ready to lay?

[MangoTango]

she hasn’t show gravid colors, but today she was looking at the bottom and then traveled down there. I gave her food and she took it and came back up to eat more (even tho she was fed already and eats A LOT), but now she’s back near the bottom and just chills there. is her abdomen lumpy to yall? should I put a lay bin in there ? she’s only 3-5 months (i’m not exactly sure i’m sorry)

 

[kinyonga]

You should have a proper laybin in her cage now...just to be sure it's in in time.

Are you feeding her as much as she wants or do you watch what she eats?

 

[kinyonga]

Overfeeding her and keeping her temperatures too warm will push her into producing a large clutch...likely developing MBD, follicular stasis, eggbinding and die an early death.

 

[MangoTango]

You should have a proper laybin in her cage now...just to be sure it's in in time.

Are you feeding her as much as she wants or do you watch what she eats?

as much as she wants. it’s usually like 10-13 dubias then she stops

Overfeeding her and keeping her temperatures too warm will push her into producing a large clutch...likely developing MBD, follicular stasis, eggbinding and die an early death.

yes i’m aware of that but I just noticed that she’s seems to be prego so i’m gonna put a lay bin in and switch the basking bulb to a smaller wattage as well as decrease the amount of food. how much food do you recommend

 

[kinyonga]

If she's already IN THE MIDDLE OF PRODUCING eggs that's not the time to cut her back...it's too late....the clutch size is already set IMHO. You want her to have proper nutrition to make and lay good eggs when she's already started on them. The time to start the diet once she's already producing eggs, is right after she lays.

 

[MangoTango]

If she's already IN THE MIDDLE OF PRODUCING eggs that's not the time to cut her back...it's too late....the clutch size is already set IMHO. You want her to have proper nutrition to make and lay good eggs when she's already started on them. The time to start the diet once she's already producing eggs, is right after she lays.

okay so should I let her keep eating as much as she wants ?

 

[Carloscruz]

I would start cutting back on her food 11 bugs a day is way to much for a female.

 

[kinyonga]

You might want to read this...but remember that it's for breeding not just egg production...
"Even if food restriction is found to help reproduction in chameleons, the improvement will be seen at the time of vitellogenesis and egg formation, not post-conception. Feed your chameleon responsibly and well during this critical period of gestation"....
http://www.chameleonnews.com/03OctDonoghue.html
Food restriction DOES HELP...and as this says, it is seen during the vitellogenesis and egg formation time...IMHO.

 

[MangoTango]

You might want to read this...but remember that it's for breeding not just egg production...
"Even if food restriction is found to help reproduction in chameleons, the improvement will be seen at the time of vitellogenesis and egg formation, not post-conception. Feed your chameleon responsibly and well during this critical period of gestation"....
http://www.chameleonnews.com/03OctDonoghue.html
Food restriction DOES HELP...and as this says, it is seen during the vitellogenesis and egg formation time...IMHO.

will def remember for next time! thank you!

 

[MangoTango]

I would start cutting back on her food 11 bugs a day is way to much for a female.

I feel bad tho cause she seems to be looking for food

 

[Fchamel]

You definitely will want to cut back on food as keeping her food schedule that way can result in an unhealthy chameleon and laying. Their brains are so small, they don't know when enough is enough. Do three to six bugs three times a week.

 

[Beman]

She is just a baby right now if she is only 3-5 months old..... Personally betting she is more like 4-5 months old though. In all the pics you have shown of her she does not have her adult colors at all.
Here is some info on feeding.

As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeder amounts so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.


You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces.

A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/

 

[Fchamel]

It's kind of hard to tell her age from the photos. Beman is more experienced than I am, the information she has provided you with is excellent.

 

[kinyonga]

I feel bad tho cause she seems to be looking for food

Would you feel better if you fed her too much and she developed MBD, follicular stasis and eggbinding and died?

 

[MangoTango]

She is just a baby right now if she is only 3-5 months old..... Personally betting she is more like 4-5 months old though. In all the pics you have shown of her she does not have her adult colors at all.
Here is some info on feeding.

As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeder amounts so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.


You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces.

A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/

View attachment 316713

she seemed to have some neon colors today as if she were about to be gravid. she stayed near the bottom the whole night

 

[kinyonga]

Photo please.

 

[MangoTango]

Would you feel better if you fed her too much and she developed MBD, follicular stasis and eggbinding and died?

…..okay obviously not…im clearly going to feed her less I was just saying that I felt bad because I didn’t want her to be hungry or anything…geez

 

[MangoTango]

Photo please.

i’m not sure I can get one atm. I covered her enclosure with a sheet so she doesn’t see us. this morning I put a lay bin in and I had to take her out to do so, and she had little areas where she had a bit of neon green and a little yellow. it was subtle but there and she could be around 5 months. her stomach is kinda lumpy. I didn’t want to stress her but I had to put the lay bin in there so I hope that she isn’t too stressed to the point that she doesn’t wanna lay them

 

[MangoTango]

Photo please.

hard to see when she’s in there. it’s faint but it’s there. especially right by her shoulders

 

[MangoTango]

@kinyonga ill try to feed her and see if she wants it