Im thinking gravid?

[Phoenix]

Hey guys, been a while since i last posted, which can only mean things have been going well. Murph is happier now after her spring clean, and i think is showing signs of being gravid with the orange colouration. If u guys can have a look and let me know what u think, be much apreciated.

jamie, murph

 

[kinyonga]

Here's a site that might be of interest to you...
http://www.angelfire.com/fl/chameleons/veiled/veiled.html

 

[Phoenix]

Ok guys bit concerned now, murph has gotten more of the orange markings tied with being gravid, shes getting a bit restless moving around the top of her cage like superman from time to time, looks like she flying shes moving so quick lol. she hasnt eaten any of her normal feeders last 2 days, although ive put a few crickets inside her flex which seem to have gone (hopefully eaten). Ive got a 2 large live plants inside her cage which are housed in 8inch deep by 10inch wide pots, which contian top soil and are moist. Along side that there is another wide and quite deep container at one side, which consists of a mixture of washed play sand and top soil again moist and compact well enough so if she decided to dig it would stand up and not fold in on her. But i have yet to witness her climb towards the bottom of any of her plants or the digging site, theres plenty of vines leading down its covered so there is plenty of privacy for her, anything im doing wrong or is it a case of continuing to water and add a few feeders and hope for the best. Her temp are normal above 85 on her hot spot and around 75-85 at her cool end, humitidy is kept to around 55-65 with use of cool air humidifier water changed every 2 days, worried for her as u can imagine. shes in good colour, not agressive at all, her poo/wee is good colour. What if anything am i doing wrong guys,

Jamie

 

[kinyonga]

Do you have a container in the cage where she could dig if she needed to, to show you that she wants to lay eggs?

 

[Phoenix]

yes there is 3 options available to her, she has 2 large plant pots with a mixture of play sand and top soil, and also another large container for her which also contains the same mixture

 

[Phoenix]

Took some new pics of murph today, i think she might be gravid, she just keeps growing

jamie

 

[Julirs]

How old is Murph? She is showing the same coloring of my female that I am also wondering that she may be gravid. Murph looks a bit further along though!

 

[Cherron]

Sure looks gravid to me! That flap of skin by her front right shoulder is odd looking though.. not saying it isn't normal.. i have no idea.. but not something I have seen on any of my females.

Make sure that you are giving her plenty of calcium and keeping her hydrated and that you have a laying container in her cage.

 

[Will Hayward]

The "skin flap" around the neck is called gular edema. It happens from time to time in gravid females, but can happen regardless. It is an intracellular buildup, potentially from over-supplementation. However- from what I understand, females that have it when pregnant usually have it dissipate faster as they draw for the needed nutrients for their eggs and recovery after laying. It should be something that you are keeping a keep eye on and think about altering your supplement schedule.

 

[Phoenix]

Thanks for the info on the "flap of skin", she currently gets pure calcuim given to her 4 times a week with nutrol bol vitamin suplment once on sunday. she continues to eat and her wee is white with very tiny hint of orange, she's got plenty of options for her to lay in her flex, so i guess i just hope and keep u guys posted. murph is now about 9-10 months old

 

[boothy]

WOOW 4 dustings a week is quite abit for a female, the more calcium the more eggs she will make so try movin her down to about 2 a week with 8 crickets a day and the odd silkie and butter worms , my female usually lays clutchs of 40 to 45 eggs when using this methode, and i find she will only stop eating for 2 or 3 days befor laying eggs not the usual 4 or 5 days so iv seen a big difference with cutting back on the clacium but dont cut back to much cause then she could be exposed to mbd

 

[kinyonga]

boothy said..."the more calcium the more eggs she will make"...that's a new one to me! The number of eggs set is not due to the amount of calcium in a female's diet. Calcium is not only important for the eggs, its important for the muscles (and other things)....and since muscles are involved in the egg laying, you don't want the chameleon to be short. I'm not saying that you can't overdo it....but IMHO it would be better to be a little on the high side than the low side when the female is gravid. (If any vets disagree with this, I would like to hear from them.)

If your veiled chameleon is laying 40 to 45 eggs, its more likely that you are feeding her too much and keeping her temperatures too high. IMHO, you are likely shortening her life by having her produce such large clutches too.

I don't dust 4 times a week with calcium....usually only two or three times....but that doesn't mean that it wrong.

Phoenix...I hope your chameleon will lay her eggs alright!

 

[Will Hayward]

I dust at pretty much all feedings, just to a much lesser degree to those of you that dust only a few times a week. After all, the calcium is ther to make up for what they are lacking from the wild- why not supply it on a more constant basis.

 

[Phoenix]

well nothing yet guys, she eating and drinking well, ive cut back a little on the dustings vitamins once a week with calcium dusting slighty on 2 feedings all spread out nicely. she has picked up her appitite more these last few days, but not yet seen her venture down or even seem like shes looking. Her bio's are all are normal. Would u adivse maybe cleaning her viv as its about that time now for her 6 weekly clean?. Nothing i can add to be honest, her temps are all good, humitidy is between 50-65 kept up with a humidifier. Its been about 3 months now since i got her and as far as im aware its her first clutch.

any idea on an average time for a non fertile clucth from beginning to laying? id say its been about 3.5 weeks since she started showing her gravid colours.

Jamie

 

[Phoenix]

It was nice and sunny over the weekend so i took the chance to allow murph some sunshine in the nice heat, ive taken some photos and as u can c shes very pregnant, but still hasnt look or even attempted to dig, dont know whats going on

 

[Cherron]

Sheesh that girl is MASSIVE! Is she still eating and drinking well?

I think that maybe I would go ahead and put her in her egg laying chamber and leave her for a day, completely undisturbed, perhaps she'll start digging then.

Wow!

 

[Phoenix]

she she is still eating and drinking well, all be it a small feed although she still has got a massive apitite, so u think i should lay her in a chamber and she if she digs. would that be inside her flex or just litterly put her in a 5 gallon container with a tree in and leve her b for the day? there is lots of places for her to dig in her flex, but really at a loss of what to do now

jamie

 

[Will Hayward]

Esh, she is going to be quite emaciated after birth! I'd probably suggest looking into drugs/calcium that may help ease the muscles and stimulate laying. How long has it been since you notice she was gravid?

 

[Cherron]

I would try a day in your big egg laying container (like the one above). It can't hurt. Just don't disturb her! It can be tempting, but it can also cause her to abandon laying, become eggbound and die

Good luck with her!

 

[Phoenix]

guys, ty for the pics of the container, ill give it a few more days with the container in her flex, but in the mean time ill source a bin like the one in the photo's fill it with play sand and top soil as per source and hopefully that will tempt her. its been about 3weeks since she started to get her colours and grow as big as she is now. im just hoping as its my first cham im doing everything right! thanks all

Jamie