Possible gravid veiled Cham

[Melina]

Hi all,
I'm new to this site and would appreciate any help or advice you can give. I have a 14 month old female veiled chameleon and i think she may be preparing to lay her first clutch of (infertile) eggs. She has been off her food for the past 1 - 2 weeks and isn't going for a number 2. Yesterday she began to dig at the bottom of her viv so we placed the sand/soil pot we had made for her to lay in. She wasn't interested in laying in this and continued to dig at the floor of her tank - we even piled up substrate and sand in a corner of her tank for her to dig in as she seemed to want to dig on the natural floor and not crawl into a pot! She is coming up from digging every few hours to bask and i am making sure she is receiving plenty of water. I understand it can take them several days to decide on a suitable place to lay but i am getting concerned as at times she seems weak and has twice fallen from her branches. I'm worried she is becoming egg bound and it's draining her of energy and calcium - but she doesn't appear to be overly gravid as i can only see 1/2 lumps on her underside. I have spoken to a duty vet and am waiting for a call back but he is not a reptile expert and will prob not be able to help so i will have to wait until Tuesday to see one. Any advice is much appreciated - i'm starting to get concerned as it's my first time with a gravid cham and i'll admit that no matter how much you read when it happens you feel totally useless!!
Thanks in advance

 

[jannb]

Once she starts to dig she needs plenty of privacy. If she sees you looking at her she can abandon the hole and become egg bound which can kill a female.

 

[Melina]

I've covered over the bottom of her tank so she can't be seen when she's digging. When she comes up to the top to bask i sneak a look to see what going on. But looking at her now she doesn't seem lumpy at all! Is it possible for some females to be gravid but not look it?

 

[jannb]

Yes, with infertile eggs, they don't always show. Make sure the dirty is deep and moist enought for her to dig a tunnel to lay the eggs. You don't want to tunnel to cave in on her.

 

[Melina]

Ok thanks for your help - keep your fingers crossed for me

 

[jannb]

Another thing to look for it they normally stop eating a few days before laying eggs.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."She has been off her food for the past 1 - 2 weeks and isn't going for a number 2"...this seems like a long time for her to be off the food if she isn't really plump.

Is the substrate in the container moist enough for her to dig a tunnel in it? How big and deep is the container? How deep is the substrate?

 

[Melina]

Hi all
So since yesterday we have put her in a large bin with plenty of damp substrate (about a foot) and a light for heat. She has been digging since 9am this morning and the past hour has just stop and is laying face down in her hole. She is still breathing but isn't trying to dig anymore. Im worried she is getting really tired and i haven't been able to offer her any water today. PLEASE HELP

 

[Melina]

Just an update - she has turned herself around and reversed into the hole bum first. Seems to be some squeezing action

 

[beeze]

That's a good sign. When she gets finished laying she will start to cover the hole. Then you can offer her food dusted with lots of calcium and plenty of water.

 

[Melina]

Excellent, thanks very much. Any ideas how long it may take for all the eggs to come out? She's been bum down for abour 1 and half hours now. I can't wait until it's over - i've got such a headache and i want to be sick i've been so worried about her!

 

[beeze]

Sometimes it can take awhile. Whatever you do don't messy with her or let her see you looking. You want her to finish and not become egg bound.

 

[Melina]

Yeah we've got a web cam set up so we can spy on her! Thanks for all your help - these forums are brilliant!

 

[Melina]

Another update -Dolly started filling in her hole last night and so we took her out to give TLC etc and she laid another egg straight into my fiancee's hand!!! We put her back in the laying bin and she continued to dig/lay for the rest of the night (including a little sleepy in the early hours). Today she has drunk loads (phew!) but not eaten. She has been fastidiously covering in any holes and making the substrate very flat -she seems obssessed with it! It appears that she has finished laying, although she does seem to have a couple of lumps near her rear that i am concerned are retained eggs. Is it best to leave her in the bin for the rest of the day to see if she attempts to lay anymore? And then take her to the vet if she does not (in case she needs oxytocin to get rid of the retained ones)? N.B She is seeming to be very strong and not weak at all

 

[joshua n janet]

my female has really bright yellow spots she just got them she fat looking i put a lil bucket with sand in it but she hasnt done any thing when should i take it out?

 

[jannb]

I would try feeding her and watering her in the bin. Normally, my girl looks much thiner after laying. We need kinyonga here, she's an expert at this.

 

[Melina]

She's now climbed out of the bin herself so i'm guessing she's done! Will keep an eye for any digging behaviour and lumps and put her back in if so.

 

[kinyonga]

Melina...hopefully she has laid all the eggs. You should not have taken her out until she had filled in the hole and returned to the branches on her own. By disturbing her you increase the chances of eggbinding. If she doesn't eat on her own soon after she has finished burying the eggs or shows any signs of going down hill, get her to the vets ASAP.

joshua n janet...You said..."my female has really bright yellow spots she just got them she fat looking i put a lil bucket with sand in it but she hasnt done any thing when should i take it out?"...there should always be a container in the female's cage once she is sexually mature to give her some place to dig to show you that she needs to lay eggs IMHO. Taking it out might push her towards eggbinding. Whenever a female is digging you should make sure that she can't see you watching her also so she won't abandon the hole. Also...as I said above, do not disturb the female until she is finished filling in the hole and has returned to the branches once she has laid the eggs.

Females need peace so they can do the job without any additional stress.

 

[Melina]

Thanks Kinyonga for the reply. She had filled in the hole and climbed up the branches to get out of the bin herself!! She ate and drank after she left although today she seems to still be a bit lumpy so we have put her back in the laying bin. Spoken to a vet who wants to see if she will dig and lay the rest herself - if not it'll be a trip to see him for some oxytocin/calcium jab.

 

[Melina]

Further to my last post, Dolly laid 19 eggs at home but still seemed to be lumpy with some more. We took her to the vet who ended up giving her an x ray showing she was still full of 'em and gave her a calcium/oxytocin jab to get things moving. Two oxytocin doses later and an overnight stay she had laid 8 of the retained eggs. She is now home for the weekend as the vet felt confident she would pass the rest of them herself albeit slowly. She has now been home for 24 hours and still no more eggs. Vet isn't avaliable until Monday - great help - any ideas what to do next? I've heard a warm bath every couple of hours helps to induce contractions? She is showing no signs of wanting to dig at all.