is my female veiled chameleon storing eggs?
- Thread starter chameleon_lover_nj
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MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi. I find it hard to tell from tummy size or even when there may be visible little lumps. I go by colors and behaviors. She does seem to be getting her big girl colors, so she is probably starting her reproductive cycle and egg production. Each girl has her own unique colors/patterns which as they are gravid (have eggs) darken considerably as they get closer to laying them. Have you seen my blog? https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/ I have pics of my two girls and each had a different look from the other. One girl just had her dots darken up and it was rather subtle. The other girl had her patterns and dots darken so that they seemed to almost blend together. For behaviors, when receptive, she gets very restless and wanders endlessly looking for a mate. She’ll settle down for some time and act her usual. Then she’ll start getting a bit restless again as she’s looking for a safe place to deposit her precious eggs. As the eggs start taking up space in her belly, her appetite may decrease. One morning you’ll peek in and find she’s in her lay bin, digging away. Don’t let her see anyone. Cover at least the lower half of the enclosure with a light sheet. She won’t care about eating or even drinking much until her job is done. It usually takes a full day or so. She may sleep in her bin, or go to her usual sleep branch. You’ll know she’s done when she’s completely covered up her holes and is back to basking. If you haven’t already made and put in a lay bin for her, now is the time. Play sand (like what is used for kid’s sand boxes) is best. Moisten it until it can hold a tunnel without collapse. More info and details are in my blog.
chameleon_lover_nj
Member
so, she recently has been climbing up and down the walls of the enclosure like CRAZY. is this a sign? also shes been shedding quite a bit. we have no clue how old she is (assuming teenager), when do you think her full colors will be in? we got her in june and shes still not extremely friendly. she’ll let my mom and sometimes me pet and scratch her tail/back but thats about it as of right now. i also updated her enclosure today including a laying bin made with play sand and organic soil.
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MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Sounds like she’s in her receptive phase…so she’s developing her big girl colors/patterns and searching for a mate. It’s hard to tell age, as once they achieve their adult size, there’s nothing really to go by. Some girls never really reach their reproductive state, so don’t develop their colors. Over the next weeks (more or less), her colors should be fully in. Some girls don’t really show colors, as much as they have patterns. My girl Stella is a good example of this. She’s got gorgeous dark markings, but has only shown her bright colors when she was gazing at her forbidden boyfriend. My other girl had pretty mustard yellow and teal colors.
Veileds are rather notorious for not wanting much of anything to do with us and having definite attitudes. Of the four veileds which I’ve had, I found the girls to be more aggressive and willing to hiss and bite. The boys are more shy and just try to walk away. You still want to work on building and maintaining trust though. This is a good blog for that. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
Veileds are rather notorious for not wanting much of anything to do with us and having definite attitudes. Of the four veileds which I’ve had, I found the girls to be more aggressive and willing to hiss and bite. The boys are more shy and just try to walk away. You still want to work on building and maintaining trust though. This is a good blog for that. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
