Year Old Female Veiled, Not Sure If Eggs have been Laid

[GlennFrog]

My girl Rinoa is about a year old now; I got her as a young girl for Christmas last year. She's been doing well, and some weeks ago she put on her big girl colors: the turquoises and mustard yellows of a receptive female. Then she got a bit darker for a while. She looked a little round around the haunches so I put in a laying bin of moist play sand and started covering the cage when I'm home to give her privacy. The thing is: how do I know when/if she's laid eggs? I know they like to bury them well and there may be a small area that I could possibly interpret as a hole that has been covered, but I didn't actually see any digging, or any attention paid to the sand bin at all really. It's a big plastic tree bucket that takes up most of the bottom of the cage, so I know it isn't too small, I just don't want to disturb her environment too much. Would she get mad if I took it out and dug around? I'm really curious but I'm not sure what the proper etiquette is here. Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

[jannb]

She will look much thinner after she lays the eggs. She will also have sand on her and my girls are usually kind of weak. How deep is the laying bin? I recommend 10 to 12 inches. Here's a few blogs you might find helpful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/entry/egg-laying-and-the-laying-bin.345/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/

 

[GlennFrog]

The bin is about 11.5" deep and around 10" in diameter. I thought she looked thinner one day but that was a couple weeks ago. Would she possibly lay that quickly? In know it's not an exact science with the growth of eggs and receptivity and all that. Should I check for eggs? Like I said, I don't want to disturb her environment unnecessarily. Reading one of the links you provided, about female veileds specifically, is it safe for them to never cycle? It just seems strange. Thanks for the help.

 

[jajeanpierre]

The bin is about 11.5" deep and around 10" in diameter. I thought she looked thinner one day but that was a couple weeks ago. Would she possibly lay that quickly? In know it's not an exact science with the growth of eggs and receptivity and all that. Should I check for eggs? Like I said, I don't want to disturb her environment unnecessarily. Reading one of the links you provided, about female veileds specifically, is it safe for them to never cycle? It just seems strange. Thanks for the help.

Yes, check for eggs. They can pack down the dirt very firmly sp you might not be able to tell she has dug a hole. Sometimes I find it hard to tell if they've laid or not, even when they lay large clutches. They can stay quite big and there are often what look like outlines of eggs but when you gently palpate, it is only fluid. Take out the laying bin and go through it. Don't underestimate how hard they can pack it down over the eggs. I sprinkle some pine pellets (horse bedding from a feed store--it makes fantastic cat litter, better than any commercial litter and is really cheap) on the bottom. When she digs, I can see where the surface is disturbed against the dark coco fiber underneath.