Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
me female, Sunshine (has neck edema) is now ready for ovodeposition. She is going up and down from the branch to the sand. I can see bulges in her belly very close to the posterior end. Since I am new in all this, can anyone tell me if there is anything I should do?
I know I don't have to bother her, I am not even peeking at her.
What about lights (I have a spotlight -pretty bright- and a compact UVB): shall I turn them off?
Shall I cover her cage for "privacy"? Cage is already 2/3 covered (the cage is in the living room and we are moving around, even if we don't go to the cage).

Also, how long the entire process should take before she actually lays eggs? I eventually will have to check if she did it, I guess.
How can I tell she's done?
Is OK if she is continuosly going from the branches to the sand??
She is now ~ 23 days from mating. Would this be the right time to lay eggs?

Thanks a lot,

Chiara

Hi Chiara,

Looks like you got some answers about your edema, sorry I couldn't get back to your last email, but obviously we have more important things at hand!

How do you have her laying tub set up? The container needs to be at a MINIMUM as deep as she is long (including tail). I personally have found play sand (fine and clean) which you can get Home Depot for a few bucks a bag mixed with coco-fiber works great. Getting the right consistency is crucial so her tunnel does not collapse on her. The sand helps to hold everything together. It should all be moist (not wet) enough so if you stick your finger in that it will not collapse after.

Obviously if she is this close to laying you can't be making a lot of changes so I hope what you have is sufficient. My way is certainly not the only but it what worked for Luna.

Has she dug any starter holes and then abandoned them? Chams vary - Luna would ignore her tub until the moment she was getting to dig and lay. Other r keepers have chams that wander and dig for several days before settling in. However, the abandoning of holes could also be that she is not happy - this is not good, b/c if she is uncomfortable with the setup she could become eggbound - Don't panic, it is early yet

Can you post pics of her setup? I tried to keep a 40-60w regular bulb on the tub to keep it warm, just be careful not to dry out medium. Don’t worry about food (hopefully no stray crickets in the cage - if so, put in a piece of carrot for them to munch on. When she comes back up is she basking? Does she seem “normal?” More important than food right now (she’s got plenty of things taking up space in her belly!) is water. If she will take water (dripper or however you give) and keep humidity up if you can. If she is spending the nights in her branches, she is not quite ready and may just be checking out what you have provided.

Once she goes down and digs, and digs and digs you will know. Eventually you will see her turned around in the hole, which means she is laying. When done, she will come out, cover the hole and return to her branches – thirsty and hungry. Offer her food, but she may not take it for a day. She will likely look like an abused and neglected animal – the difference is amazing (see below). The time it takes varies. Luna usually went down late afternoon, dug and lay at night and was up in her branches the next day.

ChamNews has a great article on a laying setup: www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/jan2003/nesting/nesting.html

Here are some photos of Luna before and after, her laying tub. You can go to link for other pics. Hope this helps!

Luna gravid/laying

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Hi Lele,

yes, you gave a good advice about posting on the general forum.

I am sending pics of her set up. I have 9 inches of Home depot play send mixed (2/3 sand, 1/3 fiber) with coconut fiber. The sand has good consistency. It keeps shape if go with a pencil into it and it sticks on my finger

No holes yet (??) but she is still going in and out the sand continuously. I am sending a pic of her a bit stretched (running away from me already) with the little bulges at he end of her rib cage. That’s her color during the day, at night she’s like Luna in the picture you just sent me.

Unfortunately some crickets got out of the cup and are climbing he cage (remove them??)

Has 75W spot light and ceramic heat lamp on thermostat (at night the room gat in the low 60s . thermostat in set on 85F in the day 72-74F at night. I have to partially wrap the cage when the heat is low in order to keep the temperature in the cage. Has mister and dripper; the mister is also keeping the sand humid. She seems fine and basking when she is on the branches, sometimes she stays for few seconds, sometime for few minutes and then she is back on the lower branches and sand. This morning I found her on the sand, I don't know if she spent the entire night on the branches, She's been in this cage for the last 2 weeks now, and this is the first time she behaves like this...Seems like she might spend few days like this, correct? Probably she 's not that ready yet.

Shall I add more sand??

Thanks, Chiara

Great - the pics and info are quite helpful - yup she's looking a bit lumpy

I would open up the tub more by moving all the biovine and branches aside. You can have one or two so she can easily get down and back - (see the pics of Luna's. I tried a number of tub sizes and she used both the large blue pot and then the clear plastic at another time). That might be part of the problem is here easy access to the sand. Now there are lots of stories of them digging thru roots and soil in a pot to lay, and of course in the the wild that may also be the case. Personally, I like to make it as easy as possible as the actual digging and laying are tough! ;-/

The combo of substrate sounds OK, but your cham is a lot bigger than a pencil, so you might want to try a couple fingers, round branch, etc. You could also add more mix so the tub is deeper tamping it down well (not packing).

I would not worry too much about the temps dropping at night if she is not in the tub. I kept the light on it during the day to try and keep the sand warm (I live in a cold region and we let the house get pretty cool at night). You don't want it too warm at night - there should be some drop.

Btw, if she is disturbed by you moving stuff around you could do it while she is sleeping with only a low light on so you can see what you're doing, unless she wales up.

All in all it sounds like you are being a good and caring cham mom!

lele

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Luna had a short tial so it looks funny sticking up like this!

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet