Am I doing this right??

[Lizs Lizards]

I'm pretty sure my Female Panther is Gravid.
She looks bloated just became a finicky eater and is producing little droppings. Her colors have changed over the past 2 weeks.
She used to be a salmon color with brown and creme markings.
Her markings have turned from creme to gray. And she will turned dark brown when stressed. She's 7 months old give or take a couple weeks.
I pulled her out of the cage and laid her in the egg bin.

I have about 9-10 inches of Play sand in a plastic bin with her normal Lighting setup(UVB/Heat lamp). I misted the sand more on one side.
Cut out the top and put in screen.

Do I need to put any sticks or vines in their for her?

If She doesn't lay them with 2-3 days I should take her to the vet right?

I should also put her back into her regular cage at night to sleep?

If anyone could check out her pics and give me a little input that would be great!

Sorry everyone I'm a noob and hoping she isn't egg bound, but I'm learning so much about her and my male everyday.

Thanks!

-Liz

 

[Thompson]

I think you're supposed to put the container of dirt in her cage and just let her lay when she's ready.

 

[skully23]

I'm sure the bin is suppose to be in the cage. You may be stressing her.

 

[pssh]

If you want to go that route, you need a smaller laying bin in the cage, then when she starts to dig you move her to a larger non clear/see through laying bin.

 

[bridgofaith]

Read these threads:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/egg-laying-bin-35342/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

They will help you with creating a laying bin for her. It should be placed in her cage. You should also cover the cage with a sheet or towel and leave her alone. She will not lay if she can see you watching her.

 

[Lizs Lizards]

Thanks Everyone!
I'll put a container of sand in her cage first.
I tried a little flower pot of organic soil in her cage yesterday she climbed down and looked around but nothing happened so I wasn't sure what to do.

 

[GooglezNvincent]

I am surprised no one has said this yet, your female looks receptive, not gravid. She will be darker, basically black, when she is gravid.

 

[Lizs Lizards]

She gets much darker. When I pulled her from the cage and put her in the bin she turned a lighter color. When Gravid do they stay that Darker color?

Could she maybe just be constipated then? That may sound silly but I'm about to bring her to a vet because her behavior has taken a big turn these past couple weeks and I'm a bit concerned.

She has been opening her mouth too, but showing none of thee other signs of a respiratory infection. I changed her cage up also she may be pissed about that as well.

 

[pssh]

What is her basking temp? Do you have the dirt in flower pots covered? Do you have a substrate? What do you feed her and how often? What do you gut load with?

 

[Lizs Lizards]

Her basking spot temp is around 90. There is no substrate covering the dirt in the flower pots. I feed her an average of 6-8 large crickets a day and gut load with kale, potatoes, carrots, and Fluker's Farms Calcium Fortified Cricket Quencher. I dust the crickets with calcium three times a week and vitamins once a week.
Thank you for your help I appreciate a seasoned vet's perspective.

 

[pssh]

Her basking spot temp is around 90. There is no substrate covering the dirt in the flower pots. I feed her an average of 6-8 large crickets a day and gut load with kale, potatoes, carrots, and Fluker's Farms Calcium Fortified Cricket Quencher. I dust the crickets with calcium three times a week and vitamins once a week.
Thank you for your help I appreciate a seasoned vet's perspective.

If she is receptive then you want to lower herbasking temp now so she won't make as many eggs. Bring it down to 80-83. She may have been opening her mouth because it was too hot. Also, higher temps and more food equal lots of eggs. Only feed her 6 crickets three days a week. Use vitamins once a month and use a calcium with d3 twice a month. Continue with the calcium without d3 three times a week.

Cover the soil in the flower pots with screen or large river rocks so she can't accidentally eat the dirt or lay eggs in them. You need to start using more calcium rich veggies like collar greens, kale (you already are) dandelion greens, mustard greens, parsely, and use carrots occationally. Use other veggies like yams and squash too. You can use carrots like papaya and oranges and apples occationally as well. The better your bugs eat, the healthier it will make your chameleon in the long run.

Good luck. I hear girls are stressful, mines just reaching egg laying age so I guess I'll be going through the same thing soon

EDIT: I failed... I meant fruits, not carrots

 

[kinyonga]

Here clear laying bin is fine if you tape something opaque to the outsides so that when she digs a hole she can't see through the sides of the hole. You do need a branch in the container though for her to sit in when she's not digging.

What I do for all egglaying females is once they are old enough to be sexually mature, I put a small opaque container of washed playsand in the cage so she has a place to dig to show me that she's ready to lay eggs. The minimum size that this bin should be is big enough that when empty the female can fit into it with a couple of inches to spare on all sides including above and below her. Once the female starts digging in this container intently she can be moved to the larger bin.

Did your female dig in the pots at all? If not then, hopefully she has has not had to lay eggs yet and passed the time. Signs of eggbinding include but are not limited to thsi...sitting low in the cage, eyes shut during the day, may dig phantom holes (dig them and fill them in again without having laid eggs), lethargic, eyes sinking in in spite of drinking.

A female panther can change from gravid/non-receptive and back to receptive during the time she is carrying eggs...so its not surprising me that you say she's bloated but has the paler colors sometimes. I'm not a vet though and I still can't tell you for sure if she is producing/carrying eggs or not. In some of the pictures she looks plump enough that she could be producing eggs.

You said..."I should also put her back into her regular cage at night to sleep?"...I don't move them back and forth. I leave the female in the cage until she is digging intently and then I move her to the bin and leave her there until she lays her eggs as a rule. (There have been exceptions where I have had to move them back to the cage.)

You said..."She has been opening her mouth too"...this bothers me unless its when she sits in the basking area and doesn't do it at any other time.

You asked about taking her to the vets...if the vet did an x-ray at least you should know if she has eggs.

 

[summoner12]

It is important that she does not see you or anything else when she is in her laying bin. Females will not lay unless they feel secure. Seeing an animal or person makes them think the area isn't safe for digging.

I am concerned about the sand you are using. I would switch to peet moss and sand mix. I do a 60/40 mix (peet moss/sand). You want to make it wet so that it won't cave in when your girl makes her hole. I also use a 5 gallon bucket. Fill it so that there is still a rim along the top that is high enough to keep her from climbing out. I would place the bucket in an area that is quiet with no foot traffic (she'll feel the floor move) and put up a cardboard or cloth wall so she can't see anything.

I have very little issue with females completing their dig once they are setup with no disturbances.