From the chameleon cage

There was a bit of a scuffle in the chameleon cage this morning when she ACCIDENTALLY stepped on him. He swiftly turned and bit her on the arm.

Here is my lecture to him:

If you don't want to get stepped on, quit making yourself look like a ficus leaf. Also, I understand that in the wild you two wouldn't choose to mate for life. Here in the Summy cage, though, we're all about monogamy. So, play nice, share the crickets and remember the golden rule. She's the mother of the 47 eggs currently basking in the incubator. For that alone, she deserves some respect.

And here he is, looking all contrite and apologetic.



Sorry for the absence. I'm "swamped." (a little chameleon humor....they live in rainy places) Although I truly am crazy-busy.

I have a library visit at 5:30 - 7pm at the Santee Library. I'll be there with Cindy Pon and Laura Preble. Should be fun. I have a joke gift for them. I can't tell you what because you never know who's lurking. Mwaaaaa!

MyTown Monday: Our Chameleon Cage

For today's My Town Monday post, we're visiting my house. Our veiled chameleons' cage, to be exact.

Because before I went to Oklahoma, something uberly exciting happened here.

OUR FEMALE VEILED CHAMELEON LAID 42 EGGS!!

I know, it's craaazzzy. She laid 23 eggs at the end of May. There are only 5 healthy eggs left from this first batch. The 42 eggs from this second batch look plumper and healthier. She's laying eggs about every 3 months. Holy Color-Changing Reptile!


She was a little cranky with the male for a couple of days before THE EVENT. See the blue robin-eggish spots which indicate pregnancy.

Here is her very fat tummy. Not including her tail, she's about 5 inches long. We still can't believe she had 42 eggs tucked in there.


Child #2 and Child #4 fill a five-gallon flower pot with sand from our sandbox. They stir in water for a damp mixture.


She begins to dig. It takes her 7.5 hours to dig a tunnel, disappear into it, lay 42 eggs, climb back out of the tunnel and smooth it over. (It took her 9.5 hours to lay her first batch of 23 eggs. So, she's definitely speeding up now that she knows what she's about.)


After digging down about 8 inches, Child #2 finds the first layer of eggs. Here he is setting them carefully in vermiculite in a deli dish.


Our incubator is full! With FORTY-SEVEN eggs (5 from the first batch + 42 from this second batch). Child #2 has started planning how he'll spend his riches. Each baby fetches $25 from our local reptile pet store.


Here's the proud papa. Not really. He slept through her whole ordeal.

For links to the other MTM participants, please head over to our My Town Monday blog which was set up by Clair Dickson. Thank you Clair! I'll be back to a regular kind of post next Monday, but I couldn't resist sharing the good news.