Is she going to lay soon?

[DeviousMike]

I just took this little girl home and she is about 6 months old and is looking really plump to me. The store I bought her from said she is a great eater and drinker and I really do trust these guys because they give me very similar advice as everyone here. I've been watching her for about 3 weeks at the store so I've actually seen how they've been caring for her, and it's pretty good for a shop. She has been drinking a lot since I've brought her home, almost every time the mist king or myself have misted (depending if she is in her cage or my free range). Is this a sign of getting ready to pop? I will be providing an egg laying bin in her cage a little bit later today (need to go out and shop for materials) because I'm almost certain she is gravid.

I've been doing a bit of reading here and I would like some opinions on what I should actually be providing. Bucket outside the cage? Container inside? my enclosure for her is 18x18x36 so I can put something in there, but probably not too big. I also have a smaller cage that I'm not using that I can provide a pretty large container of sand for her to do the deed. Any advice would be great.

Here's the best belly pic I could get-

 

[laurie]

Mike she does look gravid to me. I don't free range but from my point of view she should be in a cage with a laying bin. The bin can even be a large flower pot, just something to give her a place to dig & lay. Sad to say but they can lay infertile clutches at a very early age. If you have it available I would go for something like a 18x18x36 cage with proper lighting and see what happens. Let us know.

 

[jandie]

you can watch for signs of being ready to lay, even by putting a smaller bin into her regular cage initially...but with ours, i make sure even that one is minimally big enough they might just use it....

two of our girls lately, have not indicated (or at least where i've seen signs) being ready....just staying lower in the cage (no actual wandering or attempts to dig or anything) and varying appetites (neither stopped eating and one kept eating like nothing was different).... so i finally took both of them out (at separate times of course) and just put them into our bigger bin and left them in there for 2 days and now both of them have laid.... each one of our girls has been different.... lol. one of our girls showed NO signs at all.....wasn't even really showing gravid colors....just came home one day and she was at the bottom of the bin i had in her cage.... our other girl was quite typical, definitely colored, slowed on the intake, wandering the cage, dug a little at the dirt in the pot before trying the sand bin.....

i've been a nervous wreck with each one...and had 2 trips to the vet through all of it. lol.

good luck with your gal!

 

[DeviousMike]

Flower pot! Why didn't I think of that? I'm at target right now trying to find a plastic container. Thanks laurie!

 

[Syn]

If she isn't gravid I wonder if she's impacted. Just thinking "out loud" here.

Good luck.

 

[DeviousMike]

She's not impacted. When I was deciding to buy her, she pooped in my hand. That'd how I knew she was a keeper.

 

[Syn]

LOL. That's a good way to determine I suppose.

 

[DeviousMike]

Now is play sand necessary because I don't want to buy a 50lb bag. I was hoping that sand used for substrate that is sold in much smaller quantities would work.

 

[Syn]

Buy the 50 lb bag and save it for later use, this won't be the last time she lays.

 

[DeviousMike]

Storage is an issue in that I don't want to have 50 lbs laying around. If you saw my garage you would understand

 

[laurie]

Now is play sand necessary because I don't want to buy a 50lb bag. I was hoping that sand used for substrate that is sold in much smaller quantities would work.

Mike i would go with the damn 50 lb bag! yes i also hated getting one that size, but the substrate sand is a lot finer and I am not sure it could hold a tunnel without collapsing on your chameleon.

 

[DeviousMike]

Well I'm at home depot and the bag of sand is not as big as I thought. Thanks for all yhr advice

 

[laurie]

Hey you know we are all here for you, and since you are at home depot, I could use a bag of sand.

 

[DeviousMike]

Hey you know we are all here for you, and since you are at home depot, I could use a bag of sand.

You can use the 45 lbs that I'm not using.

Ok here's a quick photo update of the enclosure. I know my pothos looks terrible because it was part of my free range and I neglected it. I'm hoping the regular mistings in the cage will bring it back. I bought an 8 inch pot (the only thing I could squeeze in the cage) for egg laying which I think should suffice and if not I have plenty of sand to use for a larger bin.