Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My gravid graceful chameleon has stopped eating
(She has only eaten 1 cricket this week)
She won't drink much either.
I know this is normal before they lay their eggs, but I am worried b/c her ribs are showing now. I also see the outlines of eggs.

She hasn't started digging.
I have put sand in her cage. I have also tried putting her in a trashcan filled with sand.
All with no luck.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

K

Do you know how long she has been gravid...it will help to estimate a time period about when she is ready to lay. I would keep misting her down and increase the time or amount per day if you feel she is not drinking enough. Use Pedialyte in the dripper if you have one. How is her activity? Usually when they are ready to lay, they will be searching very actively in the cage. Keep a close eye on her...sounds like she is close.
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Experience and appreciate nature's creation.

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I saw the 2 mate April 14th
I saw outlines of eggs June 8th
This is also around the time I noticed her ribs.
I thought it was because her tummy was pulling her skin down, so
i didn't worry too much. Is this normal?
She does go all over the cage. In fact I think she has pulled out 2 of her front claws doing this. They don't look infected. Just seems to make climbing a little hard for her.

I am worried she doesn't like the spot I made for her.
Would you leave her in the cage, or put her in the trashcan with sand?

this is my first cham to lay eggs.
I am worried b/c I have read so much on egg binding.

Thank you so much for the help

Much love,K

Sounds like she is very close...how is your egg laying setup inside the cage? Has she attempted to dig in it? If it's not deep or large enough she might feel like it's not adequate. I would try putting her in the large trash can you have again, make sure there is enough branches/plants and keep misting/have the same lighting/etc. as you would in her normal cage. She might not dig right away but try to keep her in there at least 2-3 days to see what her status is...if she is close by that time she will have been test digging and trying to find the right spot and will lay. This is the safer method that I use just so that I know she has the right egg laying site and am not worried about her "searching" so much in her normal cage. Hope this helps and I'm sure she will be just fine. Take care of yourself and her!
-----
Experience and appreciate nature's creation.

www.zenexotics.com

You said to have lights on her.
Heat light?

The trashcan I am using is a plastic one, does that matter?
I don't want to get her to hot.

Thanks again
you are very kind

UV light is more important than heat right now if your ambient temp in the room that you're keeping her in is in the mid 80s then she should be fine without the heat on the trash can...plus if its plastic it will melt depending on what wattage it is. If you really want to put a heat lamp on there a 40 watt will be fine and won't melt plastic.
-----
Experience and appreciate nature's creation.

www.zenexotics.com

THANK YOU

A few more words of advice...I wouldn't recommend letting her see
you while she is digging the hole. You don't want her to abandon
it because she thinks its not a safe place to lay the eggs.

Whenever I have a chameleon lay eggs, I let her finish burying
them completely and wait for her to go back up into the
branches. I just feel that its better for them to finish....it
completes their role in reproduction.

Also, have you got everything set up for the incubation of the
eggs?