new to forum question on gravid panther female

[ericchameleons]

i currently recieved a gravid female panther chameleon who is pregnant with infertile eggs. Now i want some opinions on proper housing and tips for her. Also she has started doing a wierd eye thing, where they suck in and pulsate. very weird, it started when she got pregnant. thanks for looking and helping me out here are some pics of her and her set up (waterfall no longer in it)

 

[Goldenarcher1328]

Welcome to the forum, I'm Dan! Feel free to ask me anything and provided i know the answer, or can find out, i will do my best to help you out, i am on here every day and am always willing to help out.

Beautiful girl by the way!!

I am more familiar with veiled chameleons and wouldn't feel comfortable with giving you much advice.

 

[ericchameleons]

just concerned on proper housing and treatment for my female panther

 

[Goldenarcher1328]

just concerned on proper housing and treatment for my female panther

Lets have you fill this out.


Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

this will help us determine what you are doing correctly and what we need to change.

 

[Elizadolots]

Hi! Talk about vaulting into the chameleon care!

She needs a laying bin, preferably in her enclosure. It should be 12 inches deep and as big as you can comfortably put in her enclosure (she needs room to wander and scratch).

It should be filled with white play sand (you can get it at WalMart or Home Depot) which is moist enough to hold a tunnel.

If you can't fit such a thing in her cage, then you'll need a separate laying bin. Here's Jannb's excellent blog post about this: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

You should still put something on the bottom of her enclosure so she has a place to go to start scratching around.

 

[ericchameleons]

Your Chameleon -Ambilobe panther chameleon, female, 11 months old, i've had her since she was very little.
Handling - All the time until she started being very still and became pregnant
Feeding - im a reptile salesman so i bring home all kinds of goodies for her. i do crickets but have gave her wax worms, meal worms, and baby goliath worms. ill throw about 6-7 crickets every night and offer her worms throughout the day. with vitamin powder of course
Supplements - reptivite calcium tub and always on her crickets every feeding
Watering - i had a dripper but switched to waterfall she LOVES IT and always drinking until lately she drinks off of her ficus plant. i mist numerous times a day and she does drink
Fecal Description - taken her to dr. greek in yorba linda best in the west! healthy!
History - no

Cage Info:
Cage Type - open air ventilated screen cage sz small.
Lighting - exo terra 125 solar glo uvb/uva and 100 exo terra red night bulb
Temperature -about 85 ambient temp and 95-100 basking spot
Humidity - don't really measure i can tell theres enough
Plants - real ficus plant, fake cannibis, vine and grapewood
Placement - near kitchen on shelf
Location - southern california

 

[ericchameleons]

Hi! Talk about vaulting into the chameleon care!

She needs a laying bin, preferably in her enclosure. It should be 12 inches deep and as big as you can comfortably put in her enclosure (she needs room to wander and scratch).

It should be filled with white play sand (you can get it at WalMart or Home Depot) which is moist enough to hold a tunnel.

If you can't fit such a thing in her cage, then you'll need a separate laying bin. Here's Jannb's excellent blog post about this: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

You should still put something on the bottom of her enclosure so she has a place to go to start scratching around.

i provided her with a 12in by 5in tupperware container filled with vermiculite, did some research and that's the bedding that people suggest for her to lay eggs in but its been almost a week and she hasnt yet

 

[ericchameleons]

12in long by 5 in wide

 

[ericchameleons]

i dont want her to go egg bound

 

[Goldenarcher1328]

Your Chameleon -Ambilobe panther chameleon, female, 11 months old, i've had her since she was very little.
Handling - All the time until she started being very still and became pregnant
Feeding - im a reptile salesman so i bring home all kinds of goodies for her. i do crickets but have gave her wax worms, meal worms, and baby goliath worms. ill throw about 6-7 crickets every night and offer her worms throughout the day. with vitamin powder of course
Supplements - reptivite calcium tub and always on her crickets every feeding
Watering - i had a dripper but switched to waterfall she LOVES IT and always drinking until lately she drinks off of her ficus plant. i mist numerous times a day and she does drink
Fecal Description - taken her to dr. greek in yorba linda best in the west! healthy!
History - no

Cage Info:
Cage Type - open air ventilated screen cage sz small.
Lighting - exo terra 125 solar glo uvb/uva and 100 exo terra red night bulb
Temperature -about 85 ambient temp and 95-100 basking spot
Humidity - don't really measure i can tell theres enough
Plants - real ficus plant, fake cannibis, vine and grapewood
Placement - near kitchen on shelf
Location - southern california

The red is my areas of concern.

Alot of those worms you feed are very fatty and poor in nutrition. Make sure you do have a good staple feeder such as supplemented crickets, dubia roaches, phoenix worms, Horn worms, Silkworms. All that good stuff.

Also, Get rid of your night light, Lighting at night will drive your chameleon crazy, it disturbs the sleep cycles. if you require heat at night, invest in a ceramic heater.

 

[Panther16]

Yeahhh buddy she is defenitly gravid !

 

[ericchameleons]

i dont feed her worms everyday its one in a while her MAIN STAPLE calcium covered crickets, and occasional wax worms. haven't tried roaches but that sounds cool. and its the red night bulb but i keep it on with the solar glow all day to give extra heat

 

[ericchameleons]

if you guys can give opinion on timespan left before she lays? i want to provide perfect laying ground for her and make her feel comfortable to lay eggs

 

[Goldenarcher1328]

i dont feed her worms everyday its one in a while her MAIN STAPLE calcium covered crickets, and occasional wax worms. haven't tried roaches but that sounds cool. and its the red night bulb but i keep it on with the solar glow all day to give extra heat

Roaches are my Chameleons Favorite food! haha he goes nuts for the little buggers

 

[ericchameleons]

its funny i know a lot about best products and care but we don't do in house breeding at our store so its like HIEROGLYPHICS to me hhaha i wish we did :[

 

[Elizadolots]

I think most on the board would recommend ditching the waterfall. Unless you're cleaning it out every day, it has the potential to be a bacteria disaster.

I would really suggest play sand or a mix of organic soil and play sand for a laying medium. You want it to be moist enough to hold a tunnel (I suggest poking a tunnel out with your finger to a) test the soil and b) give her a hint).

I'm not good on the timeline things...sometimes females that seem huge have quite a bit of time left...other times, females that seem trim are ready to lay.

 

[ericchameleons]

ants seem to be DRAWN to soil when i put a container in the cage also waterfall has been out for a month now due to her pregnancy i use dripper system and misting constantly. washed playsand should be the best soil for her to lay her eggs in.

 

[Goldenarcher1328]

Agreed. I was so excited to do a waterfall in my new home made enclosure, but after seeing the work it would take to put it in, and the trouble it would cause me in the long run, i soon realized that it was a dreadful mistake and avoided the whole problem by not starting to build it into the plans.

 

[Goldenarcher1328]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

Here watch this, Its an amazing video made by one of our members.

 

[Elizadolots]

i dont feed her worms everyday its one in a while her MAIN STAPLE calcium covered crickets, and occasional wax worms. haven't tried roaches but that sounds cool. and its the red night bulb but i keep it on with the solar glow all day to give extra heat

So, the bulb isn't going at night? I would still say ditch the red bulb. Some chameleons react badly to red things. Just use regular household incandescent bulbs for added heat during the day. No lights at night.

ants seem to be DRAWN to soil when i put a container in the cage also waterfall has been out for a month now due to her pregnancy i use dripper system and misting constantly. washed playsand should be the best soil for her to lay her eggs in.

I agree, washed playsand is the best option. It's easy, it's inexpensive. If she eats it, it's known to pass through without causing problems.