Are female veiled chameleons a lot harder to keep than males??

[shazz]

Hi I need some advice! I was supposed to be getting a young male veiled this weekend, but unfortunatly they were not well and the breeder decided to not let them go. I have just been offered a young female, I have heard they are harder to look after than males. Can anyone advice me on this? many thanks
Sharron

 

[jannb]

I have two veileds, one male and one female. I am ALWAYS worrying about my female with the egg laying that they can do; with or without a male even being around. They can become egg bound and die......I see it on here all the time. I worry about her temps and the amount of food I feed her all the time, trying to prevent her from laying a clutch. Here's a link on some great info on keeping a female. http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

If it's your first chameleon I would highly recommend a male. Jann

 

[chameleon97]

Females are definately harder. I recently lost a female from egg binding.

BTW, do you know Miss Lilly? shes from Isle of Wight, too.

-Steve

 

[Miss Lily]

Females are definately harder. I recently lost a female from egg binding.

BTW, do you know Miss Lilly? shes from Isle of Wight, too.

-Steve

Cheers, Steve - yes, Sharron and I have already been in touch!


Firsst tiem owners are usually advised to go with a male, but I had a female as my first cham, and I never regretted it once. I didn't know back then to restrict the diet and keep temps cooler. Maybe if I had, she would still be here. Anyway, I now have one of each, and at 10 months old Amy is yet to lay a clutch, although I think she maybe working on her first as we speak. I find the egg laying thing very exciting and awe-inspiring, but also highly stressful! It is sooo tempting to watch them, but you shouldn't - I ended up making cards and pacing the floor whilst she was laying that clutch! I now think I know how a man feels whilst his other half is in labour, lol!

I think that maybe you should meet a few and see which one you feel is right for you, whether it be a male or female. I know that seeing a few is not very easily done on this Island! I had to go to the mainland as LFBP didn't have any babies at the time I wanted one, but I still got to mett a few females and choose for myself. I chose Amy as she was the first to climb onto me and she also had similar markings to my dear Lily.

They key to everything with chams is to do your homework first before you get one! I know that you have done this and your cage is all set up and ready. I wish you luck in your search for a baby cham.

 

[Jason H]

I would definitely not get a female. The first cham I got was a female a year ago and I lost her from being egg bound, buy the time she layed them she was too weak to live. With a male you won't have to worry about this.

 

[shazz]

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who has responded to this thread. I will continue my search for a young male cham

 

[sandrachameleon]

Honestly I do NOT find females to be much more difficult than males. And a female veiled can be kept such that she doesnt even need to lay eggs.

 

[Clifford]

Females are great, but For a first timer, a male is likely best.

 

[summoner12]

Look I know females are more difficult.... BUT if you do your research and you set the cage up how it should be set, your fine. Yes females lay eggs.... why do they have issues? because something isn't right. Do they drop dead in the wild cause they are egg bound? NO. If you do your reading, you set up the cage without the animal... you ask people to look at it and give you ideas and get the temps, lighting and plants ready before she comes... and you follow some basic care tips that need to be followed when keeping a female, you'll do just fine. The freak out about being egg bound I think is over played. I have several females, you just have to watch their weight gains and feeding habits. You can tell when a female has eggs. when you can see them, it's about time to lay.

Don't be freaked out by the dramatic replies.

I think you'll be OK with a female veiled.