Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Our Veiled is about 11 months old at the moment. She has never been bred or gravid before, but now we think she might be. She has been hanging out at the bottom of the cage alot, and has gotten some brown stripes on her body recently. Two days ago, I went in to mist her, and she was on the bottom kind of squatting in the corner. As soon as she saw me she went tearing up to the top. Not sure if I interupted her or not, but I wasn't able to find any eggs. She hasn't eaten anything in about 4 days or so. But different food has been offered to her thru all this. Her setup has not changed at all, still same temps, humidity, everything. I posted pics a while ago, so they are probably on the second page if you need to see them. I will post some of her later today, if I have a chance. Her belly definitely looks larger than normal. I guess i'm just looking for any kind of advice or tips to do thru all this. She has a huge amount of room to lay in. It's pretty much the entire floor, which is 3'x2', and lots of cover. Sorry about the long post, just wanted to include everything. THanks in advance for any info.

Kevin

You said that she has lots of space (pretty much the
whole floor of the cage)to lay in. Is it just a bare floor?
They need a proper place to lay the eggs in. If you don't provide
it she could become eggbound and die. I usually keep a container
large enough for the chameleon to fit into with space to spare
all around her and above her too when the container is empty.
I'm telling you this so you can know that your container is big
enough. I fill the container about 2/3 full of moist washed
playsand. The female will usually go there when she is ready to
lay the eggs. Some will lay the eggs in a container that small...
but generally I move them to a 65 litre storage bin that I have
filled about half full with the same kind of sand. I modify the
lid (cut a large hole out and glue screen over it) so that I can
have lights over the cage and she can't escape when the lid is
back on. I add a couple of branches so that she has somewhere to
stand.

Whether the eggs are fertile or not, she should dig a hole (she
may dig more than one and it may take her several days/tries),
turn around with her bum in the hole and lay her eggs, and bury
them. If she does anything differently than this you might want
to post about it.

During the time she is digging the hole, she should not see you
watching her or she may abandon the hole and if she abandons a
hole too often she could become eggbound. (She will feel that the
hole is not a safe place to lay her eggs if she sees that she
is being watched.) There only seems to be so much time before
they reach a point where they can't lay the eggs.

If you have more questions, just ask.
Good luck with her!

Hey, thanks for all the tips and info. By the whole floor, I meant that it is all covered with organic soil in a very large rubbermaid container. And then the plants grow and live out of that. So she definitely has ample room to dig, and it is definitely deep enough for her as well. I will keep a close eye on her over the next little while, and see if anything changes or develops. Thanks so far.

Kevin

Kevin - just curious - why do you have soil in a container? Just to grow your plants? Sounds OK for a permanent nesting site but organic or not, soil can eventually harbor bacteria, fungi and other air borne substances than can threaten your cham's health. She must poop in the soil and unless you clean it thoroughly there will be some left. Also, feeders can hide in it. Or am I missing something? Please don't take this as a judgement. I recognize your name from the forum so I know you have been here and have probably been aware of the many threads on this topic (substrate, etc.)

As for being gravid heed what kinyonga wrote and check out the article at chameleonnews.com on nesting site.
Link

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0.1 Veiled - Luna
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

Chameleon Help & Resource Info

not sure what I did - I emant to link you to this article
nesting site

-----
0.1 Veiled - Luna
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

Chameleon Help & Resource Info

I never use a substrate in chameleon cages (with the exception
of some of the ground/close to ground dwelling ones like
R. brevicaudatus). I use a type of washed playsand in the
egglaying containers that is from King's (with sand box toys
in bright red, blue and yellow on the packaging) that I have
found to pass through chameleons without causing intestinal
blockages when ingested. (I found this out when one of my female
veileds repeatedly ate the sand when gravid.)This sand has never
caused infections in any of the chameleons eyes or mouths that
some soils/dirts/sands that I used to use did when the female
got them in her mouth or eyes while digging her hole.

I use this same sand to cover the soil in any potted plants I put
in their cages. Chameleons have been known to eat dirt....and I
don't want to risk impaction by them eating any type of
soil/dirt that might not pass through them. You can also use
pebbles/small stones that are too big to ingest to cover the soil
in the container where the plants are planted.

I know that using a substrate makes the cage look better to us...
so its very tempting to use one, but in the interest of how
long/well my chameleons live, I would rather do without it!

When you are keeping that close eye on her...don't forget not to
let her see you when she's digging her hole!

Good luck with her!

Hey everyone, thanks alot for all of your input and advice, it is greatly appreciated. As for the whole substrate issue. The reason I am doing it this way, is because a breeder I know has been doing it like this for years. And all of his are in great shape, and live to 7-10 years of age. I thought I would give it a try, and see how she likes it. So far all has been good, with exception being to what's going on now with her. I will definitely keep all your advice in mind though, and if signs of trouble arise, I will be switching to a more "traditional" set-up. Thanks again everyone, and I will keep you informed as to how she's doing. I will try and post a pic of the whole set-up as well, so you can see what I am working with.

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Your main concern should be that if she is indeed gravid and is not content with the laying site she will become eggbound and most likely die. I also wonder if by putting her into a separate tub for laying she may feel safer b/c it is away from where she "lives." In nature they probably wander before or after they lay (pure specualtion here, no hard facts - just trying to think like a chmaleon ). For those of us who out a tub right in their cage, it is still a new addition/place to go and is then removed and may take care of the wandering. Just my cham brain at work! lol!

the article I linked you to above (the 2nd one!) explains the setup of a large tub so youmight want to give it a try.

How long has she been in this setup with the substrate?? A photo would be good, too if possible.

lele
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0.1 Veiled - Luna
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

Chameleon Help & Resource Info