My female is eggbound...

[ColorCham427]

Hey all, my female Violet was caught digging a tunnel in her pot of soil today... she doesn't seem to look different as of yesterday? She doesnt have any buldges in her belly and she's rather "not fat"... I'm giving her privacy... One month ago I showed her to my male that, for the past few days, I've been trying to get the two to mate... from seeing him for less than a minute one month ago set her to become eggbound? If she thought she was gravid... why wouldnt she let my male know the last few days? It seemed that she was very willing to let him take her and she was basically offering herself to him... he was the one that was scared, and ran away and tried to hide................????????????????????

 

[PantherVeileD]

Same thing happened to me years ago. First she would try to attack him then later she was willing but the male backed off? Weird..

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Hey all, my female Violet was caught digging a tunnel in her pot of soil today... she doesn't seem to look different as of yesterday? She doesnt have any buldges in her belly and she's rather "not fat"... I'm giving her privacy... One month ago I showed her to my male that, for the past few days, I've been trying to get the two to mate... from seeing him for less than a minute one month ago set her to become eggbound? If she thought she was gravid... why wouldnt she let my male know the last few days? It seemed that she was very willing to let him take her and she was basically offering herself to him... he was the one that was scared, and ran away and tried to hide................????????????????????

How long did she dig for?
Is she still digging?
This process takes a long time and sometimes they will abandon a project and go back to it later, or start a new tunnel.
Give her privacy. If she is going to lay eggs, it could take a couple of days.
You're jumping to "eggbound" too quickly.

-Brad

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

If she was digging then chances are she is gravid and ready to lay. Get her in an egg laying container with a 1/2 sand 1/2 potting soil mixture, then moisten it pretty good. She may dig a few test holes before she lays, she will cover the tunnel back up if she lays.

-chris

 

[ColorCham427]

Sorry, could she of produced unfertilized eggs just from seeing him for the quick moment a month ago??? They havnt copulated yet...

I used eggbound the wrong way

 

[Brad Ramsey]

She may produce infertile eggs even having never seen a male.
What species?

-Brad

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

Brian,

Feel her stomach right in front of her hind legs, I think you will feel some jellybean sized eggs in there. I have personally never had a panther dig in my plants unless they were ready to lay, and that is quite normal.

-chris

 

[ColorCham427]

Panther.....

 

[desultadox]

I was about to post a thread just like this, but maybe both of us can be helped here.

I have a pair of Panthers and about a month ago, after my female's nonstop begging to get to my male, I let them have some time together. They didn't immediately get down to business, but a day or 2 later I noticed my female basically pitch black with a pink stripe... she had never been that dark before, so I assumed she had accomplished her mission. Last week she again became very anxious to escape her cage, so I set up bucket with moist organic potting soil and surrounded it with plants. She walked right past it and over toward a pot with a dead australian fern in it. She's been digging there every morning for the last week, but no eggs so far! I even spotted her this morning with her head up and her business end down in the tunnel. Still no eggs. She generally gives up digging by mid afternoon and goes back to it the next morning. Is there anything I can do to help her? When should I consider this a problem? Thanks, everybody.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

desultadox: We have a female panther that will dig, and put fanny in the hole, but WILL NOT complete the laying of her clutch if she sees me. Even if I just happen to peek in there for a second. She's a good example of why the very experienced folks on the forum recommend leaving them alone in their digging container. Is it possible your girl is being disrupted by your observations? Some gals need complete privacy.

 

[desultadox]

Nah... she's on my balcony (free-roaming out there while she needs to lay) and I've heard you're not supposed to bother them, so I just peek through the blinds before and after school and even then I barely see her (the pot she uses is way in the corner) and I know she doesn't see me. Plus, she's pretty relaxed with me. I still have to go out there to put food in their cups, but that's usually after she's given up her digging and is perched on some tree or whatever else she finds, and she'll often come crawl on me. Unlike her boyfriend, she seems to enjoy my presence. It may be a different story while she's laying eggs, but 1. I don't think she sees me and 2. I don't think she'd be as bothered by me as some chams might.

But does a week+ of this behavior sound reasonable?

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

I would use a different substrate for egg laying. Many time I have found that if they can't find a suitable spot they will just dig a lot of holes. I have found that a 1/2 organic soil mixed with a 1/2 sand mix works the best. Keep it moist so that it can tunnel and make sure it is large enough (like a 12"x12"x12" at the least).

-chris

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

I would use a different substrate for egg laying. Many time I have found that if they can't find a suitable spot they will just dig a lot of holes. I have found that a 1/2 organic soil mixed with a 1/2 sand mix works the best. Keep it moist so that it can tunnel and make sure it is large enough (like a 12"x12"x12" at the least).

-chris

Good point. They will dig a bit in soil that is too moist or too dry, but they won't tunnel and lay.

Right- the container needs to be larger than she is, in every dimension. Someone on the forum once wrote, and I followed this advice, about the tunneling- it should be just moist enough that you can create a little tunnel of your own on the surface and be able to reach through it to the other side without it crumbling.

 

[ColorCham427]

Thanks all... 2moro I'm leaving for vacation, before I leave i'll get the sand and soil more wet... and let my aunt kno to not check on her for a few days... does she need to eat??? I took like 6 crix out of her cage and left 2 and the 2 r still in there.. no poop and still clean........??

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I would take the crickets out so they don't chew on her.
She will not eat until she is completely done.

-Brad

 

[DSTADTL1]

Just need Guidance

My female has been gravid for about a week and she's now black with pink stripes.She has shown little interest in eating. Drinks a little but seems very weak. Is this normal? She went from being a huge eater, after becoming gravid not really at all. She hangs out at the bottom of the plant in her cage. What should I expect?

 

[kinyonga]

Do you mean that she mated a week ago?
Does she have a suitable place to dig to lay eggs in her cage?
I don't like it that she is hanging out at the bottom of her cage.

 

[DSTADTL1]

Seems Fine Now

She mated two weeks ago now and is still pink and black. Now she seems back to normal eating and drinking. I have a scheffelara plant but there's no room to dig. I have a half sand half soil setup ready (5 gallon). I guess this should last about a month right? I just want to avoid any problems.....

 

[kinyonga]

I recommend having a place for any egglaying chameleon to dig in the cage at all times...not just when you think she might need to lay eggs.

 

[Justin Carl]

I keep potted plants inside of all my cages for surprise clutches.
This, in my opinion, is the biggest reason I have live plants in female cages.
Sometimes you can't tell when female are gravid, and this is why I don't tell people to put rocks ontop of soil of their plants.
Just a few weeks ago I had a female lay a clutch of 25 eggs, and I had no idea she was gravid.
I did breed her, but didn't think it actually "took".
She was six weeks gravid and had no idea, but I found her digging inside of her potted plant one morning.
Long story short, I have eggs from Dude.