Retained Sperm Clutch, or just fat?

[Chameleons Northwest]

I have noticed these last 2 weeks that Megana has begun filling out conspicuously in her midsection (photo below). I am wondering if she is just putting on weight, or if she is developing a clutch in there. I checked the Melleri Discovery site and saw mention of retaining/storing sperm, but nothing about producing secondary clutches. Could she be developing a clutch secondary to the one she laid for Mike? There is also the possibility that Hercules mated with her. The last week of March (I posted this in the Melleri thread titled "The Dating Game") he was trying to mount her, and had been displaying breeding colors. She had been seeking him out at the time, to eat and rest together. We had an insanely busy week that week, and so they spend whole days with no observation. It was toward the end of that week that Hercules stopped wearing his breeding colors, and hasn't been seen in them since. They also stopped hanging out together. I wondered why, but figured she had put him off strongly enough that he gave up until official breeding season kicks in. Now I wonder if they got it on.

Megana weighed 405g on 3/4 when we received her. She had just laid 80 some eggs a week or 2 before that. On 3/21 she weighed 445g. Today she weighs 510g. I even double checked her weight today, using 2 different scale perches. She is a monster. I did not measure her to see if she grew.

The first photo is of her. The second photo is of Hercules. They both are finishing a good shed. You will notice that she is a yellow-green, and Hercules is a blue-green. These are their most predominant colors. The third photo is of the 2 of them.

 

[studiocham]

That vertical pose can be misleading, so I can't give a definite. Everything kind of blops to the bottom, and there are air sacs right in front of the hips that can inflate and look like eggs. If you gently palpate them, you'll know. She also is not showing the hint of gray that progresses to full monochromatic gravid display over several weeks. If she starts to gray, she may be gravid.

I heard a rumor of keepers double-clutching melleri in the space of one year by artificially managing their light cycles and providing lots of food. I don't recommend it because it is a huge drain on their bodies, and chameleon kidneys and livers are delicate enough, as it is. The continuous rapid gain of weight to stimulate egg production, followed by the rapid loss of nutrients with a clutch may trigger fatty liver at both extremes (starvation and overeating).

Is it possible? Totally. You have the necessary stimuli in place. She has been placed on a continent where the natural light cycle is heading into Summer, there is a male in the territory, there is artificial lighting, and there is plenty of prey.

I wouldn't worry about double-clutching once. She should fit into a natural sync with our seasons and not do it again, as long as she is getting cooler, drier, less daylight, and less prey during the winter.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Thank you for the reply, Kristina. We were not expecting a clutch this early, so, hopefully she is not. Hercules has probably stopped trying to breed because he got the message.

I will let you know if her color changes.