Authored by Pete ‘The Guv’nor’ Hawkins: Chameleon Network / Bearded Dragons Network / Snake Network
Female Chameleons: The Egg Laying Reputation
We understand things better. We have better science within the hobby, that really does aid in all elements of the keeping process.
Female Chameleon’s are not as popular due to the related “egg laying” issues. This is a Fact.
Any breeder will tell you, they get a healthy batch of Chameleon’s, and it’s always the females who are last to go. Again, this is a fact. For me, I feel this is quite sad. These days, it’s totally unwarranted.
Finding Chameleon Facts
I understand the reasoning. It is a worrying time for keeper, and of course, the Chameleon. But when you look at the evidence of captive bred Chameleons having egg binding, or egg related issues over the past few years, it’s actually not all that bad at all.
If you are browsing social media, like a reptile Facebook group for example, or a reptile based forum, you will see a few disaster stories. But, this is because people are rarely going to post photos or updates of their Chameleon who has just laid her eggs successfully. It’s not “interesting” enough. But honestly. The amount of captive Chameleons in the world, in comparison to the deaths/problems caused by the egg laying process, statistically, it’s very very low these days.
Simple reason being, we understand things better. We have better science within the hobby, that really does aid all elements of the keeping process.
So for our egg laying females, there are a few key improvements over the past few years…
Lzzy, a drink after digging
Hydration:
We understand how vital hydration is for our Chameleons. Regardless of the sex or species.
But a Female that is not hydrated sufficiently, may well ‘give up‘ the dig. Get tired. Of course, this causes delay of the lay. That’s bad.
With the range of hydration options available today, there’s no excuse(s) for dehydration to ever happen. Reptile Drippers
Supplementation:
We have excellent supplements available now days. And they have honestly improved a great deal over the past few years. With, for me, Repashy, being top of the game. Correct, and quality supplements, give your Chameleon the calcium, vitamins, & minerals needed, providing they are used correctly. A female getting the correct nutritional needs, will of course aid egg producing, laying, health. Pretty much everything.
Diet:
We should all know how important a varied diet is. Long term reptile keepers, like myself will tell you. Going back 25+ years ago, all that was available were meal-worms. Certainly here in the UK, you’d get the odd batch of field collected crickets and moths, flies etc. But only if you collected yourself. More on collecting wild feeders here.
None of this rubbish of “they will only eat morios and wax-worms“. That’s bulls**t. They are eating these, because it’s what you are feeding. That’s YOUR fault.
Today, there is absolutely NO excuse(s) for not having variety in the diet. Like most things, if you feed just one or two items solely, it will cause issues over time. Variety of course is also vital for egg production, and healthy laying. As during the egg creation process, calcium and vitamins are often taken from the body reserves. So its crucial these are kept at the best levels.
Collected egg. 68 in total.
Again, we now understand because of various reptile forums, Facebook groups like mine (Chameleon Britain), and our collective experiences within the following topics:
What is needed by the various species of Chameleon
What are the best products to use to keep and maintain a healthy Chameleon
What works for certain Chameleons, and what doesn’t for others.
Lay Bin and Privacy:
Providing a good lay bin is vital. At least 8 inches in depth and at least the same in length. Chameleons like to dig down, and often across. So a decent size is a must.
Keeping your chosen laying substrate damp is also key. For me, I use a sand/soil mix. It’s not a heavy as plain sand, so much easier for the Chameleon to arrange and manipulate. Also less tiring to do so. The mix is strong enough to hold its form when the laying female tunnels into it. Best way to tell if you’ve got the mix right. Poke a couple of fingers right down to the bottom. If on withdrawal the hole remains, it’s all good. You don’t want it to collapse on your digging female.
Once she has laid her eggs, she will then cover up the hole, and smooth out the surface, like nothing has ever happened.
DO NOT remove the bin until this process has taken place.
For me, privacy is so, so important. Cover the front 3 sides of the vivarium as much as you can, leave her to it. Only interact if she comes up to the basking area for a warm up. Take this advantage to offer some water, and a little food. I tend to offer Silkworms here. A few wax-worms as a treat too. Something with good moisture content to aid strength and hydration.
Job Done:
I will offer a drink almost instantly. It’s vital she re-hydrates
So she’s done her bit. How can you tell?
Well, generally once she has lay, as mentioned above, she will fill in any holes dug, so the lay-bin will be all smoothed out. The reason being, so it’s not obvious something has been buried there. Remember, this process is something stamped in their DNA. They are thinking from a ‘wild‘ point of view, you wouldn’t want another animal feasting on your eggs would you.
Once she has completed this process, she will go up and bask. You can choose to remove the bin now. You can wait 24 hours to be sure, and then remove it. Don’t leave it too long. I have witnessed a few females wandering back down to the bin and messing about with it. More smoothing over, to me, it’s just added exhaustion. She will already be extremely tired from this whole event. I will offer a drink almost instantly. It’s vital she re-hydrates. Maybe a couple of silkworms too. Something soft with a good fluid content. But don’t feed more than a couple of items in that first 24 hours. Just fluids.Her insides will have been stretched around due to the egg’s squashing up everything, so its a good idea to allow everything to settle before she pigs out and gets a full belly.
Lzzy, Back to herself
After 24 hours, let her eat. She will be very hungry. Offer a variety of fully gut-loaded and hydrated feeders. All dusted with plain Calcium (No D3). It’s vital the bodies calcium levels are replaced since so much was used up in the egg forming process, even the laying. Over the next 3 or 4 days, continue to offer a good variety of live-foods, regardless of what your normal feeding routine is. She will be back to normal in no time. After 3 or 4 straight days feeding, you can then revert to your normal feeding regime (3x a week for example), and prepare for the whole process to start again in roughly around 8 to 12 weeks.
So you see, please don’t overlook these beautiful female Chameleons because of the bad reputation our social media sources have given them. It’s really not that bad at all. Remember, people won’t post stories of a Chameleon laying eggs without issue. So, don’t be scared of the eggs. We have the science, the products, and people to help us through such things.
You should already have an exotic Vet, and registered your reptiles. Let them know you have a female chameleon, and be sure they can deal with any issues.
And as above…everything else is available to make it all happen without issues.
Of course, issues DO happen. But look at the statistics. These are NOT a common occurrence.