For over 20 years now I've been telling people how to stop reproduction in veiled chameleons completely or lower the number of eggs they produce and it seems it's still not being understood by a lot of people....so I will try one more time. Zephalia has it figured out.
If the female is overfed constantly from the time she is young and it continues when she is sexually mature, she will produce a large clutch of eggs whether she was mated or not. The idea is to feed young ones enough that they grow well without becoming fat and as they reach sexual maturity to make sure you don't overfeed them...just maintain them. Feed them enough to maintain their health but no more. I lower the basking temperature a degree or two to slow their metabolism too... just a bit so they should be less hungry.
If you didn't do this and have constantly overfed her then she will produce a large clutch (and Orangejuice yours is producing a large clutch). which means she needs a lot of nutrients to produce the eggs without draining her own body now. When you mated her and she's became gravid from mating it made it so she needs even more nutrition to support her own body and the eggs that she is producing than she would have if the eggs were infertile. Now that this is the situation you have no choice but to move forward and hope she gets through it. She still should not be overfed at this time...but it's hard now to know what is too much.
Once she lays the eggs I recommend feeding her well for a couple of days and then cutting her back to a maintenance diet in the hopes that the next clutch will be smaller. However you have the additional problem because that next clutch will likely be fertile too...and you will have to keep her fed again well enough to provide enough nutrients without overfeeding her constantly while she produces that next clutch.
Also...I have never put perlite in my egglaying container....just washed playsand.
Another bit of information...don't disturb her when she's digging and don't let her see you watching her while she's digging or you will just compound the problems. Once she starts digging, don't disturb her to take her outside even if she isn't digging at the time you decide to take her out.
Good luck! I hope it all goes well.
If the female is overfed constantly from the time she is young and it continues when she is sexually mature, she will produce a large clutch of eggs whether she was mated or not. The idea is to feed young ones enough that they grow well without becoming fat and as they reach sexual maturity to make sure you don't overfeed them...just maintain them. Feed them enough to maintain their health but no more. I lower the basking temperature a degree or two to slow their metabolism too... just a bit so they should be less hungry.
If you didn't do this and have constantly overfed her then she will produce a large clutch (and Orangejuice yours is producing a large clutch). which means she needs a lot of nutrients to produce the eggs without draining her own body now. When you mated her and she's became gravid from mating it made it so she needs even more nutrition to support her own body and the eggs that she is producing than she would have if the eggs were infertile. Now that this is the situation you have no choice but to move forward and hope she gets through it. She still should not be overfed at this time...but it's hard now to know what is too much.
Once she lays the eggs I recommend feeding her well for a couple of days and then cutting her back to a maintenance diet in the hopes that the next clutch will be smaller. However you have the additional problem because that next clutch will likely be fertile too...and you will have to keep her fed again well enough to provide enough nutrients without overfeeding her constantly while she produces that next clutch.
Also...I have never put perlite in my egglaying container....just washed playsand.
Another bit of information...don't disturb her when she's digging and don't let her see you watching her while she's digging or you will just compound the problems. Once she starts digging, don't disturb her to take her outside even if she isn't digging at the time you decide to take her out.
Good luck! I hope it all goes well.
