Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone could help me out a lil bit! I have a female veiled chameleon, and I woke up to her DIGGING. Now i've gone through this before, eggs and all. But this was last year and she actually mated with a male veiled chameleon. This year she did not. I'm pretty sure I remember reading in my chameleon book that females will lay eggs every year even if they haven't mated correct? I just wasn't prepared for this, i've never gone through her laying eggs without mating first. So she didn't display any different colors or behaviors before this morning. And she didnt' look all swollen like she did the year before. I've already swapped out the little plant holder for a big bucket of moist dirt and even dug in a little to help her out. Now she's pretty healthy, but when my ex boyfriend and I purchased (more like rescued her) from petco, she had already developed metabolic bone disease, so her legs are pretty crooked, but nothing has broken for over a year now, and she doesn't fall off branches, etc. But last year after laying eggs, she was in real bad shape, real dehydrated, didn't want to eat, I was scared she would die. Now my ex was a reptile breeder and keeper, so he knew so much more than I do, but we aren't together anymore, he won't return my urgent emails about this...so Please , please help me out here, if theres any more i can do, or if i'm not doing something right. THANKS SO MUCH!
-amber

You said..."I just wasn't prepared for this, i've never gone through her laying eggs without mating first"..there should be no difference in her laying infertile eggs as far as the process/care for her.

Although veiled females can lay clutches without having been mated, they can also go their whole lives without laying a single egg depending on the husbandry. I have had veileds live to be 7 years old without laying a single egg.

You said..."she had already developed metabolic bone disease, so her legs are pretty crooked, but nothing has broken for over a year now, and she doesn't fall off branches, etc. But last year after laying eggs, she was in real bad shape, real dehydrated, didn't want to eat, I was scared she would die"...hopefully she has recovered from this.

Don't let her see you watching her when she is digging. Water her and feed her only when she is in her branches.

I said I wasn't prepared because she didn't show any signs of wanting to lay eggs. Her body isn't all swollen like it was last year, nor her color has changed, no walking around the bottom. That's why I kinda got freaked out when I saw her digging this morning. And I'm sure she's over the MBD, but I'm still worried. I know females don't live as long so....but thanks for replying to my post.

You said..."I said I wasn't prepared because she didn't show any signs of wanting to lay eggs. Her body isn't all swollen like it was last year, nor her color has changed, no walking around the bottom. That's why I kinda got freaked out when I saw her digging this morning. And I'm sure she's over the MBD, but I'm still worried. I know females don't live as long so....but thanks for replying to my post"...veiled females can live up to 7 years or more. If she is laying less eggs and infertile eggs she might not be so swollen. She might not take on the dark background colors either if she isn't seeing the male.

When did she lay the last eggs?

Has she laid the eggs yet? Is she still digging?