Am I seeing the start of receptive colors 🫢

[Sonny13]

none yet, just a expedition down to poop every few days. I'm not too considered as shes still acting normal and MissSkittles girls took this long as well when they first had eggs

Mine did the same the first time and wouldn’t be worried as well.

 

[Ghostbirb]

Mine did the same the first time and wouldn’t be worried as well.

Ok awesome, cause at this point it’s ridiculous it’s been 71 days since her colors started to appear. Lol she drives me crazy

 

[Paradalis]

Nachito: Just wait for it. Waaaaaait for it. It’s gonna be your best day ever

 

[Ghostbirb]

Nachito: Just wait for it. Waaaaaait for it. It’s gonna be your best day ever

I know right lol! I feel like I’m just sitting here swinging my legs waiting XD

 

[MissSkittles]

I know right lol! I feel like I’m just sitting here swinging my legs waiting XD

The girls just do their thing naturally and we freak out about it all thru the whole thing.

 

[Sonny13]

Ok awesome, cause at this point it’s ridiculous it’s been 71 days since her colors started to appear. Lol she drives me crazy

Unbelievable and now you’re used to her being chunky, it will be scary when she has laid her eggs. The poor girl will be really skinny and wrinkled

 

[Ghostbirb]

Ok guys, today I weighed my girl and she dropped 4 grams from last Monday. She was 108.4g on the 22nd and now she’s 104.8g.
She’s held a steady increasing weight over the last two months that leveled out to about 107-108g. I even weighed her multiple times with different things for her to sit on and they all came out the same, 104.8g
Her appetite also hasn’t changed in anyway.
Do you think I should be concerned?

 

[Sonny13]

Did she poop today or yesterday? I wouldn’t find it directly alarming, but I also never monitored her weight that closely.

 

[Ghostbirb]

Did she poop today or yesterday? I wouldn’t find it directly alarming, but I also never monitored her weight that closely.

I don’t believe so, i didn’t find any fresh pops when I looked

 

[MissSkittles]

Just keep monitoring her. She might do as mine did and reabsorb her eggs.

 

[Sonny13]

I don’t believe so, i didn’t find any fresh pops when I looked

Was just out of curiosity and could have explained the small weight reduction.

 

[Ghostbirb]

Was just out of curiosity and could have explained the small weight reduction.

Ya I thought that too.

 

[Paradalis]

I hope it’s nothing.

 

[Ghostbirb]

Hey guys, I would love to hear your opinion on this; if Nachito doesn’t lay or anything by mid February, should I take her to the vet to 1. X-ray her to see if she still cooking or if she reabsorbed, and 2. See if her legs swelling is still there

 

[Sonny13]

That’s never a bad idea, because it’s taking pretty long by now (not that I‘m saying alarming). What’s her weight doing?
An x-ray will not alone show reabsorption but also if eggs are developing/developed correctly. This last part could be playing a role in this (hopefully not). But, @kinyonga is for this part subject matter expert.

 

[Ghostbirb]

That’s never a bad idea, because it’s taking pretty long by now (not that I‘m saying alarming). What’s her weight doing?
An x-ray will not alone show reabsorption but also if eggs are developing/developed correctly. This last part could be playing a role in this (hopefully not). But, @kinyonga is for this part subject matter expert.

Weight is back up to 106 grams I have no clue what’s going on there

 

[MissSkittles]

Weight is back up to 106 grams I have no clue what’s going on there

Welcome to my world! @kinyonga can shed some light on what Nachito may be doing. I long ago gave up trying to figure out what my girls are doing with their eggs. I am always ready for if they need to lay eggs, but unless they are showing signs of distress (which they haven’t), I take it as it comes.

 

[Ghostbirb]

Welcome to my world! @kinyonga can shed some light on what Nachito may be doing. I long ago gave up trying to figure out what my girls are doing with their eggs. I am always ready for if they need to lay eggs, but unless they are showing signs of distress (which they haven’t), I take it as it comes.

Ahhh I don’t want to be in your world lol, I want to unworried and things to go smoothly, but I guess nothing ever goes perfectly

 

[Sonny13]

Weight is back up to 106 grams I have no clue what’s going on there

Those girls I’m out of advice, sorry

 

[kinyonga]

@Sonny13 said “But, @kinyonga is for this part subject matter expert”…not an expert at all, I’m afraid…there’s still a lot to be learned about what happens when follicles don’t ovulate and eggs are not laid.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25393418/
In this site it says…
”In animals that failed to ovulate on their first cycle, follicles began to recede but were not fully reabsorbed and could be distinguished from a second batch of follicles based on their echogenicity.”…I’ve only seen one case of follicles being reabsorbed and not causing reproductive problems in the future…(and it was in a veiled chameleon)…but I don’t think that is the norm by any means…and I’d like to know what happened to the remains of the follicles that were not fully reabsorbed.

https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/7e194832-85f4-4e76-9878-972f112c295f/content…
In this site it says…” Resorption of postovulatory eggs in the oviduct has not been observed in squamate lizards and is likely incompatible with the functional attributes of the squamate oviduct”…
and…”Resorption of postovulatory eggs in the oviduct has not been observed in squamate lizards and is incompatible with the functional attributes of the squamate oviduct”.

”In all cases in this study, failure to lay eggs originated from the failure to ovulate. Animals that did not lay eggs during the observation period all contained large numbers of yolked follicles on both ovaries, as well as atretic follicles.”

One more site…
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/233418/1/233418.pdf
”On average, previtellogenesis lasted 4.6 ± (SD) 1.2 weeks, vitellogenesis 7.7 ± 1.1 weeks, and gravidity 5.5 weeks.“

@MissSkittles said…” @kinyonga can shed some light on what Nachito may be doing”…after all my years of keeping chameleons, I have still not figured all of this out, sadly. There seems to be very little known about what happens when the follicles don't ovulate and seem to be reabsorbed. The vets are still studying follicular stasis and dystocia.

https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/254132/1/Dervas_2024__chameleon_follicular_atresia_3_.pdf
“ohistology. While FA of previtellogenic follicles happened at a low rate, expected for a species with two germinal beds per ovary and polyautochronic reproductive pattern, atresia in the late vitellogenic stage affected entire generations of follicles, consequential to ovulatory failure.“
and…”In many animals 2–3 generations of atretic follicles were observed without indication of impairment to the development of the newest batch of follicles. Thus, follicular atresia need not necessarily lead to a pathological condition in veiled chameleons, at least not within a few consecutive cycles.“

I have to admit, I’m concerned about the time that Nachito is taking to lay her eggs…but I have seen a few cases where it turns out not to be a problem to take so long. An x-ray might help…but IMHO, usually it doesn’t seem to show well enough the information needed to predict the outcome. Keep a close eye on her and if she shows signs of decline in health, lethargy, etc, then get her to a vet asap. I don’t know what else to say. Wish I had a better answer. My fingers are crossed that you get through this with her. You’ve done very well so far with her!