Pregnant Veiled Chameleon

llaanni

New Member
So I have 3 veiled chameleons all female, and it's almost been a year since I've had them. My chameleon Echo is pregnant with infertile eggs and she's been pregnant for at least 3 months, I also believe it's her first time laying (I got her at about 3 months old.) I never thought I'd have this problem because my other 2 chameleons make it look so easy, and it takes no longer than 2 days for them to lay. Echo has a big enough laying bin with fresh reptile soil, and a clean environment. She isn't showing any signs like my other chameleons were when they were about to lay, for example they weren't eating and got a lot more aggressive. She's the complete opposite, she's still eating and walking around and isn't aggressive at all, she hasn't even went down to the bottom of her cage to start digging and her laying bin has been there for a while! I even switched the laying bin out with a new one (a bigger laying bin) because I thought she wasn't comfortable with it. Her belly is very big and I can feel the eggs when I touch her stomach, I just don't know if I'm overreacting or if she's really egg bound... please help!!
 
Can you post photos of her from the last few days please.
I just got a new phone so I don't have a lot but the first one was taken today, the second one was like 2 weeks ago & the last one was 4 months ago. She is pretty big in that last one taken, which makes me think she's been pregnant for a while. Do you think she looks pregnant in the last pic?
 

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How much do you feed her in a week? Did all 3eat about the same?
I assume you treat all thee of your females the same and have the same lights, etc in all the cages? Any differences at all for her?
 
Can you post photos of her from the last few days please.

How much do you feed her in a week? Did all 3eat about the same?
I assume you treat all thee of your females the same and have the same lights, etc in all the cages? Any differences at all for her?
Yes their all treated the same, same lights same amount of food! My partner is usually the one that feeds them but he feeds them around 3 doobie roaches each, and wax worms, meal worms etc. a day & they get fed every other day.
 
Yes their all treated the same, same lights same amount of food! My partner is usually the one that feeds them but he feeds them around 3 doobie roaches each, and wax worms, meal worms etc. a day & they get fed every other day.
I didn't specify about the food my apologies, they each get around 2-3 doobie roaches and 3 worms every other day. It changes from wax worms, to meal worms to hornworms. I thought that maybe they were getting over fed but my other 2 chameleons don't look like their over fed at all, and one of them actually just laid eggs 2 days ago and she did it so quick. That's why it confuses me because the other 2 know what their doing when it comes to laying but echo idk about...
 
Hi. :) The wax worms and meal worms aren’t very good staple feeders. I’ll attach a feeder graphic. Having variety is great though. My staples are roaches, crickets and silkworms with pupated bsfl as occasional flying treats. To help reduce egg production, I keep basking temps no higher than 80 and feed 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week. This has worked great for my two girls. In the past 1 1/2 years, one has laid only once and the other not at all. Both receive the exact same care and the only difference was that the one who laid happened to catch sight of my male and I think that triggered things.
Really, there’s only two courses of action that I can see. The first is to wait and watch. She just may not be ready to lay just yet. Each chameleon is different, just like us. The second is a vet visit with radiograph to check the development stage of the eggs.
I do recommend weighing your girls on a regular basis, as that can tell you if they’re putting on weight and producing eggs.
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Hi. :) The wax worms and meal worms aren’t very good staple feeders. I’ll attach a feeder graphic. Having variety is great though. My staples are roaches, crickets and silkworms with pupated bsfl as occasional flying treats. To help reduce egg production, I keep basking temps no higher than 80 and feed 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week. This has worked great for my two girls. In the past 1 1/2 years, one has laid only once and the other not at all. Both receive the exact same care and the only difference was that the one who laid happened to catch sight of my male and I think that triggered things.
Really, there’s only two courses of action that I can see. The first is to wait and watch. She just may not be ready to lay just yet. Each chameleon is different, just like us. The second is a vet visit with radiograph to check the development stage of the eggs.
I do recommend weighing your girls on a regular basis, as that can tell you if they’re putting on weight and producing eggs.
View attachment 310368
Thank you for the heads up I won't feed them the mealworms and waxworms anymore! I do like a variety of things to feed them so I'll start getting new bugs the chart really helps! In Over 1 1/2 years she only laid once? Wow! My 2 chameleons have laid about 2-3 times in 9 months.... I definitely need to make some changes so they don't lay as much. I usually keep their basking temps around 85 but I will give 80 a try!

I really do appreciate the advice, I'm always trying to learn new things so I can keep them as healthy as possible! I think I'm going to just observe her for the next 2 weeks and pray she's ready to lay soon, she's so big!

Out of my 3 chameleons I can only handle 2 of them. Ivy was my first chameleon probably around 1 1/2 years when I got her. She was so sassy and still is! She doesn't like to be handled, I've only held her once and she wasn't a big fan of being held.

Any advice on how I can weigh her if she doesn't like to be handled? Also, should I feed Echo less food than the other 2 since she's about to lay, or give her less vitamins than usual?
 
Thank you for the heads up I won't feed them the mealworms and waxworms anymore! I do like a variety of things to feed them so I'll start getting new bugs the chart really helps! In Over 1 1/2 years she only laid once? Wow! My 2 chameleons have laid about 2-3 times in 9 months.... I definitely need to make some changes so they don't lay as much. I usually keep their basking temps around 85 but I will give 80 a try!

I really do appreciate the advice, I'm always trying to learn new things so I can keep them as healthy as possible! I think I'm going to just observe her for the next 2 weeks and pray she's ready to lay soon, she's so big!

Out of my 3 chameleons I can only handle 2 of them. Ivy was my first chameleon probably around 1 1/2 years when I got her. She was so sassy and still is! She doesn't like to be handled, I've only held her once and she wasn't a big fan of being held.

Any advice on how I can weigh her if she doesn't like to be handled? Also, should I feed Echo less food than the other 2 since she's about to lay, or give her less vitamins than usual?
None of my veileds like being handled, but I still weigh them. I give them a small treat after for tolerating me.
If your girl is about to lay, you don’t want to cut back on her food or supplements as she needs all of her strength to lay. After she lays, feed her very well for 2-3 days and then start her on the 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week with basking temps of 80.
 
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