Cham puberty

[davemailcall]

As a chameleon ages, does their ability to hide change? Mine has gone from hanging out on the top most branches where I have a basking lamp to laying on the most bottom branches, near her food (I also have one of those flat heating pads on the bottom). She hasn't turned black or dark, but her coloring has changed considerably. She has more spots on her head and she has more noticeable vertical stripes.

Is it possible she wants to nest? I don't know her exact age, but she's about 5-6 inches long (head to tail) so I figured she was about 6months to a year.

Thanks!

 

[Cherron]

Sounds like you may have a gravid female who is hanging in the bottom of the cage looking for a place to lay her eggs. Chameleons do not have to breed to become gravid. Do you have an egg laying chamber in your enclosure? If not you need to get a container (think, large flower pot, tupperware, etc), fill it 2/3 of the way with moist sand box sand and put it in the bottom of her cage. I run branches into mine to be sure she can get into it. Make sure that the container leaves a few inches on either side of her when she is in it and is 8 or 10 inches deep. When you notice her digging in it, it will be time to move her to a container made just for egg laying. Here is a thread that shows a great egg laying chamber.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/im-thinking-gravid-4305/index2.html

Can you post pictures of her? Will you fill this out so that others can help you go over your husbandry and be sure that there are no problems?
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Also, assuming that your basking and ambient temps are within the suggested ranges (which is really easy to achieve ) the under cage heating pad is completely unnecessary and can actually be an electrocution hazard if you are misting correctly.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Take the heating pad out.
And yes, if you can post a pic of "her".
What species?

-Brad

 

[davemailcall]

The heating pad is actually not inside the cage, but underneath it. But I will remove it. I will also try and get some pictures of her in the next few days, but I will head out right now to get her an egg laying area set up. Thanks for the info! I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[kinyonga]

Does she look like this (colorwise)?
http://adcham.com/images/images-species/Ch.calyptratus/CCalyptratusGravidF1.jpg

I would take Cherron's advice and make sure she has a place to lay eggs.

 

[davemailcall]

This is Chloe. She was actually found outside in some bushes near my store. Since they are decidedly not native to Kansas, she escaped or someone let her loose. Can anyone tell about how old she is?

Her markings in the picture are slightly more green than she has been. Her head along the ridges has just recently picked up that brown tint. I went and filled a flower pot with soil/dirt/sand and set it in her cage. She has avoided it. I set her in it so that she would know it was there, and she wanted out immediately. I then put her on one of her usual perches way up high and as we speak she is lowering herself back to the bottom. In fact when I got home from work she was actually laying on the bottom of the cage.

Her colorings don't appear to be off so I'm not sure whats up with her. If it helps to diagnose, she took a really big poop. Its not any different than her usual poop other than there was more than usual. (no blood or partial insects)

 

[kinyonga]

Can you show another picture of her with her arms more straightened out please?
Does she lift her body off your hand or always rest on it?

 

[davemailcall]

As requested! She rests on your hand. She doesn't move around a whole bunch. I figured she was just nervous about being out of her cage and just not used to it. I don't handle her a bunch cuz she gets stressed out when I try to. After about 5-10 being in your hand she makes a little chirping noise but she doesn't open her mouth.

 

[davemailcall]

I also wanted to ask. If she does happen to be suffering from a calcium deficiency, how can I remedy that? Is there another way instead of coating crickets in the supplement?

 

[kinyonga]

If you take her to a vet the vet could determine if she has a calcium deficiency or not. If she does, the vet could give her shots of calcium until the blood calcium levels come up high enough to give her a shot of calcitonin which draws the calcium back into the bones rapidly.

 

[DraftDayz]

How often have you dusted the crickets with Calcium? Do you use any other supplements?