I Think She's Gonna Pop

[theresaintucson]

My ambanja has been pacing around in her cage, exploring the plants on the cage floor and throwing dark colors. I'm setting up the bin today, thanks to jann's blog.
The eggs will be infertile as she's never been bred. Wish me luck, this is the first time I've ever had a cham lay eggs.

 

[KatCham]

Good luck.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Dont worry too much. Its really not the huge ordeal some make it out to be. Just be sure to have a nice sized bin. I use old reused planter buckets from the nursery. So far my females lay like clockwork in them. They are solid colored so they cant see out and feel secure. You may want to place a sheet or shower curtain around the cage so she wont think she's being watched. Other than that, make sure your soil is moist not soggy and leave the lady alone til she's done. Afterwards, mist her heavily for a good 10-15 mins and let her clean her eyes and drink. Then the next morning give her some dusted feeders and let her recover.

 

[theresaintucson]

After setting up the "birthing chamber" I got Bacall out and tried to weigh her. She didn't want to let go of me so the weighing didn't happen. I palpitated her belly, but felt nothing like eggs. I think maybe she's just chubby? She's about 8 1/2 months old.
Maybe I jumped the gun?

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I'd still leave the bin in there if she's acting weird. But I can say I have always seen the bag of marbles look for a cpl of weeks prior to laying. And they also normally go off feed for a few days prior to birthing also.

 

[theresaintucson]

For my purposes, I'm going to continue this thread.
Is she gravid or just a full bodied girl?
MY SET UP:
24x24x48 inch screen sided cage. Some fake vines. Branch inserted into bucket should she need to climb out.
5 gallon bucket filled 12 inches with mixture of sand, organic soil and eco stuff. Mixture is wet enough to hold dig a tunnel without collapsing. I used a spoon to start a tunnel all the way to the bottom.
I covered the cage with bamboo blinds, on 3 sides. The front is covered with a sheet. The cage is in a quiet sun room, no other cages or animals in it. UVB lamp, basking lamp and mister in place.
MY CHAMELEON:
Bought at a reptile show from LLL Reptiles. Approx. 4 months of age. I've had her since then. Vet check indicated she's healthy.
Never bred.
Can't get her weighed as she holds onto me or immediately scrambles out of the bowl on the scale.
COLORATION: Dark peach with very dark, almost black bars. Usual color is much lighter with very light bars.
I showed her a male today and she got even darker.
I put her in the bin set up at 2 p.m. today.

 

[theresaintucson]

I'd still leave the bin in there if she's acting weird. But I can say I have always seen the bag of marbles look for a cpl of weeks prior to laying. And they also normally go off feed for a few days prior to birthing also.

Thinking I'm wrong about the egg laying. I fed her 6 crickets yesterday and she gobbled them up. So her appetite is still there.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I have a female mitsio thats a virgin. She's around 15-18 months and she's never had an infertile clutch. I'd just watch her closely and see how things go.

 

[theresaintucson]

My ambanja Peach, hasn't used the laying bin nor bothered to explore it as far as I can tell. She's high on a branch in the cage. This is Day 2 of her confinement to the birthing cage.
I think she's just a fatty ambanja. I'll give her a few more days in that cage.

 

[jandie]

it's quite possible that she has egg follicles but not any calcified eggs.... this just being from personal experience with my ankaramy... she was in gravid colors, gaining some "plump", slightly less activity and i was counting days with the calendar from the day spent with her "boyfriend"...lol...started getting worried because of the length of time, so i took her into the vet and we did the xrays and all of that... no calcified eggs, just follicles that he said would most likely be re-absorbed. but clearly all of the signs...had even spent a little time digging in the pot in her cage (not the laying bin set up for her in her cage mind you...lol)... and nope...no eggs....

don't know if that might be what's going on with your girl....but that's what happened with ours.