Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Green Cherry has developed her mating colours and I would like to breed her, but if I can't I would like to know what I can do so she doesn't become eggbound and die. I have heard that it happens alot with captive females that are not bred soon enough. I don't know what I can do. Some one please msg me if you have any suggestions as to what I could do for prevention of eggboundness. She is she is 7-8mths old now.

The "story" about a female veiled becoming eggbound if not mated/bred soon enough is just that. I have veiled females right now that are 4 years old that have never been bred, never produced eggs and (obviously) have not died eggbound. I have had quite a few over the years that have not been bred and laid several clutches of (infertile, of course) eggs that have not died eggbound. I have learned to control their diet and temperatures so that they don't produce eggs now unless I "allow" them too.

Egg binding is usually the result of poor husbandry (incorrect temperatures, incorrect supplementation, using insects that are not gutloaded properly, etc.), overfeeding so that they produce extra large clutches, or from physical problems such as eggs that are misformed or fused, reproductive tract deformities, or eggs that have become too large to lay from disturbing the female when she is digging or failure to provide her with a suitable place to lay the eggs.

You said..."She is she is 7-8mths old now"...I never breed my females until they are over 1 year of age or full grown because I don't like to put demands on their system to produce fertile eggs until they have stopped making their own bones.

Do you have a suitable place in her cage now for her to dig? I always keep an egglaying site in the cages of all egglaying females once they are a few months old.b

The control of her diet involves not overfeeding her but not starving her. Its a little like a cheetah or lion producing a large litter in years where there is lots of food, etc. compared to a lion or cheetah that produces few or no babies in the lean/famine years.

I keep the females a little cooler than the males (just a couple of degrees) because it slows their rate of digestion down enough that they don't need quite so much to eat. It takes practice to get it right...so be careful until you figure it out.

Hope this helps!

thank you for the information. It will help alot. I was hoping she would survive. I've bocome very attached to her. My children love her alot too, and she's become very well known to the neighbors and the neighborhood kids. She eats very well, crickets and lettuce leaves 5-6 days a week, she would eat 20 crickets/day if I let her. She darts across her tank when she see's a large one. I didn't know chameleon's could move that fast. We use a basking light as well as a full-spectrum day light that we leave on for the hours the sun is up. I spray her and the whole tank 3-4 times/week with bottled water in a spray bottle. She will drink directly from the spray tip. I dust her crickets 2 time a week with calcium. On a nice day we take her outside for the fresh air and let her roam in the yard. She seems scared at first but calms after 2min or so.
I read in a book that after a female chameleon gets her colors she will produce eggs and if not bred she will become egg-bound. It is a great relief to know that she will be ok, and I should be able to enjoy her for a long time yet. I'm going to stop reading up on general info, and come here more often for my information needs.
Thank you for your time, Gillian

You're welcome for the information!

Sounds like you and the neighborhood are enjoying your chameleon!

You said...."She eats very well, crickets and lettuce leaves 5-6 days a week"...(Head) lettuce is not a very good thing to feed her. Romaine is just slightly better. It would be better to use sweet red pepper, squash, sweet potato, zucchini, dandelion greens, endive, apple, pear, melon, berries, etc.

You said..."she would eat 20 crickets/day if I let her. She darts across her tank when she see's a large one"...that's a female veiled for you....a bottomless pit.

You said..."We use a basking light as well as a full-spectrum day light that we leave on for the hours the sun is up"...full spectrum with UVB is what you should use. Some bulbs that say they are full spectrum mean the full range of visible light, but its the UVB that allows vitamin D3 to be produced and thus the calcium to be used. The light should not pass through plastic or glass. My chameleons get no/very little sunlight, so I lightly dust the insects with a calcium powder (the kind with no phosphorous in it) several times a week and I dust twice a week with a vitamin/mineral powder, and twice a month with a calcium/D3 powder. I make sure that I gutload the insects well too. Vitamin D3 and vitamin A (if it comes from a preformed source) can build up in the system when they come from supplements. Beta carotene sources of vitamin A can not build up nor can D3 that is produced from exposure to the sun or UVB light.
I mist my chameleons every day making sure that they drink when I do.

You said..."I read in a book that after a female chameleon gets her colors she will produce eggs and if not bred she will become egg-bound"...I read that just about the time that my first female veiled was sexually mature and decided not to believe it and prayed that I made the right choice. It was such a worry until I figured out that it was wrong.

You said...." I'm going to stop reading up on general info, and come here more often for my information needs"...here are some sites with good information that I would suggest you read...
http://adcham.com/
http://adcham.com/html/husbandry/gutload.html
http://www.chameleonnews.com/http://www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/
Hope you don't feel too swamped by all of this!

I hope that your chameleon will do well for you for a long time to come!

Hi
Just wanted to confirm that you dont have to be worried about breeding her. I have several females, most of which I do not breed. I've never had issues.
I notice you feed yours crickets, which is fine - but I recommend you give her other options as well. They get bored of eating the same thing over and over. Adding different feeder insects not only adds interest, it allows for varied nutrients.

S

Thank you for all your helpful info.
I would just like to say that I don't just feed her crickets and lettuce. By lettuce I meant my home-grown baby romaine and other mixed greens that I grow indoors for her. I also will pick dandelion flowers that she will devour, the kids love to help. I use calcium dust on most of her crickets, but I also feed her meal-worms, wax-worms, fruit flies and some times she may eat some baby food(different fruits). She gets alot of natural sunlight, when the weather permits, but she is in a spot where the sun can shine on her when it's sunny out. I tried not to go into great detail about her diet just so I could try to focus on her 'sexuality'information, but thankyou very much for your help and information. Green-Cherry thanks you also.
DTC

You said..."she is in a spot where the sun can shine on her when it's sunny out"...is it direct or through glass? Glass makes the UVB no good.

Good luck with her!