I have a young adult female veiled for about three months. She was raised from a hatchling and housed alone where I purchased her. To the best of my knowledge, she has not had any contact with other chameleons. She lives in my plant/pond room 7 x 16 x 7 feet with a glazed southern exposure and an ambient room temeparture of 60 degrees at night. She has access to a waterfall and several spraying/dripping fountains. I have never seen her approach or take any water. She does not eat the plants, and she actively avoids being misted. The first month or two she spent most of her time moving between her preffered basking spots and ate heavily. She looks in good condiiton, but is getting finicky on feeding and has started to wander about the plant room. She spends some time out of the vegitation and in areas that are much cooler than the literature recommends. I would be concerned, except she seems content and periodically returns to the ceramic or daylight bulb heaters. From the start, she habitually slept in vegetation away from all the heat sources. She is exhibitiing some signs of being gravid if that is possible. She is well filled out and displays a spotted pattern where she was formerly a uniform pale green. She does not dig in any of the plant containwers. I have read of females laying infertile eggs.
Questions
If I wanted to breed her, is there a male in the neighborhood?
I have experience with captive herp breeding (snakes)
Is there a down side to the chameleon's health if I do not breed her?
Should I be expecting infertile eggs, or is it possible she is just heavy and off her feed in the short winter days?
Gary S
Perkasie, PA
Questions
If I wanted to breed her, is there a male in the neighborhood?
I have experience with captive herp breeding (snakes)
Is there a down side to the chameleon's health if I do not breed her?
Should I be expecting infertile eggs, or is it possible she is just heavy and off her feed in the short winter days?
Gary S
Perkasie, PA