Gravid Female Help

[quikksilver8]

Hi I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my female but my question is how long after you notice they are gravid will they lay their eggs. The other thing I noticed with her is she will only eat if i hand feed her. Its like she cant shoot her tongue verry far any more. Any advice will be greately appreciated.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Your female.......

Is she moving around normally? Does she walk correctly (not wobbling or trembling)? How did you figure out she was gravid? Is she super fat with visible eggs? Or is it just her coloration that makes you think she is gravid? If she looks fat you should have an appropriate egg laying container in her cage now. What is the supplementation routine for her? How much and how often is she getting calcium and D3? Answers to these questions can help us figure out if the tongue/eating issue is related to the gravid condition.

 

[quikksilver8]

She is moving around but does tremble. She is fat and showing colors. I have an egg laying container at the bottom of her cage. I gut load all her crickets (when she accepts them) and dust them with either herptivite or repti cal calcium with d3.

 

[bg77]

Any Repcal w/out D-3? And what is the schedule of the supplements?

 

[quikksilver8]

not without d3. Se only eats about 1 cricket a day so i alternate the dusting

 

[quikksilver8]

Ok i called my local breeder and he said the reason she cant shoot her tongue out is because she is dehydrated. So I immediately misted the cage and sure enough she started drinking right away. My question is why has she been drinking from the bubble stump all this time and now that she is gravid suddenly stopped.

 

[lbesok]

I believe the typical gestation period for Veilds is around 30 days. I would recommend trying to give her a shower once or twice a day to help alleviate the dehydration. Chameleons usually don't accept a standing water source, which are notorious for bacterial growth. A plain calcium powder without D3 is important, for frequent dusting this one was recommended to me last week without phosphorous:
http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=119
From this thread if you are interested:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/rep-cal-herptivite-6137/
The powder with D3 should be reserved for every 2-3 weeks (someone correct me if I'm wrong pertaining to gravid females)

 

[kinyonga]

quikksilver8...you said..."Hi I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my female"...what do you mean by this?

You said..."how long after you notice they are gravid will they lay their eggs"...if the female was mated and its the first time...it could be quicker than the normal 30 days depending on where she is in her cycle, If you are meaning that she never was mated but only started showing the colors...its even harder to say how long it will be.

You said..."I noticed with her is she will only eat if i hand feed her. Its like she cant shoot her tongue verry far any more"...that could be due to dehyration as the breeder said or it could be due to a mineral imbalance/MBD...or maybe even due to an injury. You said that she also trembles...you aren't referring to the jerky back and forth movements they make when walking on a branch and they see you watching them are you? Does she show any signs of MBD...crooked casque, what looks like an extra elbow above the real elbow, flexible jaw, inability to lift her body off the branch when walking along, etc.?

You said..."She is fat and showing colors"...if she is VERY fat, then she may have trouble laying her eggs if she is carrying a huge clutch and lacking calcium.

You said..."I have an egg laying container at the bottom of her cage"...has she shown any interest in it? How long do you think she has been gravid?

You said..."I gut load all her crickets (when she accepts them)"...what do you gutload them with?

You said..."dust them with either herptivite or repti cal calcium with d3"...does she have a UVB light or get exposure to sunlight? (Neither should pass through glass or plastic.) Exposure to UVB allows the chameleon to produce vitamin D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system. If your chameleon is only under UVB lights (gets no direct sun) then it may need some phos.-free calcium/D3 powder dusted on the insects a couple of times a month. D3 from supplements can build up in the system, so caution is advised. D3 from UVB should be okay if the proper light is used and the chameleon can move out of the light.

I dust my insects with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at most feedings. Most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos. so this helps to make up for it.

I use vitamin powder with a beta carotene source of vitamin A twice a month on the insects before I feed them to my chameleon. Beta carotene won't build up in the system like preformed vitamin A will. Its possible that not all species of chameleon can convert beta carotene to preformed vitamin A...so some people use a little preformed once in a while. Excess preformed vitamin A will prevent the D3 from doing its job and can lead to MBD.

Appropriate temperatures allow for good digestion...thus play a part in nutrient absorption.

You said..."Se only eats about 1 cricket a day so i alternate the dusting"...iif that's all she is eating, I would dust the crickets with a phos.-free calcium powder every time.

You said..."why has she been drinking from the bubble stump all this time and now that she is gravid suddenly stopped"...can't tell you why...but I can tell you that its difficult to keep things like fountains and bubble stumps bacteria free...so I never use them.

Hopefully your chameleon will start digging soon and lay the eggs without a problem. Its advised that you don't let her see you watching her when she is digging or she may abandon the hole. If this happens repeatedly, she could become eggbound. She may dig the same hole more than one time or she may dig several test holes before she choses one to lay the eggs in. Let her finish filling the hole in and return to the branches before you dig up the eggs.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Gravid Female....

The tongue issue combined with your answer to my question about trembling leads me to believe she is having a calcium issue. Very gravid females can "all of the sudden" show the signs (trembling, tongue issues, pliable jaw bones) of calcium deficiency. It's not really a sudden development. Her body has taken awhile to reach this point but the symptoms finally become visible to you (the keeper). I really recommend that you get her to the vet right away if you can do this. Once the signs become visible they progress very rapidly. She may not be able to lay her eggs. Even if she lays her eggs she may die soon afterwards from the effort. I see you live in Tampa. Can you stick her in the sun for a few hours a day until you can get her to the vet? Don't go crazy on the calcium/D3 supplementation until you can get a vet to confirm what is going on with her. Supplement her but get her some real sun too. I really recommend a vet visit for her......

 

[quikksilver8]

kinyonga thank you for replying with such detail and paradise girl for following up. My female has shown no interest in the egg laying container. I have been hand feeding her more. A mixture of wax worms and crickets is all she accepts. I just got some calcium powder without d3 and am also givinge her herptivite. But what do I do about the tongue thing. She has been drinking I've watched her. She looks healthy. Eyes open clear nostrils and here veil is seems to look good (no dents or anything) her elbows and joints also seem fine. The trembling I was talking about was not the shaking motion its more like it looks like she is struggling to lift herself sometimes because of the added weight. O and she deffinitely has been mated.

 

[kinyonga]

A trip to the vets to determine what her problem with the tongue is would be a good idea. They can test for calcium levels, etc. Its just unfortunate that you this is happening when she's gravid...but if it is a calcium problem, it might affect her egglaying abilities. How many days ago did she mate?

If its a lack of calcium, the vet can give her injections until the blood levels are high enough and then give her a shot of calcitonin to bring her levels back quickly.