Gemeleon dude
Established Member
Hello, so my cham has pooped out 2 eggs instead of laying them, I’ve had her lay bin in her cage for months and this is the first time I’ve ever seen her do this? She’s almost 4 years old is this why?
Pooping eggs
- Thread starter Gemeleon dude
- Start date
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Can you post some pics of her current enclosure set up and her please?
Gemeleon dude
Established Member
Gemeleon dude
Established Member
This is the same cage set up now but it’s an older photo of her
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Here’s my blog on laying. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/ The information is applicable for panther girls too. Her lay bin looks a bit too small…they do like space to choose just the right spot in the bin. I feel that at least a 12x12” is minimum size for a bin. While height isn’t as important, higher sides will make her feel safer. You only want about 5-6” deep of sand. Then, when they are coming down from their trees to lay their eggs, they are at their most vulnerable. It’s essential for us to provide them with privacy so that they feel safe. If they see us or anything else, they will not lay their eggs and can become egg bound. I hang a light sheet over the bottom half of the enclosure…keeps plenty of ventilation, gives her the privacy she needs and I can always see her when she is done and returns to basking. I poke little holes in the sheet to monitor her progress. I fear that if you don’t provide her with a larger bin and absolute privacy asap, she is going to become egg bound (assuming she isn’t already). Time is of the essence here. If you can make the changes tonight while she sleeps, it’s all the better and she can wake up, find her needs are met and get to digging.
Gemeleon dude
Established Member
She’s laid many clutches and and the last clutch she laid was in June she said I think 20ish eggs, I’ve had the same lay bin for her over the course of 4 years I’ve had her and she’s never had a problem with laying her eggs in it, no changes in her feeding or supplements either, so confused why she’s pooping them out, she’s been crawling in the sand and been watching over the bin so I’ve been expecting her too lay soon
Gemeleon dude
Established Member
She’s also very friendly and not scared of ppl, every time I feed she tries too crawl out on my head and crawl on me, I’ve never had too cover her up too lay her eggs she just does it, also I’m not home during the day so she gets plenty of privacy too lay
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
If she hasn’t minded the lay bin, then I won’t mind it. It still wouldn’t hurt any to give her some cover for privacy though. I have to suggest a vet visit too. If heaven forbid she is having a problem laying her eggs, it would be best to address it before she becomes weakened.
Gemeleon dude
Established Member
Right, I got home today before her lights went out and she ran right up too my and crawled all over her feeder, even this morning she was crawling all over the cage so that’s why I’m so confused Caz she seems healthy
Gemeleon dude
Established Member
And if she was egg bound wouldn’t she be retaining the eggs?
Gemeleon dude
Established Member
Gemeleon dude
Established Member
Here’s the photos I took of her when I got home
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
When looking for a place to lay that they like, they can be very restless and all over the place. My girl Stella showed me just how particular they can be. When I switched her to bioactive, I assumed that she would see the entire substrate ‘ground’ as suitable for laying her eggs. She did not though. She spent a week digging in her potted hanging plants, her foam faux background, various spots of the substrate. She didn’t seem to stop moving. Then I gave her an all sand lay bin (shoe box sized). She tried it and then tried everything else again. By the end of the week I was desperate for her to lay her eggs so I put her old giant lay bin in and the next morning she got down to business in it. 
While it is good that some of her eggs are passing, the problem is being able to determine if any are retained or not. It isn’t normal for them to be dropping eggs here and there and is usually a sign of a problem somewhere. @kinyonga has much more experience than I do and is one of those whom I’ve learned what I know from.
While it is good that some of her eggs are passing, the problem is being able to determine if any are retained or not. It isn’t normal for them to be dropping eggs here and there and is usually a sign of a problem somewhere. @kinyonga has much more experience than I do and is one of those whom I’ve learned what I know from.
Gemeleon dude
Established Member
So it’s not normal for them too pass underdeveloped eggs and then go on and lay a clutch after?When looking for a place to lay that they like, they can be very restless and all over the place. My girl Stella showed me just how particular they can be. When I switched her to bioactive, I assumed that she would see the entire substrate ‘ground’ as suitable for laying her eggs. She did not though. She spent a week digging in her potted hanging plants, her foam faux background, various spots of the substrate. She didn’t seem to stop moving. Then I gave her an all sand lay bin (shoe box sized). She tried it and then tried everything else again. By the end of the week I was desperate for her to lay her eggs so I put her old giant lay bin in and the next morning she got down to business in it.
While it is good that some of her eggs are passing, the problem is being able to determine if any are retained or not. It isn’t normal for them to be dropping eggs here and there and is usually a sign of a problem somewhere. @kinyonga has much more experience than I do and is one of those whom I’ve learned what I know from.
Gemeleon dude
Established Member
She’s currently eating her breakfast, she has no swelling or discomfort and is t lethargic, do you think I should get her in too get x-rayed?
My two cents on her appearance. Something is going on health wise. Her casque is sunk in and her cheeks look to be a bit sunk in as well. Tail is very thin as well. You see this with health issues. I am not sure what her overall body has been like the last 6 months but look back on pictures and see if this has been happening for awhile. With females they can start having issues especially with reproductive stuff.
Gemeleon dude
Established Member
Maybe I’m not feeding her enough? I feed her every other day and I don’t feed on Saturday and Sunday, I dust with calcium every feed, and then give her the vitamins once a week and the other week I give her the calcium with D3
BTW …I’m not a vet…just speak from years of experience keeping chameleons and many other lizards and reptiles…and from reading a lot.
You said…”the last clutch she laid was in June she said I think 20ish eggs”..if the last eggs were laid in June, then it’s too soon to be laying another clutch…so I’m suspecting retained eggs. There are a few reasons for retained eggs. It could be a move towards egg binding and follicular stasis or it could be deformed/fused eggs or a number of other reproductive issues…but it’s not normal.
You said…”So it’s not normal for them to pass underdeveloped eggs and then go on and lay a clutch after?”…not normal.
A visit to a good chameleon vet and an X-ray would be a good idea IMHO, to see if she has an issue.
@Beman mentioned the casque, etc….and inagree, there may be some other health issues going on.
Do you use a vitamin powder twice a month with a preformed source of vitaminA?
You mentioned underdeveloped eggs, do you have a photo of them? Why do you say they are underdeveloped?
You said…”the last clutch she laid was in June she said I think 20ish eggs”..if the last eggs were laid in June, then it’s too soon to be laying another clutch…so I’m suspecting retained eggs. There are a few reasons for retained eggs. It could be a move towards egg binding and follicular stasis or it could be deformed/fused eggs or a number of other reproductive issues…but it’s not normal.
You said…”So it’s not normal for them to pass underdeveloped eggs and then go on and lay a clutch after?”…not normal.
A visit to a good chameleon vet and an X-ray would be a good idea IMHO, to see if she has an issue.
@Beman mentioned the casque, etc….and inagree, there may be some other health issues going on.
Do you use a vitamin powder twice a month with a preformed source of vitaminA?
You mentioned underdeveloped eggs, do you have a photo of them? Why do you say they are underdeveloped?
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Gemeleon dude
Established Member
I have the vitamins I give her twice a month but I don’t have a “preformed source of vitamin A” what do you use for that? And yes I know it’s too soon and I took her too the vet not too long ago and the doctor said too extended her light cycle to put her into a summer light cycle and it didn’t help I guess, I know she’s getting old and idk what to do to slow down her eggs
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