How should she look?

[JohnS]

I work in a pet shop taking care of reptiles, rodents, birds, and etc; recently, I found out that the chameleon, Wilson was not a male. Wilson, who has had his name changed to "Wendy" recently laid eggs. Since we were not aware of her gender, we didn't realize what was going on with her until we consulted a vet. So I am concerned for Wendy's well being because her color is not the "light green". She is darker (a brownish-green color) at this time. We also can see her rib cage. Is this normal? She laid her eggs about three weeks ago. Unfortunately, the pet store store she came from swore up and down that they only sold "male" pets. This is the reason why we were not aware of her pregnancy. What should we do? I have been giving her calcium power, kale, and her daily crickets. Should I be concerned? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!!!

 

[kinyonga]

You didn't say what species...but I'm assuming veiled. I have to congratulate your store for seeing a vet about her!

Veileds will often keep the dark colors for a few days/weeks after they lay the eggs. If she is eating, drinking and behaving normally (sitting high in the cage, moving around) then she is likely okay....even if she is a ribby. Can you post a picture of her please?

How many eggs did she lay? I usually feed them well for a couple of days and then cut back on the feeding to keep the clutch size low (or keep the female from producing at all). I also keep their basking area in the low 80's to slow their metabolism a bit.

You can give her crickets, superworms, locusts, roaches that have been gutloaded with greens (dandelions, collards, kale, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)...and you can feed those same greens and veggies to her (veggies cut in appropriate sizes, hard/thick stems removed from the greens) and a little bit of fruit (apple, melon, berries, pear, etc.)

Of course you can give her other insects (silkworms, waxworms once in a while, phoenix worms, etc.) too.

Dusting at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder will help to make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus found in most insects.
You can also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder and a vitamin powder with a beta carotene source of vitamin A twice a month.