URGENT, Female veiled laying?

Nicodemayo

Avid Member
Well my female is now 25 days gravid and shes stopped eating and had been wondering around the cage like crazy lately and walking around in her sand bucket. I dug some test holes and i have a webcam in the sand box because i dont want to peek in unless absolutely necessary. Well i come home from work today and one of my pre dug holes is filled in and i look at her and shes still fat as can be so i start freaking. I dig around all over the place and not an egg to be found. Will females fill in pre dug holes if theyre not happy with them?! I flattened the sand out and dug another hole and like 30 min later i watched her fill it back in on the camera and then climb back up haha. I decided just to leave her alone and left to run some errands. When i came back, the camera lense was covered with sand (the camera is down in the box looking ground level with the sand) so i know shes done some more digging around. This is the 2nd full day she hasnt eaten anything so im guessing she laid. Will females lay at night sometimes? PLEASE RESPOND me being a first timer im nervous as hell! Ive read around but havnt seen anything about this! Thanks!
 
Unless the hole is filled in as the result of her digging another one near it...no, in my experience they won't fill a test hole in.

The only time I have seen or heard of a chameleon filling in the hole without having laid the eggs is if the chameleon is eggbound.

I would love to be proven wrong by hearing that she actually laid the eggs.

Veileds often lay the eggs in the late evening or early night.
 
My female laid her last 3 clutches overnight, filling them in by the time I woke up.

Nothing you can do aside from waiting and keeping her hydrated. How's her body condition? Is her tail still looking good, or is she thinning out? It's normal for a female with a good sized clutch to lose weight. Some females take longer to finish their testing process.
 
She still looks perfect. The eggs are buldging out everywhere. QUESTION. Shes been digging around all morning and during her digging she covered up the camera again but im afraid to peek in there now. When would be a good time to look at her to see if she laid? Its been pretty quiet in there cause i can hear her when she digs but i will occasionally hear one or 2 noises from down there.
 
I bearly peeled back the cover around her cage and shes in a corner digging. Shes been there for about 2 hours now digging in the same spot cause i could hear her. She didnt see me because she was face first in the hole. I hope she lays down there! Shes still looking very green and normal despite being covered in moist sand.
 
That's good.
She should be green (no specific color for this event)
It took Agnes about 9 hours to dig her burrow, so I think your girl is still early in the process.
Try to leave her alone, this will most likely stretch into tomorrow.

-Brad
 
Thats good to know Brad. Once females start digging in one spot for an extended period of time, is this usually where they'll lay (unless disturbed)?
 
Yes ...
She is a victim of the cruelty of Mother Nature now.
Big Fat Sack-O-Marbles, forced to excavate a long tunnel, drop her eggs and refill it.
She will be tired and dirty tomorrow.
Take good care of her.

-Brad
 
Thats good to know. Thanks Brad for the responses and the help youve been. One other question, the lights are set to go off at 8pm est, should i leave them on and wait until she is done?

edit- also i forgot to note that both of her eyes appear clear this morning, when i peeked in shes looked up with me and i saw both her pupils. Her digging isn't doing much but maybe with time.
 
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Nah, they can go off. She'll spend hours underground anyway and the lights won't do her any good.
 
UPDATE. She was digging the hole until about 6 oclock and started laying. I ended up leaving the lights on and she is filling the hole as we speak. She moved the sand away from the front of the lense amazingly it was pointing right down into the hole and it is mounding with eggs. Im going to wait until shes done and im going to take her out and put her in the shower. I saw one of her eyes on the camera and she has sand in one so i need to address that immediately.
 
well i dont know if its just fine yet. Shes not quite done. Also i peeled back the cover a bit to take a good look at her and she has sand all over BOTH of her eyes. She looks like shes just aimlessly pushing on sand cause i really don't think she can see. I just hope she laid all of them!
 
We have one girl who likes to get the surface of the dirt looking smooth as a putting green before she's done. She seems to take almost as long to cover and smooth as she does to dig and lay. You may wish to give her eyes some extra attention for a few days, with some light, directed misting, til she gets all the sand worked out of them. She may not get it all out in that initial shower.

Congratulations! Let us know how many, and how Mama is when she's done.
 
Would it be a bad idea for it to 'rain' about now while she digs? might help get the sand out of her eyes.:confused: I know it is late in the day.... but could he help?
 
I was thinking that too summoner. The lights are still on (they normally go aff at 8) and i looked at her and shes bearly digging around. Shes REALLY skinny which is good and her eyes appear to be caked with sand and im pretty worried about that. I dont want to take her out but at the pace shes going she'll take FOREVER. Should i just turn the lights out and let her do her thing?
 
I snapped a pic real quick and she looks like shes having a really hard time. The moist sand is stuck all over her and all caked in and around here eyes it seems. Im really contemplating taking her out but i wanna see what yall think. She cant even see to dig correctly. Each stroke to bury the eggs is doing hardly anything.


 
i know i just posted but my gut instinct is telling me to turn the lights off and let her do her thing. I have to be at work at 8am tomorrow so im waking up at 6 to turn on the lights and check on her and clean her up. The eggs will be fine im sure.
 
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