Is she gravid??

[Panthergirl11]

My 8 month old female has been acting weird. She doesn't have much of an appetite and has been pacing around her cage. She looks a little fatter but when I feel her tummy I do t feel anything hard like eggs. This would be her first clutch. I'm worried. And the reason she looks so mad is because my phone is rainbow colored and she hates it lol.

 

[TheLivingLegend]

Sure look like shes moving out of her receptive stage and into her gravid stage. Make sure to make a laying bin for her, and cover the cage on all 4 sides. Start from the top and work your way down with the covers until you have covered up each side enough to where she wont see you. Being how the floor of the cage is going to be 12" higher at least cuz she will be in the laying bin, if you leave the bottom portions of the sides of the cage uncovered, this will help with ventilation, instead of completely covering the sides. Females will eat less and become more active when they are getting close to egg laying time. Here is a good laying bin video. To be safe, you could have her x-rayed by a reptile vet, cuz if the eggs are now too big to pass, the only way to remove them is with a c-section. Otherwise, she will die. If it were me, I would take her to the vet right away. I learned the hard way a couple months ago with my first female on laying bins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5usyXP_u4Zc

 

[ChameleonMom]

If your girl is ready to lay she will become restless and will often dig at the bottom of her enclosure and she may stop eating altogether or eat less. It would be beneficial for you to place a large laying bin in her enclosure which is at least 12 inches deep with a damp soil/sand mixture. It has to be damp enough that a tunnel can be dug without having it fall in on her! You can route a vine I to it so she has a way in/out. Give her complete privacy and yes, cover the outside of her enclosure with a towel (I use brown parcel packaging - it's not to thick and doesn't hinder air flow into her cage). Then leave her alone but quietly check on her every now and then.

If your girl does have eggs but is having a hard time laying them an x-ray can determine if she has any and if she's be one egg bound. There is a drug vets administer to help induce laying - this would probably be done before a 'chameleon c-section' but don't wait too long to find resolution with this problem. If she doesn't lay and she is displaying signs that she needs to, get her to a vet! Good luck!

 

[Panthergirl11]

I will set her laying bin up tomorrow. Can't believe it's that time already. My little girl is all grown up.

 

[AngieL]

Here's a great thread for future reference that shows the various mating stages of a female panther https://www.chameleonforums.com/gravid-receptive-none-receptive-resting-colours-photos-94647/

I'd say she doesn't look gravid yet but she may get that way soon

 

[TheLivingLegend]

If your girl is ready to lay she will become restless and will often dig at the bottom of her enclosure and she may stop eating altogether or eat less. It would be beneficial for you to place a large laying bin in her enclosure which is at least 12 inches deep with a damp soil/sand mixture. It has to be damp enough that a tunnel can be dug without having it fall in on her! You can route a vine I to it so she has a way in/out. Give her complete privacy and yes, cover the outside of her enclosure with a towel (I use brown parcel packaging - it's not to thick and doesn't hinder air flow into her cage). Then leave her alone but quietly check on her every now and then.

If your girl does have eggs but is having a hard time laying them an x-ray can determine if she has any and if she's be one egg bound. There is a drug vets administer to help induce laying - this would probably be done before a 'chameleon c-section' but don't wait too long to find resolution with this problem. If she doesn't lay and she is displaying signs that she needs to, get her to a vet! Good luck!

The shots only work if its not too late for them. Once the eggs are too big the oxytocin shots will do nothing. If this is the first time you have seen her on the bottom of her cage looking for a place to dig, then your probably ok. I was never informed about a laying bin until 2 months after the first time I saw her on the ground.

 

[TheLivingLegend]

You can get a webcam for $10 and use it as a baby monitor.

 

[TheLivingLegend]

Btw, take that feeder cup out free ranging is much better. Plus it stimulates their mind from the excitement of hunting.

 

[Panthergirl11]

The crickets always jump out of that cup. so i do pretty much free range.

 

[Panthergirl11]

Here's a great thread for future reference that shows the various mating stages of a female panther https://www.chameleonforums.com/gravid-receptive-none-receptive-resting-colours-photos-94647/

I'd say she doesn't look gravid yet but she may get that way soon

Thank you for this link! SO when she is Gravid she will be dark all the time? Because thats not how she is now. She her normal colors in her cage. She just gets dark when she sees my phone because its got a rainbow case and she thinks its a male. Anyways. Laying bin is in just in case. When i start seeing her down there i will cover up her cage.

 

[AngieL]

Thank you for this link! SO when she is Gravid she will be dark all the time? Because thats not how she is now. She her normal colors in her cage. She just gets dark when she sees my phone because its got a rainbow case and she thinks its a male. Anyways. Laying bin is in just in case. When i start seeing her down there i will cover up her cage.

You're welcome and yes when she's gravid she will keep those colours until she lays.

 

[pssh]

Cup feeding is fine. I prefer tubs so they have a larger area to hunt or those milk carton feeders with mesh in them.

She could be on her way to developing eggs so be on the look out for full blown gravid colors, start weighing her to check her weight, look for pacing the bottom, etc. When she does start digging she may not lay for a few more days and dig some test holes first. If she starts acting ill or off, take her to the vets ASAP. Most females will lay without issues though.

Edit: I've had females that only showed gravid colors just as they became gravid and when angry, so she may not show them all the time. If she does show them, its a pretty good indication though!

 

[Panthergirl11]

My cup feeders are the ones with the mesh in them. Most the time the crickets jump out anyways.