Female Veiled Chameleon

FVcham

Member
Hi Guys!

I have been the happy owner of a male panther and male veiled who are both doing well. I was always reluctant to get a female due to the issues that can come out of egg laying. However, I came across a female veiled in a local reptile shop who was not in the best of conditions. She was surrendered to the shop by her previous owner and in the shop she was being kept in a very small cage (smaller than the chameleon kit cage), she had no branches or plants, just wood chip substrate and a very small fake wine hanging down one side. I even asked the shop if they would at least give her a lay bin and they said she doesn't need one because she isn't around males. Long story short, I couldn't leave her there. And now I am the proud and nervous owner of a female veiled. I am submitting a summary to double check my husbandry , get suggestions (my concern is at the bottom), and I'm attaching some pics of her cage and her so that I may get some feedback from @MissSkittles or other seasoned owners of female chams.

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Female, veiled, pet store said the previous owner had her a little over a year. Been in my care 3 weeks.
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I do not handle her, she makes it very clear she does not want me around.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Feeding 3-5 feeders EO Day. Variety of dubia, silks, BSFL, crickets, and supers.
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Arcadia Earth-pro every feeding with Repashy Lo-D every other weekend. I tried the Revitalise by Arcadia but for some reason, I had a Vitamin A deficiency problem with my male veiled and switched to something with a higher level of Pre-formed vitaminn A
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I follow the chameleon academy Naturalistic hydration schedule. So mistking at night and early morning, fogger between 1:30AM -5AM and a dripper in the afternoon.
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Not tested, fecals look good (actually much improved since we brought her home) the stool is formed and the urate is white and soft formed.
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Not much previous history.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? She is in a XL reptibreeze ( my other 2 are in the dragon strand hybrids and I will eventually move her to one of these as well, but since this was an un- expected rescue of sorts, I had to go for something a little cheaper so that my husband does not leave me LOL!! )
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? T5 linear (5.0). and a 50 watt zoo med basking lamp, no color, and cant use halogen being in California. )
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Ambient averages about 75 degrees and basking is between 80-82
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Daytime humidity hangs around 30 - 40. Using a hydrometer, night time can get up to 100 due to fogging schedule.
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? All live plants, there is a large palm at the front for privacy, 5 pothos throughout the cage.
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? No vents close to the cage, the chams have their own room, none of the chams can see each other, I put a sheet up (see picture) for even more privacy because my male veiled is so high maintenance and actually makes a knocking noise on his cage when he wants out) I put the sheets up so that she would not be disturbed when I attend to his every wish and demand.
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? So Cal

Current Problem - I am just not very confident at telling if she is receptive, gravid etc. The first week of having her, she was a great eater, she would wait at her food bowl every morning (made me feel guilty on non-food days). However, she has not had anything to eat in a about 5 or 6 days despite being offered a variety of feeders. She is showing darker patters and spots (see pic), however she is not going to the bottom of the cage at all. She literally basks under the heat light all day. She does have a lay-bin it is 12 by 9 and 9 inches deep filed with semi moist, washed play sand (I perform dig tests to ensure a hole would not collapse). I know that chams will go off food when getting ready to lay but what is the average timeline? Thanks so much!!
 

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@kinyonga the two pics above are from today. Here is a close up of her limbs, this pic is from about two weeks ago, she was out when getting her cage cleaned and I added another plant.
 

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Hi don't know if it makes a big difference but the earth pro a is used with calcium pro and d3 . Back in October my girl stopped eating for 6 days b4 laying at present she's nine days in showing dark gravid colours only eaten 3 of theses days and very little only b4 coaxing.
 
Hi don't know if it makes a big difference but the earth pro a is used with calcium pro and d3 . Back in October my girl stopped eating for 6 days b4 laying at present she's nine days in showing dark gravid colours only eaten 3 of theses days and very little only b4 coaxing.
Thanks so much! Yes, I was following the Arcadia supplement schedule, I just made the switch for a higher pre-formed A content because one of my boys presented with a vitamin a deficiency and required an injection to solve an eye and tongue issue. I'll give it some more time and probably try the Arcadia rotation schedule again. During the 6 days of being off food was your girl going to the bottom much? Was she basking a lot? Mine literally is basking all day right now, not moving much. Just wondering as both my boys are pretty active. Thanks so much!
 
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Her first clutch early last year was her first and in an exo terra semi bio and down all the time. Last clutch first in a repti breeze with plant pots she actually started laying up in the foliage I then collected eggs as noticed i dug a starter hole in her lay bin and placed eggs there and she then went down and lay bin. Currently she hasn't been down as far as I have noticed ( must get a nanny cam) she is due to go the toilet and always goes to the lay bin for this so will see in the morning
 
Your husbandry is spot on and sounds like you’re doing everything right for her. Not knowing if she was getting proper supplementation, how much she was being fed and all of that, definitely keep a close eye on her when she does start to dig.
Do you see any little egg lumps at her back sides? Any idea how much she weighs?
 
Your husbandry is spot on and sounds like you’re doing everything right for her. Not knowing if she was getting proper supplementation, how much she was being fed and all of that, definitely keep a close eye on her when she does start to dig.
Do you see any little egg lumps at her back sides? Any idea how much she weighs?
Hi and thank you so much! I do not see any little lumps at her back sides. She weighs 76 grams. I know at the pet store they put a handful of calcium dusted crickets in her cage everyday. Not a whole lot of other info than that. They did try to convince me that she needed a 150 watt heat bulb because she was a "desert animal"!!!!!!!!! so I am assuming her temps at the store were much higher than mine. Could the drop in temp have to do with why she basks all day long? Maybe the temp drop could be why she's gone off food if she isn't ready to lay quite yet, do you think? Thank SOOOO much!! I appreciate your time and expertise!!
 
@MissSkittles when I took her out to get her weight, she got into the perfect pose for pictures of her belly. Do you think she might have eggs? I know pics can only do so much. Thanks so much!
 

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@MissSkittles when I took her out to get her weight, she got into the perfect pose for pictures of her belly. Do you think she might have eggs? I know pics can only do so much. Thanks so much!
She is a bit round. I’d guess she’s working on some. Keep your husbandry perfect, weigh her once every week or 2 and just stay alert.
The change in temps could definitely have to do with her appetite. We keep the temps no higher than 80 to help slow the metabolism a bit, so our ladies don’t feel hungry when we keep them on a diet.
 
Btw, while Yemen is thought by many of us to be a desert, it does have some lusher areas and mountains and this is where our chameleons come from. These show some of the area that they are found in the wild. *might want to turn volume down

 
Btw, while Yemen is thought by many of us to be a desert, it does have some lusher areas and mountains and this is where our chameleons come from. These show some of the area that they are found in the wild. *might want to turn volume down


I was sad to hear the reptile store was pushing 150 watt bulbs for Veiled's. They did not seem happy when I went for the much lower wattage. Is this the Wadi area in this video? Love that there is video of them in their natural habitat! There is so much of Panther's in Madagascar but we rarely get to see Veiled in Yemen (I believe due to civil war???). Thanks so much for sharing these!!
 
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