Post egg laying

[Kavet83]

I'm new here and have been scouring the threads looking for help. We have had our females veiled, Izzy, for 3-4 months. Previous owners had her for a few months. And she came from a breeder who got at least one clutch of fertile eggs from her. So I don't entirely know her age.

She's in a 2'x2'x4' screened cage. Those I got her from gave me super worms to feed her, no supplements. No laying bin or talk of egg laying when they told me she was easy to take care of. I researched a bunch after we got her and changed some things in her cage and got her a bin of damp sand to know if she needed to lay eggs.

Last week she wouldn't eat when offered her container with a worm. She ate a little if I left a worm in Container in her cage. On Sunday she dug in her sand bin. So we got a giant trash can set up for egg laying. Unfortunately I didn't quite have enough sand to make it a foot deep but it's maybe 6-8 inches I think. We put her new plant in and a log/stick from her cage. I made a starter hole for her. It was evening when we got it set up for her. We left her overnight, she slept on the log. Started digging in my hole in the morning. Dug all day until about 6 when she went in tail first and hopefully laid her eggs. About 10 or 10:30 she started to push sand back into the hole very slowly.

I have been so worried about her this whole time. Everything I read said leave her alone so I haven't misted and worried about that. We have a webcam over her so we can watch the process. I didn't know if we should leave lights on to help her finish or not and finally found the answer and turned her lights off overnight. She slept in the hole. I hoped she would be done this morning but she is still burying the eggs. Slowly. I'm worried she's too tired. Just recently she turned back around in the hole. Is it best to wait until she finishes covering the hole and returns to her branches before I take her back to her cage? Or should I take her out now and hydrate and feed her? How long does covering the hole usually take? Does it matter if she sees me at this point since she should be done laying the eggs? Sorry for all the questions. I just feel like a bad mom. She hasn't been getting calcium so I worry about that. I have it now for the future but I know egg laying takes a lot out of them.

 

[Kavet83]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - veiled female. I've had her 3 months. Previous owners had her a few months. A breeder had her before and had at least 1 clutch of fertilized eggs.
• Handling - pretty much never. She has hissed when I've tried to touch her. I had to grab her to take her to her laying bin and she was ok with that.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Superworms What amount? 4-8 every 2-3 days How are you gut-loading your feeders? Grain mix that came with worms, Lettuce, broccoli, sometimes fruit pieces (apples or bananas). Usually we hold her container with a superworms in it and she eats. Recently she stopped taking when offered so I left container with worm in her cage.
• Supplements - I have been bad and haven't done this before. But I just got repti calcium without D3, one with D3 and herptivite. I will be dusting without D3 every feeding and doing with D3 twice a month and herptivite 2 times a month.
• Watering - I was misting with spray bottle at least twice a day for a minute or two. Usually 3-4 times a day. Recently I've dripped water from a plastic cup with hole at top of her cage 1 or 2 times a day for 20 min or so at a time.
• Fecal Description - brown and white. Usually thick enough to stay in a log shape. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No
• History -

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 2'x2'x4' screen. White PVC bottom sometimes with paper towels down.
• Lighting - lights on from about 8am-8pm. Reptisun 5.0 compact fluorescent new in the last month. And 60 watt bulb for heat.
• Temperature -i just got a humidity and temperature gauge so I hadn't been tracking temps before. Maybe gets down to 60 at night. I haven't been able to measure the spot under the lights as they are in her laying bin now and I'm leaving her alone.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? 40-50 without spraying. I haven't yet measured what it gets to with spraying.
• Plants - schefflera in her cage that she has been eating all the leaves off. Recently bought a pothos to add more. She has some fake vines too and bamboo sticks to climb on and a log.
• Placement - cage is on the floor so top is 4 ft from floor. It's in a corner of the kids play room so at times it is high traffic. Other times it's empty. No vents too close to her.
• Location - Salt Lake City, Utah area

 

[jajeanpierre]

I would mist and feed her in the trash can. Make sure she gets a lot of calcium. Egg laying often knocks them for a loop and they can take some time to recover.

 

[kinyonga]

Let her finish filling in the hole and return to the branches then dig the eggs up to make sure she did lay them but also to count them. If she was with a male they could be fertile...but maybe not since she's been with you for three months.

It's important to supplement properly to keep her healthy and provide nutrients needed for egg production, provide proper heat for digestion, etc.

Since most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous it's important to dust the insects just before feeding them to her with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at almost every feeding to make up for it.

It's 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. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to health issues. The rest of the D3 should be produced by the chameleon's exposure to the UVB. D3 from exposure to UVB won't build up in the system like D3 from supplements will as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB at will.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene prOformed source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources won't build up in the system like prEformed sources will...so this leaves it up to you to!decide if/when your chameleon needs vitamin A.

You need a UVB light. The most often recommended one is the long linear tube light like the Repti-sun 5.0.

Appropriate basking temperatures (low to mid 80's for an egg producing veiled female) allows for good digestion and thus plays a part in nutrient absorption.

If you have any other questions just ask. There are lots of people here to give you answers.

 

[Kavet83]

Let her finish filling in the hole and return to the branches then dig the eggs up to make sure she did lay them but also to count them. If she was with a male they could be fertile...but maybe not since she's been with you for three months.

It's important to supplement properly to keep her healthy and provide nutrients needed for egg production, provide proper heat for digestion, etc.

Since most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous it's important to dust the insects just before feeding them to her with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at almost every feeding to make up for it.

