Advise on gravid female

[suzi]

Hi, I have a female who is due to lay in about 10 days. Last time she laid she spent a lot of time on the middle and bottom of the enclosure ( away from the UVB ). And was very " shaky" for a couple of weeks. She has been back to good health for quite sometime but now she is doing it again and I am a little worried. I have been giving her outdoor time but now that it is getting closer to her laying time I am not sure how often I should handle her. She is in a very large cage, like 5' tall. I thought about putting her I a smaller cage but I don't want to stress her out. I am wondering what other people do in terms of putting them outside for sun this close to laying time. I want to make sure she gets enough UVB without stressing her! Thanks

 

[kinyonga]

How many eggs did she lay the last time?
What supplements do you use specifically and how often for each?
What do you gutload/feed the insects with specifically?
I assume there's no glass or plastic between the UVB light and the chameleon?

If she's shaky it could be that she's short of calcium and that plays a part not only in the shelling of the eggs but in the muscle contractions needed to push out the eggs.

 

[suzi]

How many eggs did she lay the last time?
What supplements do you use specifically and how often for each?
What do you gutload/feed the insects with specifically?
I assume there's no glass or plastic between the UVB light and the chameleon?

If she's shaky it could be that she's short of calcium and that plays a part not only in the shelling of the eggs but in the muscle contractions needed to push out the eggs.

Thanks Linda, she is not shaky anymore. But you reminded me that last time she was in the basement and it was winter and I was struggling with the temps. The first time she absorbed the eggs and the second time she laid them right after I moved the whole set up upstairs where the ambient temp was easier to control and keep warm. I remember talking with you about it months ago. Not being warm enough was probably the problem( I forgot about that) she had proper lighting and I fed crickets , supers, silkies and horns mainly. I dusted every feeding with rep cal phos free calcium without d 3 and gave her with d3 2 times a month with a multi vit (herptivite) once or twice a month. I gut loaded the crickets with zoo med cricket gut load ( I have since switched to flukers and want to change that to cricket crack) carrots, alfalfa, romaine lettuce, oranges, apples, purina rabbit chow(alfalfa based) I have since added to that but at the time that is what I was doing.

 

[suzi]

I forgot to tell you she laid 26 eggs the last time. How close to the laying date do you put them outside for natural light? And if she spends too much time scoping out the bottom she I put her in a smaller cage so she gets the UVB or is the change too big a stress? Or is 10 days without as much UVB not life threatening? She gets some UVB. I have added dandelions, red pepper to the gut load also.

 

[suzi]

I just read my initial post and I realize I wasn't clear when I wrote "she is doing it again" I don't mean shaking I mean spending a lot of time in the middle and bottom again, away from the UVB. Just wanted to clarify that Linda

 

[kinyonga]

Now that you mentioned the basement, I remember the chameleon and the chats we had. I deal with so many people/chameleons on here that I have trouble keeping them straight sometimes...as I'm sure you can understand.

Glad she doesn't have the shakes.

Since you've made all the changes and she's not shaky, it might just be her "way". She still has 10 days to go...so as long as she is healthy...eyes not sunken in or shut during the daytime, etc. I wouldn't worry about it too much....just keep an eye on her.