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I have a 6 month old veiled female that has been doing great all her life and then the other day My male veiled died due to a long sickness. She is now not wanting to eat and is staying at the bottom of her 4 ft. cage, I dont know if she is falling or if the is going down there. Her colors are staying very dark. She is drinking plenty of water from her dripper. Does anyone know what is wrong? Is this some kind of depression due to her friends death?

Female Veileds and Panthers reach sexual maturity at about 6 months of age. This might mean that she's ready to lay some eggs (even if the eggs are not fertilized). I'm not an expert with female veiled in regards to egg laying, but you have to put her in a deep bucket of wet sand (not soupy wet, but wet enough so that she can dig tunnels to lay the eggs). It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you do this as soon as possible or else your girl can die of a condition I think is called egg bound. That would explain why she is roaming the bottom of the cage. There are numerous pages that give you really specific procedures of how to go about getting her to lay the eggs. I have to run or else I'd be able to give you some more info. Sorry

You said..."My male veiled died due to a long sickness"...were
you keeping them together even while he was sick? (Veiled
chameleons should not be kept in pairs anyhow, IMO.) Could you
describe the sickness, please? If you were keeping the two in the
same cage depending on what the sickness was, don't you think its
possible that the female could have the same thing?

If she's not sick with the same thing then it could be that she
is looking for a place to lay eggs. If you had them together in
the same cage then its quite possible that they could be fertile
depending on the male's age. I never breed my veiled female
chameleons until they are over a year of age. I've always felt
that there is no need in captivity to put more calcium demands
on a female by making her make eggs when she isn't done her own
growth. Once they are 4 months of age, I also always provide a
place in the cage at all times for every female egglaying
chameleon that I own to lay eggs. If they don't have a place
to lay their eggs, its quite possible that they could die
eggbound.

Here's some information that I just posted about egglaying in
female veileds in case that is what she is up to...
http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=826487,826938

You said..."Her colors are staying very dark...that could be
indicating non-receptiveness. You said..."She is drinking plenty
of water from her dripper"...this could be another hint that
she is carrying eggs.

Perhaps you would also like to describe your husbandry techniques
in case there is a problem with them?

If you have any other questions, please ask!

The male was her brother and they have been with each other since birth. The disease he had i am not sure of, I think it was some sort of bone disease is what the vet said but she didnt sound to sure about that herself. THe males' tail had like rotted off and his foot swelled up and turned a dark color. I looked at her today and noticed her tail looked somewhat like his did when it first started to rot. I dont know what is wrong with what I am doing. But, back to the point, I need to know if she is ready to lay eggs for sure. I will put a bucket with sand in there tonight. And by the way tonight is the second night in a role that she has not ate. Is this a normal symtom for a impregnated chameleon? And lastly will potting soil work insted of sand?

I would expect that it was metabolic bone disease that you are
referring to when you say some sort of bone disease.
That's usually caused by imbalances in the diet or lack of
proper lighting or could even be that your chameleon's mother
received improper care, but can have other causes too.

As for the tail, it could have been an infection of some kind
but there could be other things that cause it too. (I'm not a vet
and what I'm telling you are only possibilities. The only way to
know for sure what it was would have been for a vet to see it.)

Regarding the foot...it should have been looked at by a vet and
necessary cultures and/or blood work done to determine the cause.
Whenever a chameleon has an infection in the foot, IMHO, it is
necessary to have the pus removed and cultured to determine what
bacteria is causing the problem so that the proper medication can
be given. If the pus isn't removed, the infection, in my
experience will not go away simply by giving the chameleon
antibiotics.

Since your female is exhibiting some of the tail symptoms, I
would get her to the vet's ASAP....before you end up with another
dead chameleon.

You said..."I dont know what is wrong with what I am doing"...
regarding the foot and the tails it might not be that you did
anything wrong....but since there is a possibility of MBD (bone
disease) I would check your husbandry methods...just to make sure
that there isn't anything that needs improvement. (Lighting,
gutloading the insects, supplementing the insects, hydration,
temperatures, etc.) Does the female exhibit any symptoms of bone
problems? (Bump above the elbow that looks like an "extra" elbow.
crooked back legs, soft (flexible)bones in the casque or jaw,
inability to hold herself up off of the branches, for instance?)

You said..."I need to know if she is ready to lay eggs for sure"..
I can't give you a certain answer for that. Sorry.
If you aren't too late (if she isn't already eggbound), putting
a container of sand in with her may tell you the answer to that.
If she starts digging in it, then you will have your answer.

Not eating is often a "symptom" of impending egglaying, but many
stop eating. If she has an infection she might not feel like
eating either.

Potting soil will likely work...but I wouldn't use it if it
contains any fertilizers, etc. For many years now, I have used
sand just because I haven't had any problems with it....but there
are lots of others who use other things for the females to lay
their eggs in. (Things like vermiculite that can cause impactions
I would stay away from though.)

Hope everything works out for your female!

Keep me posted and if you have any other questions, just ask.