Will too many eggs decrease her lifespan?

[icekap]

Helga is approx. 1 yr old and she is a healthy and active veiled cham. We have loved watching her shed, "hunt" and climb her way into our hearts and we want her to be around for as long as possible. After her first clutch in Oct '12 ( 26 infertile eggs) we lowered her cage temp. to 75-80 degrees. ( mid cage to "basking" area) We also decreased her cricket feeders from 6 med sized to 4 each day. Now the issue is, the more I decrease her live feeders the more she eats the umbrella plant that is in her cage. I have had to replace the plant 2 more times in the past 9 months because she has stripped the leaves so much. Her second clutch just a few weeks ago ( 4 months after her first clutch) contained 38 infertile eggs ! Is this healthy for her and how long will she live at this rate? When she sees me open the cage for food or water she turns a pretty bright green and races to me, other than that she is a duller green. The vet says it's fine because she looks and is healthy and if her body couldn't handle it then she wouldn't produce eggs. I'm not sure I agree. I don't want to "starve" her ( she'll just eat more plants) I also don't want to shorten her lifespan. How many eggs are too many?

 

[Lathelia]

Hi, I don't know much about egg production, but I don't think you are starving her. I feed my female (panther) 2-3 feeders everyday. Veileds eat fruits and veggies, I believe it should be around 30% of their diet. Do you offer anything besides crickets? She will definately benefit from other feeders. You can check out this blog for great info about feeders and gutloading: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/

 

[jannb]

I keep veileds and my females are always starving even when I use to over feed them. I do offer fruits and veggies to my veileds along with feeders. You might find my blog linked below helpful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

This is how our senior member Lynda recommends you keep a female veiled.
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html?m=1

 

[icekap]

Thank you. So 4 months between clutches is OK ? I gutload the crickets with a store bought cricket dry mix and a large variety of fresh fruits & veggies. Crickets & wax worms(treats) are always dusted with calcium w/out D. (Once a week w/D and vitamins.) I have never given Helga fresh veggies/fruits directly.

 

[jannb]

Thank you. So 4 months between clutches is OK ? I gutload the crickets with a store bought cricket dry mix and a large variety of fresh fruits & veggies. Crickets & wax worms(treats) are always dusted with calcium w/out D. (Once a week w/D and vitamins.) I have never given Helga fresh veggies/fruits directly.

I don't recommend wax worms at all....way to much fat for her. I do recommend a large variety of feeders. You should try some dubia and for treats use silkworms, hornworms and super worms. Also try giving her some small slivers of fruit and veggies. I would also recommend a good dry gut load such as Cricket Crack. Every four months is ALLOT of clutches.

 

[icekap]

oops they are mealworms not wax worms. What kinds of fruits/veggies will a veiled cham eat? And, how does she eat them? When you say "slivers" do you mean thin paper slices or just small bites?