Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need to know some of the signs that a veiled is ready to lay. She stopped eating yesterday and has been under the UV light gapping and swaying all morning.
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1.2 Bearded Dragons (Rocky, Adrian, and Big Foot)
1.3 Leopard Geckos (Cleatis, Kamelle, and Karma)
1.1 Veiled Chameleons (No names yet)
0.1 Ball Python (Venus)
0.1 Argentine Boa (Angel)
0.1 Cat (Star)
1.0 Dog American Eskimo (KoKo)

They usually start spending a lot of time on the ground looking for a place to dig. Gaping and swaying sound more like she's trying to bluff or display to another animal or her reflection. Can she see any other animals or her own reflection in anything near the cage?

She cant see her reflection anywhere near the cage, she is in a screen cage. She also is not eating. I put her in a bucket with 11 inches of wet sand for a few hours last night and she wanted none of it.
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1.2 Bearded Dragons (Rocky, Adrian, and Big Foot)
1.3 Leopard Geckos (Cleatis, Kamelle, and Karma)
1.1 Veiled Chameleons (No names yet)
0.1 Ball Python (Venus)
0.1 Argentine Boa (Angel)
0.1 Cat (Star)
1.0 Dog American Eskimo (KoKo)

If she is not roaming the floor of her cage and pawing at the bottom she is probably not ready. They can be very picky about their laying site and having one either in her cage for a while for her to check out helps. Wet sand won't hold a tunnel and will turn her off. You can also set up a temporary "cage" out of a trash can with a foot of damp mixed soil/sand that you can test by trying to dig a tunnel yourself. If the mix is right it will hold a tunnel. put a potted plant in it, the cham, hang lights over the top, and leave her there until she has laid the clutch. Feed and water as usual. Some females like to dig against a rootwad or a piece of log. The key is not to bother her by moving her around or peeking all the time. There is a really good overview article about cham laying, incubation etc. on www.chameleonnews.com that will give you other good ideas.

Signs that a female is getting ready to lay eggs can include any
or all of the following (and I may have missed some)....she
stops eating, drinks more, paces around on
the bottom of the cage, digs at the bottom of the cage.

Its important to provide a place where a female can start to dig
a hole when she is ready. You said that you put the bucket in her
cage for a few hours....that might not have been long enough for
her to decide to use it. Since its hard to determine exactly
when a female is ready to lay her eggs, I always have a container
of washed playsand in every egglaying female's cage from the
time that she about 5 months old onward. If she doesn't have an
appropriate site she could become eggbound.

I use a container that is big enough that she will fit into it
when its empty with room to spare (just to give you an idea of
how big it should be). Using a container this size gives her a
place to start digging which shows you that she is getting ready
to lay the eggs yet doesn't take up the "whole cage". When she
starts to dig in this container and I feel she is ready (they
can dig more than one hole and for more than one day), I move
her to a 65 liter rubbermaid-type container. To make the
container suitable, I've cut a large hole in the lid of it and
covered the hole with screen so that I can put a light over the
container to keep her warm and provide light. I put a bag of
washed playsand in the bottom and dampen it so that it will
hold a tunnel. I add a branch or two for her to climb on and
put her in and the lid on and lay the light over the screen.

When she is very close, she should be digging holes. Sometimes
she will dig test holes before deciding on the spot that she
wants to lay the eggs. When she is digging a hole, if she sees
you she may abandon it feeling that its not a safe place to lay
them. If she abandons the hole too often she its possible that
she will become eggbound. Once she has
dug the hole to her satisfaction, she will turn around with her
bum in the hole and lay her eggs. When the egglaying is complete,
the hole in and pack the dirt/sand/soil down and when she is
satisfied with it, she will go back up into the branches.

I know I told you more than you asked...but I hope it would
be useful to you.