am i overthinking it?

[wontbme]

so my chameleon has been on the floor for about... 20 mins? her feet are sort of on the cage, and on the floor. she's been walking around and what-not, which is bugging me.
could SHE be in egg-laying stage? she is according to my math about 7 months old (jan 28 was her birthdate according to seller) so 6 1/2 but i say 7 because the seller was a little sketchy on the exact date. (he just said 3 months ago, purchased her when she was 3... lol)
anyway.
she's 7 months and shes chilling an awful lot on the floor, she doesnt seem chubby to me but i could be wrong. as im typing this i'm looking back and she is going back down looking at a grape on the floor. i'm typing without looking... lol

i habe a bucket full of sand and soil from the petstore that i mixed.
will she use it? or do i need a specific material?
the bucket is like two feet high and... 1 1/2 feet in diameter

 

[wontbme]

an extra note, i've heard that (this is an example dont take it literally)
that feeding a sexually mature female cham, when feeding, it is better to feed her 2 crickets every other day, instead of 1 every day, is this true? (essentially it is 1.5x every other day)
in order to prevent less clutches, according to someone.
i hope i'm not under feeding her either..

i'm feeding crickets that are gutloaded with mostly oranges for hydration and calcium.

i dust every month with D3 and calc (because of oranges i dont need to do it every day)

 

[kinyonga]

Assuming you mean a veiled chameleon...2 crickets every second day is not enough IMHO. It should be more like 7 or 8 every second day.

You need to gutload/feed your insects a better diet...see below for information on that.

You said..."i dust every month with D3 and calc (because of oranges i dont need to do it every day) "...are you saying that you only dust once a month with it?? Can you post some photos please...I'm concerned that your female may have MBD.

Here's some information that I hope will help...
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium). Not sure how to tell you to dust WC insects if that is what you will be doing.

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

 

[wontbme]

she doesn't have mbd, and if you read the parenthesis she is not getting fed 2 crickets (LOL) sorry i said she was 7 months... she'd be dead by now.

anyway,
my temps are fine, i have a humidifier, the cage size is honestly too big for a female cham's requirenments (if thats even possible)

aaaand i meant D3 every month not the calcium, sorry i guess i type too fast.
is d3 monthly too much?

she eats about....
10-15 crickets daily, i honestly dont count i just eye-ball. if there is too many in the cage (like say 25+) i just wont feed the next day IF she eats them all. if not i take them out so she doesnt eat them at night.

my crickets are gutloaded random fruits and vegetables that i find around the house.
mostly oranges for the hydration.

i force feed my cham with a spoon veggies that she can chew. (no i dont forcefeed, chill)
for instance i left a cucumber slice on one of her branches and she took some serious bites into it, she didnt eat it all, i guess because it dried up.
but i dont really rely on doing some crazy gutload. i'd rather get her the vitamins she needs through veggies.
she's never been bad about eating fruits and veggies, although fruits have always been hard to feed, which is whyh i give my crickets fruit.

ANYWAY. after observing her, i'm willing to believe she does have eggs in her.
is my bucket not good for her?

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."she doesn't have mbd"...how often do you dust with calcium powder and which specific one do you use?

You said..."if you read the parenthesis she is not getting fed 2 crickets (LOL)"..I did read it...just didn't get what you meant. Feeding twice as much every second day is no different than feeding her half as much every day. Its not dropping the feedings back to every second day that helps to control the clutch size...its cutting down on the amount she is fed so that she isn't starving but not being fed too much either.

You said..."is d3 monthly too much?"...D3 once a month should be fine.

You sadi..."she eats about....
10-15 crickets daily, i honestly dont count i just eye-ball. if there is too many in the cage (like say 25+) i just wont feed the next day IF she eats them all. if not i take them out so she doesnt eat them at night"...if you overfeed her she could produce large clutches and wear herself out.



You said..."i dont really rely on doing some crazy gutload. i'd rather get her the vitamins she needs through veggies"...the greens and veggies I listed are not crazy.

You said..."ANYWAY. after observing her, i'm willing to believe she does have eggs in her. is my bucket not good for her? "...the bucket sounds fine. I prefer to use washed playsand though....but all that's important is that she likes it. (Do not let her see you watching her if/when she is digging though.)

 

[wontbme]

i havent personally seen her even attempt it to be honest.

also, the gutload i meant for the crickets. it's too much money wasted on crickets. i give them what she wont eat, and the rest goes straight through her, to prevent filtering of calcium and vitamins through cricket ingestion

also, you mean ALL playsand? where can i find that?

 

[camimom]

i havent personally seen her even attempt it to be honest.

also, the gutload i meant for the crickets. it's too much money wasted on crickets. i give them what she wont eat, and the rest goes straight through her, to prevent filtering of calcium and vitamins through cricket ingestion

also, you mean ALL playsand? where can i find that?

You can get playsand at walmart.

 

[wontbme]

so is pure playsand the preffered method for a laying bin?

what is the importance of a plant inside the cage? Can i just get strong twigs from outside? are leaves necessary? my cham really doesn't seem to enjoy eating leaves that much. i give her very moist fruit like cucumbers and she really enjoys eating them.

 

[camimom]

so is pure playsand the preffered method for a laying bin?

what is the importance of a plant inside the cage? Can i just get strong twigs from outside? are leaves necessary? my cham really doesn't seem to enjoy eating leaves that much. i give her very moist fruit like cucumbers and she really enjoys eating them.

