My gravid veiled chameleon will not lay her eggs. I have given her a large bucket with moist vermiculite and sand and she will not lay. I live her alone for the day, and she does not lay. It is obvious that she still has her eggs. She does not dig or disturb the laying mixture. What is going on? What can else can I do?
well some ppl like my mom took ten yrs
The first sign she is ready to lay is that she will stop eating. You will notice the bugs in her enclosure are not being eaten and that there is less fecal matter. You may then notice her crawling on the ground, or scratching at the enclosure. When you notice one of these indicators, place her in a large container filled with sandbox type sand, ensuring it is moist enough that she can dig a burrow and it will not collapse on top of her. The sand should be at least 1.5 feet in depth. They like to dig down deep and sit in the hole while depositing their eggs. If the sand is not deep enough or moist enough they will not lay them. The container should be deep and relatively wide (2.5 feet). DO NOT offer her food while in the container. The bugs will bother her and she will not want to eat anyways. Do give her heat and UVA/UVB lamps. Make certain the heat lamp is not to close or it will dry out the sand and may cause her to dehydrate. You may want to switch to a lower wattage while she is in a more confined enclosure. You can mist her and offer her water however, do not disturb her! Do not keep checking on her to see if she has deposited the eggs, she will require privacy.If your chameleon does not deposit her eggs or only some of them, you can gently feel her belly to detect the presence of any eggs and take her to a vet immediately!! They may give her a drug called oxcitocine that helps contractions.
