# Female Yemen becoming egg bound advice please



## Trouty65 (Jul 6, 2010)

Hi all i'm new here and this is my 1st post.

My wife, my daughter and i are getting a female yemen Chameleon next week. Our local reptile shop has been absolutely superb and has given us lots of advice. Even tho' we are beginners i hope we have done enough research into taking on what a lot of people class as more of an intermediate reptile.
We have had our terrarium set up for a week and have stabalized the temperature to 85 deg and are managing to keep the humidity levels up to between 70-80. I can't believe how steep the learning curve has been on this but we are very determined to suceed.
The one question that is bothering me tho, is regarding females yemens and the possibility of her becoming egg bound ? as we have no intention at the moment of breeding her what are the chances of this happening ?
There seems to be lots of horror stories on the internet and i just want to make sure that we have this well covered.
I understand that you have to supply the female with a channel in which she can dig down at least 6 inches to lay her unfertilized eggs. Can anyone please give me some more information on this ie: what sort of substrate/sand combination should i use and what sort of setup will work best. What are the early signs of this to look out for and the best way to deal with this as we really do not want to fail her.

We are using an Exo terra rainforest tank 45/45/60cm.

Thanks

Paul


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## frenchy1979 (Oct 30, 2009)

*fem yemens*

Imo i would provide a 2litre ice cream tub, use eco earth moist enough to hold up when she burrows through and trys to lay. 
Provdie plenty of variants in her food, live food like waxies, mealies, roaches, crickets and locust. Provide live plants, umbrella, azalia, ficus, citrus plants but remove the fruit and bromeliads.

dust your live with calcium, alternate with nurtrobal once a week. regular misting and access to water via a dripper.

Females can hold onto clutches if they feel unsafe or if there clutches may get eaten etc. If you really feel she is getting egg bound then maybe look round for some one who has a male yemens, sometimes that can help her to lay so she canbe ready to mate with the male.

There is always the possibility of becoming egg bound happening but not always, if you do you best to look after her then thats all you can do. It may not happen any way. 

just gain as much info on here as you can and use the info you get from each individual.

goodluck


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## Trouty65 (Jul 6, 2010)

frenchy1979 thanks for your reply. I have just spoken to the shop who is supplying our female cham and have just been reassured that as our female will not be near a male the possibility of her becoming egg bound is very unlikely for at least 18 months to 2 years so we have time to plan ahead.
We have done so much research on keeping a chameleon that i think its almost information overload.
I am confident that she will settle into her new envoiroment quickly and have again been reassured that she will display a switch in behaviour that will give us a good indication that she may be becoming egg bound. in which case she will have an arera sufficient enough in which to burrow and lay them within the tank.
I appreciate your reply and welcome any more help anyone can give us.
I can't believe how swept up in this as a parent i have become but think its fantastic 

thanks again you have been most helpfull

paul


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## ch4dg (Jul 24, 2008)

my female started laying phantom eggs(no male needed) at just under a year.


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## frenchy1979 (Oct 30, 2009)

*egg laying*

Im not saying that you need a male, im simply stating that *sometimes* females hold onto their clutches. This isnt very good for them and could lead to becoming egg bound. So if you introduce a male or alow them to see each other in different enclosures then that *may* trigger her to lay her clutch so she can mate with the present male.

This doesnt always happen, it is merely an idea. Some females can absorb the clutch and re-use the protein etc from the unlaid eggs, equally some females can and do lay without any problems at all.

These are simply experiences and advice used and taken from other keepers and breeders, nothing more and nothing less.


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## ch4dg (Jul 24, 2008)

frenchy1979 said:


> Im not saying that you need a male, im simply stating that *sometimes* females hold onto their clutches. This isnt very good for them and could lead to becoming egg bound. So if you introduce a male or alow them to see each other in different enclosures then that *may* trigger her to lay her clutch so she can mate with the present male.


was this aimed at me???

if so, my comment wasn't reffering to yours and i was referring to this...


Trouty65 said:


> The one question that is bothering me tho, is regarding females yemens and the possibility of her becoming egg bound ? as we have no intention at the moment of breeding her what are the chances of this happening ?


my comment meant.....
it make no difference if there's a male around as chams are known for having about 3 clutches of unfertilized eggs per year, once mature.


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