My female panther is about 7 months old now. Shes about 8 1/2" total length or 4" snout to vent, and weighs in at 50grams. She has had a recurring problem with a mucus in the back of her throat. While searching for the cause of this I'm sure she was thoroughly stressed. I was cleaning the mucus daily to prevent her from chocking. In addition she saw 4 different qualified vets, was on 4 different antibiotics at 6 different times. One of the anitbiotics was fortaz via injection. The stress it caused her was evident in her weight gain for that month, only 3 grams, and 20 the month after. What finally led to the diagnosis and eventual cure was a tracheal wash. From that a 3rd bacterial culture was taken, and meds given, it seems to have cleared now.
The day after she came back from the tracheal wash was the first time I saw her display her "gravid" coloration. I gave her two days to calm down from the prcedure and then she was put in her laying container for a day. She wasnt interested in digging, even after 12 hours, so I put her back into her cage for the night. That was two weeks ago, and she has been pacing the cage. If shes near the bottom and I walk into the room, she darts back up to the top of her plant. Shes has been in the laying bin porlly 6-7 times in the two weeks for long periods each time, and still nothing. I've tried to feel for the eggs but really all I feel are her ribs. Where her ovaries are located it is dense, but I cannot determine any individual shapes. She looks quite fat though and is still quite interested in food.
I know I'm probably just over concerned, but I dont want her to become egg bound. Do they normally show the "gravid" color all the time? Is it a positive indicator of an upcoming clutch, or a sign or maturation? Should I be concerned if she shows this color and doesn't want to dig? And if so what can I do?
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated as this is my first female cham. I would hate to loose her to something like egg binding after she survived a URI that lasted for 2 and a half months.
The day after she came back from the tracheal wash was the first time I saw her display her "gravid" coloration. I gave her two days to calm down from the prcedure and then she was put in her laying container for a day. She wasnt interested in digging, even after 12 hours, so I put her back into her cage for the night. That was two weeks ago, and she has been pacing the cage. If shes near the bottom and I walk into the room, she darts back up to the top of her plant. Shes has been in the laying bin porlly 6-7 times in the two weeks for long periods each time, and still nothing. I've tried to feel for the eggs but really all I feel are her ribs. Where her ovaries are located it is dense, but I cannot determine any individual shapes. She looks quite fat though and is still quite interested in food.
I know I'm probably just over concerned, but I dont want her to become egg bound. Do they normally show the "gravid" color all the time? Is it a positive indicator of an upcoming clutch, or a sign or maturation? Should I be concerned if she shows this color and doesn't want to dig? And if so what can I do?
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated as this is my first female cham. I would hate to loose her to something like egg binding after she survived a URI that lasted for 2 and a half months.
