Save her from the pet store!

[Katrinaa]

Saved this little lady from the pet store. They've had her since she was 8 weeks until now. And have kept her with a male the whole time... She stayed black and orange and hissing the whole time. Even though I had my heart set on a panther, I wanted to give this girl a home! Since she's such a sweet heart and loves attention I've decided to name her cup cake
She's skinny and her casque is bent and she's been very stressed. But the little beauty is safe now!!

 

[Katrinaa]

This is her now
Away from the male and happy!

 

[SaintJimmy]

Thanks for the update!! She is beautiful. I'm glad you were able to get her out of there.

You did awesome!

 

[Markyj55]

View attachment 91126This is her now
Away from the male and happy!

Nice Looking

 

[Deevo]

Nice, I'm glad she is doing so much better! Maybe let the pet store know they could maybe consider alternative ways to house them next time if you haven't already.

 

[maven]

She looks so much better now! What a beautiful girl

 

[Katrinaa]

Thank you guys! And I did! They didn't seem to care each moment Tht goes by she just looks happier! Even starting to show a bit of white! They said she may also be carrying eggs. I sure do hope not! As she continues to cool down I'm actually no longer upset about not getting a panther! She's beautiful and so so friendly! I think the both of us turned out pretty happy

 

[Trace]

Nice save! Cup Cake will make a good pet for you.

I'm not sure I would call her skinny but potentially gravid. Those are gravid colours in the first photo and what looks like bumps from eggs in the second (towards her back legs). Make sure she has a lay bin in her cage or at least handy if she wants to dig.

 

[Katrinaa]

I will for sure!! Thank you! You can't see it in the photo but you can see every one if her ribs
What is you best suggestion for a lay bin?

 

[Trace]

I don't think she is skinny or emaciated at all. You will see ribs on normal sized chameleons and if she is full of eggs, they can become prominent. Female Veileds love their food too, so make sure she doesn't overeat.

I haven't worked with egg laying species in a long while so I'll let others chime in with their recommendations but in the meantime check out the suggestions for lay bins in our Veiled caresheet:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

 

[Katrinaa]

Perfect!! Thank you so much! I just want this girl to be happy!

 

[jackschamnewbie]

egg bins can be as simple as a sandwich size tupperware, 3/4 full of damp and thoroughly washed play sand.

 

[Olimpia]

Laying needs need to be about 10-12" deep, and at least 8-10" wide. Usually a 5 gallon bucket or an opaque storage tote is enough. Chameleons will dig all the way down, and if they don't have something deep enough they will retain those eggs until they find something better (which can be fatal if she can't) or until she just gives up and drops them on the floor.

I remember when I picked up my female Meller's, I was really stunned by a lot of her housing but the icing on the cake was the shallow cookie sheet with an inch of soil on the floor of her cage. "She doesn't even bother digging a tunnel," the previous owner said, "she just drops them from up high." Yea, because she has no choice!

Provide a nice, sizable bin with moist sand/soil or a mix of both, and egg-laying should be a no-brainer for her.

 

[Katrinaa]

Thank you so much! What kind of sand/soil would you suggest? I was also told they can retain seman for an extended period of time. Is this right? Since she was with a male the eggs are probably fertile.. Should I incubate and attempt hatching them? Or what do I do?

 

[Olimpia]

Thank you so much! What kind of sand/soil would you suggest? I was also told they can retain seman for an extended period of time. Is this right? Since she was with a male the eggs are probably fertile.. Should I incubate and attempt hatching them? Or what do I do?

I typically use a mix of organic top soil and washed playsand. The mix is a little different every time I make it but it's something like 70 soil : 30 sand. But you can use either medium by itself, a lot of people like just sand or just soil.

Yes, females can store sperm for some time so if she was bred you could expect her to lay one bigger clutch first, followed by a smaller one later, and maybe a third smaller still. You'll want to make sure she's getting lots of calcium during this time.

If they are fertile, you could incubate them if you wanted to. However, no one is going to force you too undertake that amount of responsibility, it's up to you, so you can offer the eggs over to another forum member who might want to hatch and raise the babies or you can destroy the eggs. Or keep just a small handful of eggs and give the rest away to someone else.

 

[Katrinaa]

I'm in Nova Scotia, Canada. I don't think any members are close to me I'd feel awful destroying them. I have hatched Leo's plenty of times! I think I'd like to atleast try

 

[Hannah04]

I'm in Nova Scotia, Canada. I don't think any members are close to me I'd feel awful destroying them. I have hatched Leo's plenty of times! I think I'd like to atleast try

Just to be clear, there are members near you!! I'm from Nova Scotia and only about an hour away!!