Questions on possible gravid female Veild

i have a male and female Veild Chameleon and they are approximatly 6-8 months old.

around christmas i thought they had mated, because the female had scratches on her cone and back, but i have been watching her and i havent noticed much difference except that when he comes around her she gapes and moves back and forth.

I put a large container in the bottom of the cage for her to lay in, i guess my question is how long should it be before she actully lays her eggs. i mean it looks as if she is getting larger in the belly area. I have also noticed this week she is letting him get next to her again.

one other question is what is the best incubation to put cham eggs into?

From what I heard it sounds like you keep the two together in the same cage (bad idea unless you want them to breed). If she is gravid she is going to be laying up to 30 eggs and she lays them all in one sitting. It takes a little while for 30 eggs to develop so it could be a couple of weeks. When she does lay them the container you filled up will be messy and some dirt (or whatever your using) will be around your cage. To incubate eggs you can either make a DIY incubator or one you can buy for a bit more money and more reliable.


CK

Thanks for the info, I do have them in a very large screen cage which give them plenty of room.

To answer your question yes I'd like them to breed, I have a small reptile business and I am tired of getting poor quality when buying from importers and even from individuals.

just one questions thou, which is the best type of incuabator a DIY or a store bought, im purchasing one for my Leopard Geckos a Hovabator Thermal Air, would this be appropriate.

Do you know of any good online information portals besides here at Faunaclassifieds?

A few things. If you are keeping them together the cages should be no less than 6' x 6' x 6'. Veileds are very aggressive chameleons and males will often stress females through constant breeding attempts and just general territorial behavior that can eventually kill your female.

Breeding veileds that young is not a good idea. These animals produce a large amount of eggs in captivity and breeding animals young shortens their life span and can cause some serious health issues. Veiled females should be at the very least 12 months of age before breeding is attempted.

If she is indeed gravid she will begin to show a marked weight gain in a few weeks. Alot of people utilize the container in the cage method for laying but I have always utilized a 32 gallon trash can with a couple of feet of dirt in it. I have never had an animal with any egg binding issues.

There are tons of great articles at www.chameleonnews.com, including a few on incubation, nesting sites and caring for hatchlings. Check it out and read as much as you can. Good luck.

Thank You for you input, I will most definatly consider moving them to seperate cages if i notice anything out of the sort, these are kept in my house so i will have constant vewing.

I have been looking into obtaining another large cage anyhow just incase my current housing does not work out.

I have read quite abit about different ages in breeding, and I have taken into consideration everyons suggestion and I do appriceiate yours also.

Does anyone know anything about breeding Flapneck Chameleons, I have a pair which I house seperatly, because the female seem like she was picking on the male. I have been told they are hard to keep, but I have found the care is just like my veilds, they are also very healthy and friendly especially the male he is always wanting out and on me.

I would put your veileds in seperate chams because the male might mate with her too much and stress her taking months off her life. Store bought incubators are they way to go! That sounds like a good one as long as you have enough space. I would think it is like most chams. You would introduce the male and take him out after 3 days and keep doing that until your VERY sure they have mated. You will have to be there the whole time to watch if the female is recepetive cause she could get aggressive against the male. I agree with your female being a little young to breed, I would have done it at 10 months.


CK

its really a bad idea to breed vields so young, I mean just becuse they can doesnt mean you should. Make sure you have more then one nice spot for you girl to lay her eggs. good luck! I hope if she does they the eggs they are all heathy and hatch for you. meanwhile you should go buy a book, some very good ones out now. keep us updated

well i have two books but they are older and I really like the information i receive here, its from people who are experiencing these situations right now lol not three years ago.

but yes I will be moving her into another cage, I have decided today that is the best thing for her.

what would you prefer as a laying box for the female, right now i have a bin in there that is mixed sand and peat moss.

just make sure it is moist. you dont want the eggs to dry out before you find them. also in the wild they will lay eggs in the roots of the trees. that would make them pretty hard for you to get out. so this is what I did the one time I had chemlon eggs, not vields. I got a plastic planter filled it with soil , stuck a big stick in it and wraped it with a some plastic vines I had. The point of all that is so that the chamelon can climb right down into the nestig box , it will be alot less stress full for you lizard if it has a lot of cover and if your not in the same room. just keep an eye on her. even though alot of people on here breed and keep veilds, get the most up to date book thats out. it will give you specifics that you will need for incubation and takeing care of the hatchlings.

What some people have done is actually when they think their cham is going to lay they put the cham in a plastic garbage container with a hardware mesh lid. You put a heat lamp on it. Put branches in it put not too much because she will climb onto the lid and get burned. You put some moist substrate and there you go, she will lay and you can just take her out and the eggs will be in the substrate. If I made any mistakes in my typing I am in a hurry.


CK