URGENT: My veiled has layed SOME but not all of her clutch!!

goldilocksadw70

New Member
Wasn't sure if I should post this here or the health clinic. Basically, she's laid 13 eggs and visibly has more. She laid them yesterday and stopped. I put her in washed play sand in a smaller terrarium so we could better control the temp and humidity. She was showing signs of dehydration yesterday. I have been misting her and using a fogger about 3 times an hour.

She's sleeping a lot off and on. We massaged her area around the vent to 'try' and stimulate contractions which obviously worked because she laid the 13. I have been cupping her in my hands this morning so that she can soak in some warm water.

I'm at a loss right now as to what to do. I have the vet calling me back today, but because of her fragile state I told the office I don't want to subject her to an hour car ride, etc. Someone please help!!
 
You need to put the chameleon in a laying bin and ***leave it alone*** don’t look at it, don’t sing to it, no massages, no hot meal, nothing… If they don’t have enough alone time to dig the hole and lay the eggs then they may bind and die. This may take an hour to several days.

Also… Leave it alone. No peaking.
 
but because of her fragile state I told the office I don't want to subject her to an hour car ride, etc. Someone please help!!

It would have been best to have left her alone. Hind sight is twenty twenty
I can't see how a one hour car ride could possibly add to the stress she has already been subjected to. A vet will have meds to induce labor with the remaining eggs, and maybe save her if egg bound.
 
What about heat and humidity though? I have 2 laying bins and the sand doesn't seem to stay warm. In my experience with my bearded dragons when they lay, it HAS to be a certain temperature or they aren't going to move.
 
It would have been best to have left her alone. Hind sight is twenty twenty
I can't see how a one hour car ride could possibly add to the stress she has already been subjected to. A vet will have meds to induce labor with the remaining eggs, and maybe save her if egg bound.


Thanks. I have no problem taking her, I just thought because they shouldn't be disturbed while laying, it would be bad to take her right now.
 
How deep was the sand in the container you put her in? Did she dig?

Thanks for replying. It's 12 inches of washed play sand. She's dug one hole, stayed at the top, covered the few she laid and off and on for the last 24 hours, she has ended up sleeping on different parts of the sand not really doing anything more. This is her first clutch and I do know they are fertile.
 
So...she dug the hole and then after you massaged her she laid the eggs in the hole and filled the hole in?
 
Just trying to get the series of events straight. It can give indications of what's going on.

Why did you massage her in the first place? Was she mated? If so, when? Was the bin in there all the way along or did you just put it in recently?

I don't like that she is not behaving the way she should after laying eggs (eating, drinking and sitting back up in the branches, etc.) She's having some kind of problem...could be eggbinding. An xray at the vets would show if there are still eggs that need to be laid...and the vet could give her a shot of oxytocin if there are eggs left. It won't work if you wait too long...and I'm afraid she could go down hill rapidly from what you are saying about her behavior now.
 
Just trying to get the series of events straight. It can give indications of what's going on.

Why did you massage her in the first place? Was she mated? If so, when? Was the bin in there all the way along or did you just put it in recently?

I don't like that she is not behaving the way she should after laying eggs (eating, drinking and sitting back up in the branches, etc.) She's having some kind of problem...could be eggbinding. An xray at the vets would show if there are still eggs that need to be laid...and the vet could give her a shot of oxytocin if there are eggs left. It won't work if you wait too long...and I'm afraid she could go down hill rapidly from what you are saying about her behavior now.

The massage was at the recommendation of an exotic vet tech friend I have, she consulted with the vet (The 2 vets I have available were impossible to get a hold of) and we were told exactly how to do it to stimulate contractions. Within a couple hours, she laid.

She was mated about 5 weeks ago. She had an area to lay in her cage, she dug around and we moved her to where she is currently at. Oh no, she's drinking and 'has' climbed around on the branches to sleep, but to me, she's really small and was (full) of eggs. Clearly, she's gotten some relief, but as I've read, this can go on for 2 days or so.

Right now, she seems to be thriving still and is alert but looks uncomfortable. She's been used to my being around her and I have checked on her at least once an hour to make sure she's ok. I'm still waiting for the local exotic vet to call me back about this and if he wants us to come in, we will. The next step would be to do the oxytocin, and hopefully it will work because the step after that is surgery for removal/spay. At this point, I'm more concerned about her health than any of the eggs being okay.
 
I understand you're being more interested in the chameleon's health than the eggs...I am too. Hope you will be able to get her to the vet in the next few hours and get her looked after. As you said, the next step if the eggs can't be laid is surgery.
 
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