HELP!!

[MMRR - jif]

I didn't want to bust in on the other thread but we could use some help. Yesterday we picked up a surrendered pair of adult Veiled Chams. The female is very much gravid and it looks like she is ready to lay any minute. I have no experience with breeding Chams and need to know what kind of nesting area to give her. Sue, any suggestions?

 

[Lexi]

The egglaying chamber is easily constructed by filling a 5 gallon bucket 6-12 inches full of moist sand or sand/peat moss mixture. What is wanted is a substrate that will facilitate tunneling. When the female is close to oviposition, she will often appear "restless" and wander around the cage looking for her preferred nesting spot. The female almost always choose the provided egg laying chamber, but occasionally, if a large plant is included, she will dig a nest below the root ball of a large potted plant. When she is serious about laying, she will begin to dig a tunnel, when the tunnel is sufficient for her needs (this usually take several hours) she will turn around and lay her eggs. After oviposition, the female will bury the eggs completely. Take care when digging up the eggs, as the females tend to lay them somewhere at the bottom of the container, and in a very tightly packed ball. Also, when looking for eggs, do not become disenheartened when you cannot find them right away, it often takes some serious, and delicate prospecting to find the egg mass (especially if the egg laying container is large!). Veiled chameleon clutches vary considerably, from 12 to as many as 80 eggs

 

[Lexi]

here this is the link i was looking at.
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[Srakha]

OK.. here is what I do.

Since I would rather not have to move her into a bucket for the duration of her pregnancy (wouldn't you feel a tad more comfortable laying eggs in familiar territory?), I bought a 12 inch tall food container. It is clearish and has a square footprint with rounded off corners.

I fill that with a sand/peat mixture (half and half) and dampen it till you can move it around and it stays where you move it. I then wrap some black construction paper around the outside so that she feels secure when digging and laying, but easily removed later when I need to dig out eggs.

I just put that whole thing in the cage with her, and cover the front of the cage so she can't see people passing by. Keep feeding her if she'll eat, keep spraying the cage down as normal and aim some of that at the top of the laying bin, so to keep the mix damp. Keep an eye on her so you know when she starts to dig.. once she is done she will cover it back up again It could take a couple hours or more. When mine laid it took probably 12 hours from start to finish.

Here is a picture of the full bin:

 

[Srakha]

Oh.. and give her extra calcium too. I usually dust the crickets as usual, then give them an extra dusting in calcium. I also dust any lettuce/carrot shreds she has, or any other prey. Feed her really well, give her a little something every day. Making eggies takes a lot out of a girl!

 

[MMRR - jif]

Thank you both so much. We have the lady set up in a large reptarium for now in a room by herself. We had a container similar to the one pictured but more rectangular on top also. It is about 15 inches deep. For lack of better substrate on hand we have filled it with sand/bed-a-beast mixture and covered the outside with black paper. I hope this works. I feel so badly for the little girl. I'll let you know what happens.

 

[Srakha]

Sand and bed-a-beast sounds just fine.. bed-a-beast is enough like peat to not matter. As long as its damp enough to allow her to dig a non-collapsing tunnel

Good luck!

 

[Lexi]

I hope everything turns out alright!!!! Good luck!!

 

[Mike]

I hope everything turns out alright!!!! Good luck!!

I second that. Breeding is always a joy.