Is my Female Panther Chameleon Gravid??

[Johnny84]

Hello,

I need help on finding out if my female is Gravid or not! Below are 2 pics of her...everything Ive read shes doing, but she has not laid her eggs yet! Can anyone give me some info?

Thank you!


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[Melina]

It's definitely difficult to say from the photos - have you tried to gently palpate her to see if you can feel any eggs inside? Whilst you are still unsure it is definitely best to keep a laying bin in her tank - ensure it's full of either sand or a sand/soil mix that is moist - have a go at digging a tunnel in it and make sure it stays up. If she goes down into her laying bin give her plenty of privacy to get on with the business. It can take chams several attempts before they begin the actual laying process.

Good luck!

 

[Johnny84]

Thank you! I have looked at her belly and it seems to have ball shaped things in there and at other times she doesn't look Gravid at all!!!

I will try tonight and rub her belly softly to see if I feel anything!

Is there anything else I can do (other than just wait) to see if she is ready to lay eggs??

 

[Melina]

Female chams tend to be awkward like that - sometimes they look "eggy" and sometimes not!

Other signs to look out for are descending to the bottom of her viv and starting digging behaviour and going off her food. Keep an eye on her colouring too - normally gravid females will have a much darker colouring - trying searching for female gravid colouration on Google so you get an idea of the colours to watch out for.

Make sure you keep her water intake up too as being well hydrated at this time is extremely important for female chams - eggs take a lot out of their bodies.

Apart from that it's just a wait and see i'm afraid! It's not an easy time and i found when my cham first laid eggs I was more stressed than she was!!

 

[Johnny84]

Thank you for your reply!

Hopefully she will lay some eggs soon!!