Pregnant Female Veiled Basking with Mouth open?

[DJBMURDER]

So as most of you know, I finally have a pregnant veiled, so excited! Today, however, i noticed something that made me a little uneasy. I am new to the species of Veileds so bare with me, I've read a little bit online that its normal for veileds to open their mouths somewhat when basking, i don't know the whole science behind it, but thats what i read on here. Anyways, I have my fat little pregnant veiled who did the mouth opening while basking today. She did it only for like 5 second intervals and would close it and it was maybe a quarter of the way open, not like completely open. Is this normal? Does this have anything to do with the temps and her being pregnant? Im starting to worry. Shes healthy as an ox otherwise, she has a huge 3x3x3 enclosure, hibiscus plants, good humidity, and the temp as at 84. There are no signs of mouth rot and shes been very active, eating well on a diet of large crickets dusted with calcium w/o d3 everyday and calcium w/ d3 and multivitamins 1-2 times a month. My male is in a cage similar to hers with the same thing as far as lighting goes and what not. Is it maybe the temperature too hot for her since shes prego? Is this maybe why my male isn't bothered by it? Please help, I wanna see my girl lay eggs and live a healthy life. I hope I'm just paranoid.

 

[camimom]

you sure temps are 84? cuz they gape when they are overheating.

 

[DJBMURDER]

it may be a little bit more, i'm due for a new thermometer, mines getting kind of old....maybe more towards the high 80s under her basking light?

 

[camimom]

if its high 80s, low 90's, shes too hot.

get a new thermo and try again.

 

[DJBMURDER]

someone mentioned something in another thread about pregnant veileds needing lower basking temps and temps in general, is this true? and what temps should I have em at?

 

[camimom]

Yes. by keeping females at lower temps, we can reduce the number of eggs they have.

I keep my female at 83. nothing higher. even when she was prego, temps were always 83.

 

[DJBMURDER]

Ok thanks

 

[kinyonga]

Do you have an appropriate container of washed playsand in her cage for her to dig in to show you when she is ready to lay eggs?

IMHO the lower temperatures for veiled females is only to slow the metabolism when controlling the diet to keep them from producing eggs.

 

[DJBMURDER]

yes i have playsand, but i am confused, i WANT eggs...this is my first time breeding veileds...is it bad to have a lot of eggs? I mean i understand if the female is not mated with that you wouldn't want eggs, but this is a breeding project...shouldn't the temps be up and of course a laying bin be set up?

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

yes i have playsand, but i am confused, i WANT eggs...this is my first time breeding veileds...is it bad to have a lot of eggs? I mean i understand if the female is not mated with that you wouldn't want eggs, but this is a breeding project...shouldn't the temps be up and of course a laying bin be set up?

Fertile eggs are bigger than infertile, so less is better. It's hard on the girl and too many can cause complications such as eggbound.

 

[DJBMURDER]

ooooooo okay gotcha! thanks for the help! she was mated with on the 8th and has showed extremely gravid colors such as the one in my avatar...but now shes getting fatter and turning more green with less black/yellow....is this a sign she may lay soon?