Some people just use sand, others mix. go find jannbs blog on lay bins, you can get all your info you need there.
The plant in the cage is for a couple things. 1- it provides a more natural home for them. 2- it can keep humidity up, which is hard to keep steady in a mesh cage. 3- it gives them something to munch on if they want to (side note- my guy munches his pothos once in a while) 4- you can give fruist and veggies if they will eat it, the plants are mainly just for for first 2 things i said.

 

[wontbme]

so will real wood branches and what-not be fine then for the humidity? the hiding and whatnot. she has these leaves, fake ones, that she loves hiding behind. she never uses anything else. and i have fake ones to cover where im hoping she is digging in. i havent looked just incase she abbandons it.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."the rest goes straight through her, to prevent filtering of calcium and vitamins through cricket ingestion"...??? What does this mean?

Here's the playsand that I use and have used for years...
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/king-play-sand-20kg/902209

Again....
You said..."i dust every month with D3 and calc (because of oranges i dont need to do it every day) "...are you saying that you only dust once a month with it?? Can you post some photos please...I'm concerned that your female may have MBD.

You said.."it's too much money wasted on crickets"...do you mean gutloading crickets is a waste?? How do you expect your chameleon to be healthy if you feed it insects that aren't healthy or nutritious?

 

[wontbme]

You said..."the rest goes straight through her, to prevent filtering of calcium and vitamins through cricket ingestion"...??? What does this mean?

Here's the playsand that I use and have used for years...
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/king-play-sand-20kg/902209

Again....
You said..."i dust every month with D3 and calc (because of oranges i dont need to do it every day) "...are you saying that you only dust once a month with it?? Can you post some photos please...I'm concerned that your female may have MBD.

You said.."it's too much money wasted on crickets"...do you mean gutloading crickets is a waste?? How do you expect your chameleon to be healthy if you feed it insects that aren't healthy or nutritious?

what i'm saying is that my chameleon is an omnivore and i'd rather have her meet her needs naturally than artificially gutloading crickets. my crickets eat potatoes and oranges, thats about it. they are very healthy and very clean.

i dust with calc D3 once a month, and calc every other day, or so.

she loves vegetables but seems intimidated by apples and what-not.
im not sure why.
my chameleon is healthy. she doesn't have mbd. i'd post a picture but i dont have my camera anymore.

i've checked her, she moves around all the time (probably looking for a spot to lay? i really dont know)
she has no problem going on my hand if i tease her with worms. and her grip is very strong. i've dropped her ONCE and she fell on my bed. (it was a 2~ foot drop) this was when she was around 3-4 months. ever since then she's learned to grip herself with her tail, otherwise she wouldve fallen on my huge cage and REALLY done some damage.


i'd be extremely upset if she got hurt. i'm not one to hurt a pet. i hate ignorant people. my ignorance isn't... well i'm not all-knowing and i don't claim to be. but the things i do know are:

my cham is healthy
she's currently carrying eggs (ok im 75% sure, she is very chubby and has been going everywhere lately. i've dug a whole in her bucket and it's VERY solid, it doesn't implode at all. i dug about... 4 inches and was hoping her to keep going herself)


note: is it normal for a female veiled to have blue? mine does and i never knew i'd see it. i was told female chams get brown and what-not. not blue.

also, today i saw my cham... well.. there was a cricket RIGHT infront of her. and she didn't see it? or care for it? i know she's not blind because she hisses at me LOL. but uh, i put my hand where the cricket was so she'd see it and she just let it run off? idk wether to worry or not

i havent fed her too much lately. maybe 5-7 crickets a day to lower her clutch sizes.

 

[kinyonga]

Wontbme..."i'd rather have her meet her needs naturally than artificially gutloading crickets"...feeding the crickets well keeps the crickets healthy...its what the crickets eat naturally so its not artifical.

You said..."is it normal for a female veiled to have blue? "...do you mean dots?

You said..."there was a cricket RIGHT infront of her. and she didn't see it? or care for it? i know she's not blind because she hisses at me LOL. but uh, i put my hand where the cricket was so she'd see it and she just let it run off? idk wether to worry or not"...if she's gravid and near egglaying she might not be hungry.

You said..."i havent fed her too much lately. maybe 5-7 crickets a day to lower her clutch sizes"...when a female is already pregnant the clutch size is already set....its a couple of days after the eggs are laid that you have to worry about the clutch size.

 

[wontbme]

Wontbme..."i'd rather have her meet her needs naturally than artificially gutloading crickets"...feeding the crickets well keeps the crickets healthy...its what the crickets eat naturally so its not artifical.

You said..."is it normal for a female veiled to have blue? "...do you mean dots?

You said..."there was a cricket RIGHT infront of her. and she didn't see it? or care for it? i know she's not blind because she hisses at me LOL. but uh, i put my hand where the cricket was so she'd see it and she just let it run off? idk wether to worry or not"...if she's gravid and near egglaying she might not be hungry.

You said..."i havent fed her too much lately. maybe 5-7 crickets a day to lower her clutch sizes"...when a female is already pregnant the clutch size is already set....its a couple of days after the eggs are laid that you have to worry about the clutch size.

ah okay. thanks for the help. and by artificial i meant that "cricket crack: or w/e.
anyway, by blue, sure spots not like, entirely blue. but she has blue spots on her back and a nice blue stripe on her crown.
it looks amazing but i never expected it

 

[kinyonga]

Sounds like receptive coloration but I can't be sure without a photo.

 

[PeriTanz]

just potatoes and oranges are not a sufficient calcium rich gutload. Maybe do some research on good veggies to gutload with. You just feed whatever extra is laying around? I'm assuming you watch out for items that are high in oxalic acid and block natural calcium absorption. Its ridiculous to say you concerned about the cost of cricket food. What they eat is what you cham eats!

Could you borrow a camera to post a picture?