Why is my veiled chameleon digging? (She may be laying)
Veiled chameleon, about fourteen months, sold to me as male but I am now not sure. For three days she has been down on the floor of the enclosure scraping at the substrate and wandering about at the bottom instead of sitting on the branches. She has gone off her food and her belly looks rounder than it did.
She has never been near another chameleon. Is digging something they do, or is this what I think it is?
@laying_bin_ready · 2d ago · 3 replies
She is female and she is about to lay. Veiled females produce eggs without ever meeting a male, the eggs are infertile, and she still has to get them out. Digging, coming down off the branches, going off food and a rounder belly is the full set.
She needs a laying bin today rather than at the weekend. A container of moist packable sand, or sand and soil, damp enough to hold a tunnel shape without collapsing, deep enough that she can dig a proper tunnel. Keepers generally go from several inches to about a foot.
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@on_the_floor_digging · 2d ago
Does it need to be anywhere particular in the enclosure, and do I leave her to it?
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@laying_bin_ready · 2d ago
On the floor with some cover around it so she has privacy, and yes, leave her completely. It can take many hours and being watched or disturbed mid-dig is how they abandon the attempt. Afterwards she will cover the eggs and be exhausted, so have food and water ready.
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