Is my female pregnant?

[CamiGirl89]

I bred my female veiled approx. 1.5 weeks ago. Since then, she has turned a much darker, almost brown/purple color when left alone in her cage. Her appetite has also decreased greatly (she is typically a pig!). When I take her out of her cage, she turns her normal happy green. She has also been spending more time around her laying bin that I place in her terrarium. I am new to this breeding business, so I just wanted to make sure this is all typical of a chameleon pregnancy! Thank you!

 

[chameleoman]

I hope this doesn't sound harsh but I don't think you should even be breeding if you don't even know what to look for in a pregnat female and you said terrium they need screen cages how old is she???? And post some pictures

 

[CamiGirl89]

We have to start somewhere, and I have been involved with reptiles for awhile. So not to sound harsh, but this is a question to help me make sure my chameleon is healthy in her pregnancy, a totally respectable concern. Also, she has a large screen terrarium that is set up for her, for chameleons can catch many respiratory disorders with glass cages. This is not my first rodeo with chameleons, just my first attempted breeding. My main wonder is their behavior. I've read books on how to breed, but I know that the people of this site will probably give me more ease of mind than reading "Your chameleon will begin to stop eating" in a book.

 

[chameleoman]

I don't see any gravid colors and yes they will stop eating when your getting close show her to your male in seperate cages so just put the cages next to eachother and take pictures of her colors and ill tell you if she's gravid or not

 

[chameleoman]

And why did you open two seperate threads!? And you never said how old is she???

 

[CamiGirl89]

She is deffinately not accepting the male anymore. I held him outside of her cage earlier today, and she turned black and did her little "You're not my type" dance. I just was a little worried since it was such a dramatic change from eating like a monster, to being incredibly picky. And she is a year old now, I absolutely love their different personalities!

 

[chameleoman]

Does she get black with robin blue spots if so than yes she's problaly getting ready to lay counting she stopped eatin order her some silkworms she need A LOT of calcium after she deposits those eggs and silkworms give just that and they are jsut a nice little snack

 

[CamiGirl89]

Ok great, I ordered her silk and hornworms, both of which are supposed to be great calcium. I'm just hoping she will lay only a few eggs since this is her first breeding, and I am a nervous chameleon mother

 

[chameleoman]

Well the only way shell lay less if like a month before you bred her, you were keeping her temps low and feedling her less shell have a small clutch but if you had temps high and fed a lot shell have a lot of eggs a.k.a. big clutch

 

[kinyonga]

From her size I would say she is carrying quite a few eggs.
When she starts digging, don't let her see you watching her...it can make them stop digging and if it happens often enough it can lead to eggbinding.
After she has laid the eggs, if it is a large clutch you may want to feed her well for two or three days and then cut back on her feeding and lower her temperatures into the low 80'sF so that the next clutch will be smaller.

 

[CamiGirl89]

Good to know. Whichever size she lays, I will be happy! She has grown quickly and is a very strong, pretty female (in my biased opinion ). The father comes from a very nice, colorful bloodline as well, and I am just so excited to see the product of this breeding!

 

[Olimpia]

Wow she looks like she could pop at any moment! Definitely a lot of eggs in that one. Mine never showed gravid colors when she was carrying, she stayed green like yours most of the time.

I recommend you get a hold of liquid calcium (something like this will work: http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/repashy-rescue-cal.html) and add that into your supplemental schedule, especially a few days after laying. I always have a little bottle of it and once a week (or twice, if she's laying) I'll inject or coat an insect with a couple drops of it and feed it off, to add a little more calcium to the diet. And afterwards, I add it to a feeder every day for 3-4 days. This is what my vet recommends, anyway.

Also, if you find that when she really looks like she needs to lay she won't really use her laying bin, you can always try something bigger and leaving her in there. Something like a kitchen trash can has worked well for me, filled with 12" of laying medium. She refused to use her laying bin so I left her in the trash can with no way out and 20 minutes later she began laying her clutch. So that's something to keep in mind if you find that she is really restless but won't use her bin. Although my panther beat me to it this last time and laid her eggs in a plant instead! So they can be picky about where they lay.

Best of luck!

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. This is a great place to learn about chameleons. I agreed that she is carrying eggs. Often my girls will continue to eat right up till they lay. I keeps veileds and panthers and have a little experience with egg laying with both. I have a couple of my blogs attached below for you. One about egg laying and the laying bin. The other is about general care with a section for females and a special link for females that you will want to be sure to check out.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html#comment824
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[CamiGirl89]

Thank you both for your great info! I filled up her 5 gallon bucket with about 12 inches of playsand, and set her in that for awhile. Eventually, she turned dark and just stood on her back legs pleading to get out. I felt like a bad mother I'm guessing she is not ready quite yet, so for now she is back in her home until I notice more frantic signs. Her breeding was 14 days ago, so she probably isn't quite ready to go. This information is great, and I appreciate the help! For now, Cami seems happy sitting on her branch making faces at me when I walk by.

 

[lindawaz]

I think when she starts heading towards the bottom of the cage looking for a place to dig you would have better luck.

I have Lily's bin in her cage all the time, gravid or not.

I think Jannb keeps a smaller one accessible and when they head towards that she puts them in the big one. (but don't quote me on this )

 

[CamiGirl89]

I have a medium sized tupperware in there all of the time, I figured it would be a good thing to have so I can observe if she seems interested. She was sitting on the edge of it a couple of nights ago, but since then has seemed uninterested. I figure I will use the bucket as a backup: I would be heartbroken if she became egg-bound!

 

[lindawaz]

Yes that would be heartbreaking.

Sounds like you have all ends covered. Large bin ready.

She scoped out the smaller bin, knows where it is, but not ready yet! So now I can keep Mom worrying!

Sounds about right for a typical Cham

 

[CamiGirl89]

Haha love it, they are just too fun! I've had beardies, snakes, turtles... but no reptile has impressed me as much with personality as the chameleons!

 

[lindawaz]

They are unique that is a definite, maybe even an understatement.

I still love my beardies. Completely different reptile but a lot of fun!

 

[Olimpia]

I agree, I got bored with my nocturnal geckos, snakes, and other critters, but chameleons are just so much fun. They're fun little characters! I do like my little day gecko though, very curious and very active as well.