It's 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. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to health issues. The rest of the D3 should be produced by the chameleon's exposure to the UVB. D3 from exposure to UVB won't build up in the system like D3 from supplements will as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB at will.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene prOformed source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources won't build up in the system like prEformed sources will...so this leaves it up to you to!decide if/when your chameleon needs vitamin A.

You need a UVB light. The most often recommended one is the long linear tube light like the Repti-sun 5.0.

Appropriate basking temperatures (low to mid 80's for an egg producing veiled female) allows for good digestion and thus plays a part in nutrient absorption.

If you have any other questions just ask. There are lots of people here to give you answers.

I do have a reptisun 5.0 uvb light.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

I am waiting for my veiled to lay her first clutch and I'm trying to not be a nervous wreck. I just wanted to say that I feel for you, you are trying your best and once this part is over, I'm sure you will get a few of your husbandry methods improved. I have learned so much from this forum and my Ophelia is doing really well because of the info, care sheets and feedback. Do you have any pics of her enclosure?

 

[Kavet83]

She finally finished burying around 7 tonight. I sprayed her down really well to get all the sand off. She didn't seem to want to drink it. She didn't eat. We got her back to her normal cage and I left a superworms dusted with calcium for her if she wants it. We will dig out the eggs in a bit to see how many there are.

This picture is from Friday before she layed eggs.

 

[Kavet83]

60 jelly belly sized eggs!

 

[kinyonga]

That's a lot of eggs! You may want toslow her down a little. Make sure she is fed and watered well for the next couple of days to help her recover.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Great job, Izzy!

You have been given some great advice. My feedback (from what I have learned) is that chams prefer to be up high. If possible, you might consider raising the cage (if you raise it you will make room for drainage). My husband made a simple wood frame that raised my cage up and I have a kitty-litter pan underneath to catch water from the automatic mister, spraying, etc. The homemade dripper is a good interim option - that's what I started with and it worked okay (not great). I was having a challenge getting her properly hydrated with just the dripper and spraying - it just wasn't enough for long enough. I bought a Monsoon Rainfall system and everything improved. The Monsoon is on a timer and she gets 2 mists for 5-7 mins and 1 long mist for 10+ mins each day. Also, you might consider a few more vines to create more coverage (hiding places) for her - especially during the high traffic times. She should have someplace where she really can't be seen.

 

[Kavet83]

That's a lot of eggs! You may want toslow her down a little. Make sure she is fed and watered well for the next couple of days to help her recover.

Yes I definitely plan to. I tried to follow the advice I read about females and feeding them less and everything but I think her lights were too close so she was too warm and happy in her basking spot. I have raised the lights up and will be monitoring temperatures more. And I need to figure out what I'm going to be feeding her long term.

 

[Kavet83]

Great job, Izzy!

You have been given some great advice. My feedback (from what I have learned) is that chams prefer to be up high. If possible, you might consider raising the cage (if you raise it you will make room for drainage). My husband made a simple wood frame that raised my cage up and I have a kitty-litter pan underneath to catch water from the automatic mister, spraying, etc. The homemade dripper is a good interim option - that's what I started with and it worked okay (not great). I was having a challenge getting her properly hydrated with just the dripper and spraying - it just wasn't enough for long enough. I bought a Monsoon Rainfall system and everything improved. The Monsoon is on a timer and she gets 2 mists for 5-7 mins and 1 long mist for 10+ mins each day. Also, you might consider a few more vines to create more coverage (hiding places) for her - especially during the high traffic times. She should have someplace where she really can't be seen.

Thank you for the advice! With that much water does it get in the room too? I just don't know how to keep the carpet dry with misting that much. I do have a humidifier I've been trying to use near the cage to help with humidity, combined with misting and dripping water. We can probably find and end table that we could put her cage on to raise it up.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

I know you've been reading through the posts on the forum... if you haven't browsed the Enclosure & Supplies forum, you really should! Some amazing enclosure ideas. What I realized is that there is no wrong way of figuring out how to use the space you have. Each keeper has a totally different way of addressing drainage, containing the spray from the mister, etc. My enclosure-misting-drainage journey from day 1 has been fraught with all kinds of issues. I enjoy problem-solving, however, and view it as kind of a cool challenge. I will figure it out!!

I get what you are saying about concern for the carpet. But here's the thing... they need a consistent water source. I've heard, and in my experience, chams do things slow. So sometimes it takes a few mins of spraying before they are stimulated to drink. And then there are the bashful chams that won't drink if you are looking. You might think a fountain inside the cage could be good, but they have their own issue (bacteria builds up and they need to be cleaned when pooped in or there is a dead critter), a dripper needs to drip one drop every second (that's a lot of water), you can manually spray them (but you need to spray for a minimum of 3-5 mins several times a day and there will be water that hits the floor during the misting sessions). And what to do with all the water that accumulates at the bottom of the cage? Figuring out a drainage solution is important. Just in case you haven't seen this one yet https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/water/

When I walk into my bedroom, I can feel the slightly heavy air. It's not overpowering (things need to dry out between the wet) but I can definitely feel it. I kinda like it. I've added some bromeliads and other pretty plants and it feels a little like a tropical paradise I wish the air in the rest of my house smelled as clean as my bedroom!

It's not like having a cat, or dog. Those are simple creatures compared to keeping reptiles. But she is yours now and you'll just have to figure it out. I know you will . Ophelia has been a great addition to our family - I enjoy taking care of her, watching her eat, her wonky eyes and funny feet. She is photographed more than my children .

Last tip... you should probably add some variety to her diet. There are many different types of feeders and (from a mom who prefers bugs stay outside) keeping BSFL's or roaches, blue horned worms or crickets, etc. really isn't that bad