Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had a female who laid 21 eggs on Sunday. I don't think she's quite done yet.
I'm including a picture of the eggs.
I'll also include a picture of the female.

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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Here's a picture of the female. I think she still has more eggs to lay.

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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

If she goes more than a day without laying those eggs, you may have a problem. Well, you WILL have a problem, but you may have a really big one.
If she can't get the eggs out, there's a few possibilities: She eggbound. This can be caused by egg binding, low calcium/poor nutrition, low temps, etc. eggs are stuck together, and cannot come out. OR, a blockage. The intestines blocking the eggs. This happens most often with first time egg layers, especially very young ones. This is usually the case when SOME eggs are laid.
Another possibility is that she was disturbed, and or needed to get some water. did you mess with her while she was laying? Put her back in the hole and see what she does.

How old is she?
How old was she when she mated?
Is this her first clutch?
has she had any Calcium problems?

>>If she goes more than a day without laying those eggs, you may have a problem. Well, you WILL have a problem, but you may have a really big one.
>>If she can't get the eggs out, there's a few possibilities: She eggbound. This can be caused by egg binding, low calcium/poor nutrition, low temps, etc. eggs are stuck together, and cannot come out. OR, a blockage. The intestines blocking the eggs. This happens most often with first time egg layers, especially very young ones. This is usually the case when SOME eggs are laid.
>>Another possibility is that she was disturbed, and or needed to get some water. did you mess with her while she was laying? Put her back in the hole and see what she does.
When I received her, I kept her in my garage at a constant 85 degrees. She laid 23 eggs altogether. Being that this was her first clutch, I was expecting a smaller than normal clutch. However, even though she was done, she still looks large, and has some gravid coloration. She covered the hole she dug out and went up into the branches..
>>How old is she?
She's 12 months old
>>How old was she when she mated?
12 months
>>Is this her first clutch?
yes
>>has she had any Calcium problems?
none that I'm aware of. No obvious signs of MBD, previous owner gave plenty of natural sunlight and good variety of insects and leafy greens, no spinach
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

twelve months is usually fine, unless she was abnormally small. From what you described, it seems that there is a blockage. ESPECIALLY if she covered it up. That's USUALLY a sign that they're done. The two times I had the thing happen to my femlaes, they were on the small size, and were about 10 months old when mated. Both times surgery was needed. It's not easy to say " she needs to go to the vet to get the eggs removed, or she and all the eggs still inside, are lost, and it's going to cost you upwards of $200"
What I CAN tell you is that unless she DOES go down and lays the eggs within the next 2 days, she will die. Any longer than that and you can be sure she's blocked up, and surgery's the only choice. I have never heard of a female in the situation of yours to respond to drugs. In all cases I know of, there was a blockage or egg binding. The only hope is to hydrate and feed her, put her back in the hole, and hope. After 2 days, they start to decline,a nd the eggs degrade.
Eric a

>>twelve months is usually fine, unless she was abnormally small. From what you described, it seems that there is a blockage. ESPECIALLY if she covered it up. That's USUALLY a sign that they're done. The two times I had the thing happen to my femlaes, they were on the small size, and were about 10 months old when mated. Both times surgery was needed. It's not easy to say " she needs to go to the vet to get the eggs removed, or she and all the eggs still inside, are lost, and it's going to cost you upwards of $200"
>>What I CAN tell you is that unless she DOES go down and lays the eggs within the next 2 days, she will die. Any longer than that and you can be sure she's blocked up, and surgery's the only choice. I have never heard of a female in the situation of yours to respond to drugs. In all cases I know of, there was a blockage or egg binding. The only hope is to hydrate and feed her, put her back in the hole, and hope. After 2 days, they start to decline,a nd the eggs degrade.
>>Eric a

I took her to my vet, just to be on the safe side yesterday. This is what he said:
Although not common, it's not unusual for a veiled chameleon to lay eggs in batches. She had 23 eggs, which is somewhat expected for a veiled's first clutch. Yes, she has more eggs, but she'll lay them when she gets around to it. Give her some extra calcium to help with her muscle contractions (and prevent egg binding) and some electolytes (sp). Other than that, she's perfectly healthy, nothing to worry about.
No, she's not egg bound.
No, she's in no danger.
This situation isn't too common, but it's not unusual, either.
Thanks for your concern, Eric. At the very least, you did remind me of a very valid point: unless you can say with 100% certainty that everything is fine, it's a good idea to take your chameleon to the vet at the first sign of anything unusual.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

I have been "out of the loop" for several years, and in that time, veilds have dropped in price by about $50 due to so much breeding. It could be possible that he's seen something I have never heard of, but it seems strange. Like I said, I have never heard of this. If she decides to lay them, then that's great, very interesting, and something I haven't seen.
However, if everything is NOT allright, you will see her start to decline soon. Make sure a laying site is available for her, and keep me updated, I NEED to know if she lays again. This could be really interesting.

I'll post as soon as she starts laying again.
This was news to me as well. I always thought veileds laid all their eggs at once. However, I will have to trust my vet on this one.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Mine just laid 50 eggs, which scares me, and she didn't look half as big as your girl did! WoW!