Is my Jacksons Pregnant?

Hi everyone,


Looking for some expert advice. Long story short I rescued/adopted this Jacksons Chameleon about 2 weeks ago. Very little is known about her history other then I am the 3rd owner. The person I got her from neglected her but never bred. Despite this she had babies while in that persons care. It is assumed owner #1 bred her and she has retained sperm.

My question: Does she look pregnant? If so any idea when I should be expecting babies?

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, looking forward to hearing all your opinions!

Best of luck Julia! If she's preggo with the eggo's I hope all goes well

Hate to sound impatient but I would like to bump this thread in hope that someone will chime in...

Hey Julia glad you are posting here and I hope someone chimes in.

Reason I say she is preggo is because I have cut up dead females that were gravid and it's obvious to me that she has some embryos developing exactly there they should be.

The only thing those masses could be in that position are the fat pads (which would be two uniform pads on either side of the abdomen), and intestines (which do not look like that at all), and kidneys (which are only 2 and not nearly that big).

This post shows early development in a Jackson's (looks kind of empty compared to yours), and I would PM Gesang the picture to get his opinion https://www.chameleonforums.com/21-more-j-jacksonii-babies-32007/

Some further pics (not mine) of 1) Deremensis 2) Veiled 3) veiled (keep in mind veileds have many times more offspring than Jackson's)







I have no experience with Xrays and am usually way off with my own females, but I would expect babies within the next 1-2 months or less IMO...those embryos look quite dense on the xray considering there is no outer shell involved.

I do think she looks gravid. Is there any way owner #2 can tell you when she had babies and even how many? The more info we have the better. Let me check with some of the Jackson keepers and get back to you.

There is definitely something in there but I’d hazard a guess she is cycling a clutch of unfertilized egg sacs or ‘slugs’ over a real clutch. As to when she will pass them, I have no idea.

A big thanks!!!

Thank you everyone who has replied! I guess time will tell...

Trace: Im curious how you can you tell the difference between slugs and fertilized babies from an x-ray? I would not be surprised if they are not living babies. This chameleon received horrific care from owner #2 and there was probably a lot of stress when she changed homes/environments.

Laurie: I tried to contact owner #2 with no luck yet. It was very difficult contacting her, and staying in contact with her to get the chameleon in the first place. Took weeks of calling/emailing.

Brock: Your info and pictures are amazing. I love how you always have great references to back up your opinion! Thank you for taking the time to post!

ReptiGeek: Hi Travis!!!!

JJC said:

Thank you everyone who has replied! I guess time will tell...

Trace: Im curious how you can you tell the difference between slugs and fertilized babies from an x-ray? I would not be surprised if they are not living babies. This chameleon received horrific care from owner #2 and there was probably a lot of stress when she changed homes/environments.

Click to expand...

A pure guess on my part really. I see threads on here by people thinking their Jackson’s is gravid due to their larger size and then turn out to be not with a certain regularity. Those threads are usually followed up with ‘what are these yellow things in my cage’ questions. I just wanted to put that option out there as not everybody reading this knows these gals can cycle unfertilized ‘eggs’.

Also, if you take a close look at the X-Rays in the link Brock provided (https://www.chameleonforums.com/21-more-j-jacksonii-babies-32007/) you can see the vertebral column on the babies inside the mom, you can’t on the radiographs you provided.

JJC, as you don't know the complete history, you need to be prepared for babies. However, Trace is really experienced and knowledgeable so he's probably right.

i would cation and be ready for babies just in case...jacksons females can retain sperm and have a few clutches of babies with only 1 mating..since they are live bearers not egg layers be ready just in case..

Trace: I see what you are saying about the vertebral column.

Eliza and Stacy: I am prepared and hoping for the best! I have bred and raised baby Veileds so I have some experience. My intention was to breed the Jacksons as well, but I wanted to wait several months to ensure the female is healthy first. This either puts me ahead of schedule as far as breeding or allows me to follow my original plan.

Thank you again to everyone who took the time to reply to this thread!!!

Owner #2

I heard back from owner #2 today, this is what she said:

"She had 12 babies all dead but 3. then 2 died. one lived for about a week and a half i tried to feed it but it didnt eat then she (ANNIE) ate it by accident."

Update

I just noticed that this thread was recently brought up in another thread regarding a pregnant Jacksons female. Thought it might be benefit others to follow up with an update:

In February Annie dropped several slugs. After which she never looked better! She was bright green, eating, and much more active.

In March Annie died unexpectedly. She showed no signs of illness leading up to her death. No necropsy was performed so cause of death is unknown.