If you have a female of breeding age without an egg-laying bin in her enclosure, install one this weekend regardless of breeding status.
The egg-laying bin: substrate, depth, timing.
Gravid females need an egg-laying bin from the day you suspect they are gravid, not the day they start digging. Dystocia is a vet emergency.
We provide an egg-laying bin to every female from week eight of suspected gravidity. The bin is opaque, at least twelve inches deep, filled with damp play sand mixed with coco fiber to a consistency that holds a tunnel without collapsing.
Females will inspect the bin for days before laying. Do not disturb during inspection or laying. The risk you are managing is dystocia — egg retention — which presents as repeated digging without laying, lethargy, and weight loss. Dystocia is a same-day vet call.
DSQUARED Reptiles — Living Art. Curated Genetics.
From the field notes archive.
Reading early gular edema before it becomes a vet visit.
Soft swelling under the throat can mean three different things. Two resolve at home. One needs an ARAV-listed reptile vet within the week.
MBD: the silent failure mode.
Metabolic bone disease is the most common preventable death in captive chameleons. Calcium, UVB, and basking temperature conspire — or fail to.
Heat stress in summer cages.
Ambient room temperature creeps in summer. The basking lamp does not know the room got hotter. Together they push juveniles into heat stress.