tunnels collapse

Fate X said:
i need something that will fit in her cage, im not biulding my new cages till next yr.
No... You need something that is for the best of your chameleons. Just to reiterate, there are many chameleons that die in situations like yours. This is a critical stage, and after 8 days, your on high alert now.

ChameleonsTree said:
the longest any of mine have taken was like 5 hours
Really? In cage? if you are taking them out to a new laying site, I would think you are waiting too long. If its in cage, I guess I could see that because they are already comfortable with their surroundings.
 
Fate X said:
i need something that will fit in her cage, im not biulding my new cages till next yr.


No, you need to listen to the advice being offered to you. We told you to leave her alone and then you went and had a photoshoot while she was trying to dig. We're telling you now that you need to get a rubbermaid trash can and fill it with at least 18" of moist soil. If after 7 days of digging she hasn't layed, it's pretty obvious that your laying site isn't suitable. If you simply do nothing, you'll have no-one to blame but yourself when she dies. I don't mean to come across as rude, but you've had ample time to do something... and the clock is ticking.
 
will a 5 gallon bucket work? i dont have a extra trash can , i have a storage bin type containerits maybe 15" high 18"wide and 24" across.tommorow i am going to take some very serious action as far as the egg laying container goes.
"the photo shoot" was only 3 pictures and only to show what the setup is like.

a 32 gallon trash can will not fit in her cage, i have a container in mind but i will have to remove the schefflera plant.

will veileds dig for fun though?
could be the warm nights ,theres been a sorta heat wave here on the eastcoast and the temp has rarely been dropping below 80F at night.i been running the mist at night to help cool things off , i turned it off since it might be stressing her, do veileds lay eggs at night?
 
Last edited:
Will Hayward said:
Are these still the small storage rubbermaid containers? I highly suggest large 121L rubbermaid garbage cans next time. I have never had a girl spend more than 3 days in one before she laid. And some have been in and out the same day.

They sell for $10. Completly private. Great depth, with room to put in a plant and a branch. Keeps the humidity high.


then you keep the trashcan outside the cage and put her in ?
 
No they dont dig for fun... If they are busy diggin while the lights go off, they continue, if they are wandering then they will perch for the night.

You don't put the trash can in the cage, you put them in the trash can.

Secondly, don't dare use a used trashcan. Buy a new one.
 
i am gonna try n get a new trash can tommorrow . the whole reason i didnt get a trash can is because i thought you had to put it in the cage and these cages dont have enough room.




I WILL HAVE a container that is about the same diameter as a 5 gallon bucket but is twice as high, its plastic and has a metal clamp that i can easily put a peice opf screen over it and the clamp would lock down the screen so she cannot get out, i dont know how many gallons it is yet, i also have a trash can that is about 32 gallons , i put plastic bags in it for trash, i could clean it out. i might not be able to get out to get a new trashcan tommorrow but i will find something to use, my mom is bringing in the container i described.



now i been brainstorming some ideas i was thinking i could fill the cage with peat/sand/topsoil mix.

the cage is a esu large fresh air habitat its 30 high i could fill the whole thing to a height of 20 inches of sand/soil/peat if she diggs to far she will hit screen , might be a bad thing though.
 
Last edited:
i have a picture of the new container i got for her laying her eggs , theres a clamp for the screen to cover the top.

aprox 2:34 pm splinter was put in the new egg chamber ,i dug through the chamber that was in her cage and there was nothing there. the new chamber is filled about 20 inches of peat/sand/topsoil i screened off the top , now i wait.

do they tend to lay the eggs faster when they are removed from the cage and placed in a chamber?
 
Last edited:
she has laid 48 eggs after 11 days of digging.
i am so happy
thanks to the people who offered advice because she probably would have died in that egg tray container i was original using.

there are pictures of the eggs and splinter in my gallery pictures.
 
Last edited:
Congratulations on getting through this. It was a rough ride, but with patience you'll master it, and you'll also learn to control the sizes of the egg clutches. 48 is a decent number. I personally like to keep my egg count low as it's probably a bit easier on the females. (My pardalis females only lay 20-25 eggs, even though they may lay up to around 50) I cannot image how those veileds that have laid 114 eggs in a single clutch get along during that month or more while carrying them. Now, I can't really remember... Is this the female that was mated already? And when was it, if she was.

Secondly, IF the eggs are possibly fertile (if shes been paired) I would suggest moving the eggs to a new container filled with vermiculite, perlite, or a mix of the two. ( I use 2:1 Verm. to Perl. seems to work well). A sand mix just isn't recommended because the moisture sinks right to the bottom and the top dries out. If this female is a virgin, toss the eggs, they will not develop.

When you move the eggs, do not rotate them, just in case any development may have started, although very unlikely, but better safe than sorry.

Here is a link that will give you some great insight to some incubating methods. Should you decide to keep the eggs of course, there is no shame in halting the process here if you think that in anyway you could not handle 48 tiny hungry mouths, then this is the time to act. You could also choose to only keep a small handful of eggs.

Eggs: Laying to Hatching by Bill Strand
Incubation Strategies by Francois Le Berre
 
the eggs look nice , i wonder if they would hatch ,the only time she mated was about 12 days before she layed these eggs.
i am gonna treat them like they are fertile just in case .
 
i put lucky in the egg chamber yesterday and today i took her out and she laid 46 eggs , so now i got a total of 94 eggs, i don't know if these eggs are good as far as being fertile, i am gonna find out soon with a red light, if they are good im gonna get 2 incubators and vermiculite . right now though my efforts are on getting the 2 girls healthy again.
 
You won't be able to tell with a red light. You also don't need an incubator. Just a large container with a lid and some vermiculate or perlite. If they are fertile, they won't mold and collapse.

Heika
 
Our female took all of 3 days to lay her very first clutch, but when it came time to lay her second one....whoooo boy!! she paced for almost 2 weeks and dug for a week longer....finally laid one egg near the entrance of the tunnel and finally 3 days after that, laid the rest of the clutch (49 eggs). The whole second clutch was non-viable, but her first clutch (46 eggs minus one "bad" one) are all doing great and incubating. Needless to say I was going NUTS waiting for her to drop the second clutch, I was frantic. All is well with her.....her weight is back to normal and she certainly eats & drinks with gusto, so I will be wary for any future clutches.

IvorySerpent
 
IvorySerpent said:
Our female took all of 3 days to lay her very first clutch, but when it came time to lay her second one....whoooo boy!! she paced for almost 2 weeks and dug for a week longer....finally laid one egg near the entrance of the tunnel and finally 3 days after that, laid the rest of the clutch (49 eggs). The whole second clutch was non-viable, but her first clutch (46 eggs minus one "bad" one) are all doing great and incubating. Needless to say I was going NUTS waiting for her to drop the second clutch, I was frantic. All is well with her.....her weight is back to normal and she certainly eats & drinks with gusto, so I will be wary for any future clutches.

IvorySerpent

Ivory, did you diagnose the problem? If you used the same methods for laying as you did the first time, it would seem that the problem was health related. I'd be interesting in hearing more on the problem you had and why you think it happened. Always important to be prepared for the worst.
 
Back
Top Bottom