Mortality in Pregnant Females?

[JaxCham]

I have had Jacksons for years but have never tried to breed them. A few months ago a friend gave me a pregnant female. She was amazing in every way, bright green and yellow, loved to eat crickets right out of my hand and very active. Over the last month she slowed way down and wouldn't hardly move at all except to get a drink. She would go days in between eating. From what I read it seemed like she was on track to give birth any time. Two days ago I noticed that her vent seemed to be open like she was going to drop the babies. I waited and waited and finally this morning I found her dead in the bottom of her cage. I tried everything to revive her as my wife said that she had seen her alive earlier in the morning. She was still warm and her stomach was still moving but her eyes were open and lifeless, I laid her on her back and her legs didn't move at all, her eyes didn't follow me, I tried to open her mouth, it didn't shut after. I tried misting her with water, blowing on her, everything I could think of. Finally I knew that she must be dead for sure and I didn't know what to do. It broke my heart but I had to open her up to try and save the babies. I was amazed at how little of her body had anything in it except the babies, 15 in all. I didn't know what to do at that point, having the 15 little egg sacks laying out so I tried to help them open them, none of the babies were moving at all. It turned into a tragedy, Momma died and all 15 babies too. Talk about the worst possible day.

Does anyone have experience with females dying late in pregnancy or not dropping their babies in time before they overcrowd her insides?
I spoke to a guy at a local pet store and he said its pretty common for the mother to die during pregnancy. She was pretty young, perhaps she wasn't large enough to handle that many babies

 

[AngieL]

Yes unfortunately it is common for things like that to happen although I've not had any first hand experience. There could be a number of factors, age like you said is possibly a factor.

I'm sorry for you, that must have been a horrible thing to have to do

 

[Action Jackson]

It's happened to me with a small female. She had so many babies inside her I don't think she could breath anymore.

 

[little leaf]

I also had this happen to me , a rescue was brought to me , so gravid she could not walk - the vet called it "death by overburden" he is the link, but its a little graphic - just to let ya know-

sorry you lost your little girl -

https://www.chameleonforums.com/warning-warning-very-graphic-fetus-pics-very-sad-111370/

 

[JaxCham]

:/

Sad to know that this is common but glad I didn't cause it. Her babies looked full term. (If thats a correct cham term) they weren't translucent at all and had used up the majority of their yolk. Still haunting me today. I bought everyone else a special lunch of assorted worms and grubs. Im scared because I think my only other female is pregnant. Hoping she has better luck, but shes also on the small side, probably less than 5 inches nose to vent.

 

[little leaf]

just be sure to keep her fed with good food, hydrated, and keep up on her supplements- also try to get her out in the sun as often as you can,I think they really enjoy the sun
I was also surprised to hear how common this seems to be -

 

[lisagr07]

I am sorry to hear about your lose, sounds like you did all you could for her..
All of the pregnancy related issues you can have with females, wether they're bred or not, is what has kept me from having one... Id love too, they are just as beautiful as the males!!!

 

[jannb]

I am so very sorry for your loss. I lost my precious angel to egg laying complications last month. https://www.chameleonforums.com/sadie-has-left-me-way-soon-114497/

 

[JaxCham]

out in the sun

I live in hawaii. My jax live outside. They have a 6 ft tall enclosure that rests on top of a hibiscus bush. Half the enclosure is shaded on top and I mist them 2x a day as well as put ice cubes on top 2x a day so they drip all over. They love being outdoors since these guys were bread in the wild. All of our chams were acquired by them just coming into our yard or else from friends that didn't know how much work was involved.

 

[AngieL]

Of you keep them together they will over bread which is not good for the females at all and increases risk of complications like this. Also if they are wild they can have all sorts of illness.

 

[jmwhitel]

This thread makes me feel better about losing my precious Nemra. She became eggbound and just stopped eating and drinking alltogether

I was beating myself up and mulling over what I had done wrong. Unfortunately the whole process is extremely volatile and can quickly go downhill no matter what precautions you take. I will know in the future to make sure a gravid female has lots of calcium, water, and light.

Good luck!