistened washed playsand. At this point I would dig a tunnel in the sand for her and put her in it...and pray its not too late. I'm concerned about eggbinding.

You need to provide well fed/gutloaded insects for her that have been dusted approximately with proper supplements and provide appropriate temperatures to aid in proper digestion and access to UVB light.

It's recommended that you dust the insects just before feeding them to he chameleon with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at most feedings to make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects.

Its recommended that you dust twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving it to produce the rest from its exposure to the UVB light.

It's recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A cannot build up in the system and lead to health issues while prEformed sources can. This leaves it up to you to decide whether the chameleon needs prEformed or not.

Appropriate temperatures allow for proper digestion and thus indirectly in the nutrient absorption. The basking temperature should be in the low to mid 80'sF for a female veiled.

Exposure to UVB allows the chameleon to produce the D3 needed to use the calcium in the system that is needed for strong bones, muscle contractions, etc.

Thank you so much for your reply, I just took another look at her and it looks like she has just started shedding too, so that may be why she did not eat today? Would her shedding cause her to not look for somewhere to lay her eggs? I just have her a nice spray shower to help with the shedding, I tried putting her in the tray but she just headed right for the top branch again. As I said before today is they only day she hasn't eaten so maybe that is because of the shedding? I did buy some calcium and vitamins for her so hopefully she will eat tomorrow. She had privacy for the last multiple ours and didn't move much. I have a feeling she isn't ready to lay her eggs yet as I haven't seen any signs really, but I am an amateur with Chameleons so maybe I am wrong.

 

[brownie64]

Wow she needs to get rid of those eggs. I don't think I have ever seen one swelled up that much especially that far back it don't look right. Maybe it's just the angle. Keep a close eye on her without bothering her, and if she shows any signs of going down hill like eyes sinking in, looking and acting lethargic. I would get her to a vet. Slowing down on eating is normal for a female about to lay eggs so I wouldn't worry about that unless it goes on for more than 3 -4 days. Good luck

 

[Kameo13]

Wow she needs to get rid of those eggs. I don't think I have ever seen one swelled up that much especially that far back it don't look right. Maybe it's just the angle. Keep a close eye on her without bothering her, and if she shows any signs of going down hill like eyes sinking in, looking and acting lethargic. I would get her to a vet. Slowing down on eating is normal for a female about to lay eggs so I wouldn't worry about that unless it goes on for more than 3 -4 days. Good luck

OK great that makes me feel better, ya I think it's the angle when she's completely vertical like that too. Hopefully she gets through it, I have her terrarium covered with a towel now so just hope she lays them. Thanks you for your reply! I'll keep everyone posted!

 

[BayChams]

How is she?!?

 

[bobcochran]

Are those bags really all eggs? It seems if she has that many eggs that are ready to be laid her belly would be more lumpy. Look at her casque, it's bent sideways, there's something else going on here. Possibly severe edema, maybe MBD. We need more pictures to make a better assessment.

 

[DaChameleonKing]

^ Yeah I'm worried about that GIANT bump...

 

[Kameo13]

Are those bags really all eggs? It seems if she has that many eggs that are ready to be laid her belly would be more lumpy. Look at her casque, it's bent sideways, there's something else going on here. Possibly severe edema, maybe MBD. We need more pictures to make a better assessment.

ahhh really?? ok I'll get some more what kind of angles?? The guy I bought her from only gave me one light and it was a basking light so I don't even think he had a uvb bulb on her:S

I don't want to disturb her so I'll put the pictures I have up but I can get some more if these aren't good.

 

[Kameo13]

Are those bags really all eggs? It seems if she has that many eggs that are ready to be laid her belly would be more lumpy. Look at her casque, it's bent sideways, there's something else going on here. Possibly severe edema, maybe MBD. We need more pictures to make a better assessment.

Also as I got her like that already I'm really not sure when she is ready to lay her eggs, and also becuse I am new to chamelons I really don't know what she should look like :S ok posting pics now

 

[Kameo13]

Pictures.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I have seen females so full of eggs (like 70+) that can cause quite a bit of abdominal distention. The best way to know would be to do an x-ray. But she needs an appropriate size egg laying bin with good substrate ASAP! And a UVB light must be added. Increase her calcium as well because if she doesn't have enough calcium either through lack of dietary supplementation and/or lack of UVB she is at increased risk of egg binding.

 

[Lathis]

Poor little thing, she does have a number of issues going on. Hopefully she will accept the bin and start laying eggs asap.

I'm reluctant to stress a female at this delicate time, but have you considered a vet visit? She may need some help along with the laying process (especially since her previous care was less than stellar) and there is a drug they can administer to induce contractions if necessary - but I worry most about that pronounced bulge at her hip and somewhat about the overall "puffiness" of her arms and legs. She could be fighting adema or a secondary infection, too.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. You have received some excellent advise above. She is a beautiful girl and I hope she will lay with no problems. The thing that has me worried is I'm afraid there might be something else wrong with her besides just eggs. If she were mine and she wasn't in the process of laying in the morning, I'd have her at the vets for an x-ray.

Here's a good video by one of our senior members on how to set up a laying bin.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/

Info about egg laying and the laying bin. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/entry/egg-laying-and-the-laying-bin.345/

Info about feeding females less to keep them from producing eggs or at least help them to have a smaller clutch. http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

General care for veiled chameleons. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-with-young-veiled-or-panther-chameleons.325/

 

[Kameo13]

Wooo, I know it's not much but I just put a super worm on a spoon and she just ate it, just glad she still is wanting to eat a little at least. I got more sand so she has about 12" of substrate now and a fresh UVB Bulb. Hopefully she can geter done, I am keeping a close eye on her