Pregnant Panther

Brittanyandpetrie

New Member
URGENT!! *Pregnant Panther*

My Panther Chameleon Petrie (we were told she was a male when we bought him) is pregnant! We had her into the vet on Thursday (yesterday) to a local vet who isn't properly trained in chameleon care. He was able to take x-rays for us and he determined she had eggs present but they were all mostly up fairly high and not near her rear at all. She has been acting out lately she hasn't been eating as much as she used to (she used to eat 10-15 crickets with calcium powder a day, now she may eat sometimes none to five still powdered). She still drinks and will walk around her normal cage but since we've put her into her laying area (a garbage bin filled with soil w/o fertilizer and pesticides as well as reptile friendly bark from the pet store and vines with plastic leaves to make it more like home) she hasn't moved from her vine. She doesn't seem to be drinking much from the leaves but I did notice her licking the vine though no water was present at that time. When we got her in April they had said she was 5 weeks old but she seemed to be a lot older than that, she has only grown maybe an inch since April. She has shed three to four times as well. She is our first chameleon and we already know females are a lot harder to care for which is why we asked for a male but turns out he is a she! She hasn't started scratching at any of the soil or around her normal cage so I am not sure if we should move her back into her normal cage until she shows more signs and try to feed her or if we should just let her be alone and see if she will lay her eggs. I have read many posts about people losing their chameleon from being to late with the eggs and they having no energy to lay them and becoming egg bound, I really don't want that to happen here since the only vet who can see her isn't properly trained in case of emergencies so we would have to pay a lot to try and find someone to help her out in case of egg bound. Any suggestions or help would be great since we're not sure as of what to do from here.:confused:
 

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How to ask for help

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Female panther chameleon. Had her since April.
Handling - Once or twice a week for cleaning of cage.
Feeding - 10-15 crickets a day in the morning crickets are added which are dusted with calcium. Crickets fed freeze dried meal worms, mix of cat food, fish food and milk powder (recipe found online) and fluker's cricket jelly.
Supplements - Ecoterra calcium used daily.
Watering - Home made dripper used, drips for half hour at a time and refilled a couple times a day. Misted 4-5 times a day. Chameleon drinks.
Fecal Description - Peach color with bright orange on sides and near mouth, sometimes all peach, feces consistency was normal at beginning of week, none since. 'Not been tested for parasites.
History - No previous information, bought from pet store.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Screen cage, 24*24*18
Lighting - Ecoterra lightning used for UVB light as well as basking light, timer on from 6:30am-6:30pm
Temperature - Floor of cage is 77 degrees. Lowest overnight temperature is 68 degrees. Measured by ecoterra thermometer.
Humidity - Humidity levels always above 50 and below 85 by misting and dripping system. Ecoterra humidity scale to measure.
Plants - No live plants.
Placement - Bedroom, not near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas, three feet off floor to bottom of cage.
Location - Prince Edward Island, Canada


Current Problem - Not laying eggs seen on x-ray.
 
Update

We have moved Petire back into her normal cage and added a laying bin for her in there. Within five minutes of putting her back she pooped twice and she hasn't been getting enough water so we've set up a better dropper and have had it dripping all morning. We just added six crickets to see if she would eat and she has ate one or two. We also put a sheat around her cage for privacy but she doesn't look to happy. I also dug a hold in soil for her to continue digging and placed her in it but she just ran straight back to her vine while in the bucket. I'm hoping she is much more comfortable in her cage and will lay her eggs when she is ready. If anyone has any suggestions about petrie's case please let me know. Thanks.
 
Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Female panther chameleon. Had her since April.
Handling - Once or twice a week for cleaning of cage.
Feeding - 10-15 crickets a day in the morning crickets are added which are dusted with calcium. Crickets fed freeze dried meal worms, mix of cat food, fish food and milk powder (recipe found online) and fluker's cricket jelly.
You do not want to use dog/cat/fish food to gutload because it has been found that it produces a lot of Uric Acid in the feeders which can cause gout for a chameleon. Try looking online for a premade gutload (ex. Kricket Feast, Cricket Crack, or Dino Fuel.
Supplements - Ecoterra calcium used daily.
There are 3 supplements you want to us:
1. Calcium w/o d3~ every feeding
2. Calcium w/d3~ twice a month
3. Multivitamin (herptivite or sticky tongues)~ twice a month
I usually alternate the 2 (twice a months) every Saturday.


Watering - Home made dripper used, drips for half hour at a time and refilled a couple times a day. Misted 4-5 times a day. Chameleon drinks.
Fecal Description - Peach color with bright orange on sides and near mouth, sometimes all peach, feces consistency was normal at beginning of week, none since. 'Not been tested for parasites.
The orange colored urate is a sign of dehydration. You might want to mist more throughout the day or get an automatic mister. they are lifesavers!
History - No previous information, bought from pet store.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Screen cage, 24*24*18
Lighting - Ecoterra lightning used for UVB light as well as basking light, timer on from 6:30am-6:30pm
Most people on here have two bulbs: a Reptisun 5.0 (either the tube or the compact bulb) also make sure the UVB isn't more than the 5.0 and then a dome light with just a regular housebulb in it for basking.
Temperature - Floor of cage is 77 degrees. Lowest overnight temperature is 68 degrees. Measured by ecoterra thermometer.
Humidity - Humidity levels always above 50 and below 85 by misting and dripping system. Ecoterra humidity scale to measure.
Plants - No live plants.
Placement - Bedroom, not near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas, three feet off floor to bottom of cage.
Location - Prince Edward Island, Canada


Current Problem - Not laying eggs seen on x-ray.
When out female is ready to dig, it usually takes a couple days for the deed to be done. We leave her in the cage and cover it with a sheet and then check the laying bin everynight until we get eggs. The trash bin that you are using looks good. She probably will not eat until she has laid. Do you know if she was housed by herself at the petstore or was she with other panthers?
 
Thanks for the replies! We did pick up the other vitamins over the weekend and have given them to her via crickets, she ate a total of five crickets yesterday but none today so we will not be adding anymore. We kept her dripper on all day yesterday and again for most of the day today and she started drinking more. We will definitely stop the cat food mix and just use the freeze dried meal worms and the fluker's cricket feed which is like cricket crack and maybe add some fruits and vegetables. Her dome light is a basking light bought from the pet store and her UBV light is not a tube light. She was housed by herself at the pet store.

Her lights are automatically turned off at 6:30pm every night.

She has not laid yet nor has she been digging. We did put her back in her normal cage and added a laying bin in there (a plastic tote filled with a soil and sand mixture and vines leading into the bin). I had a sheet over her cage and she turned dark and stayed dark until I removed the sheet she turned back pink so I left it off and we only enter the room she is in at night. Or to mist the cage and start the dripper again.
 
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