Strange Behaviour?

[skeleptica]

Lolas behaviour lately has been very strange, but in a good way? Usually she's not very active, she usually just has one spot in her cage that she hangs out in alot and mostly only comes down when it's feeding time. However for like the past week she has been extremely active, climbing all over her cage. I haven't changed anything in her cage or her eating habits or anything at all. And get this... Last night I opened the cage to mist her and she climbed right out onto my hand and was crawling all over me and my boyfriend, haha she tried to climb right onto the top of his head, which is very strange because she has never wanted to come out of her cage since I've had her, she normally wouldn't even come near my hand when I put it in her cage. I was worried at first because I thought maybe she wasn't happy anymore in her cage, but she seems very happy. I also noticed that she's starting to get some pretty blue colors in her which she's never had before. Does anyone have any possible explanation for this behaviour?

 

[westcoastchameleons]

If Lola is a femal, she is most likley receptive, or gravid. Usually when they are very ctive like that, it means they are gravid and are searching for somewhere to lay eggs. The blue usually means that they are recptive, unless she is mainley black with some blue.

Thanks,
Jake

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

The forward behavior and pretty blue colors sounds like she's receptive and looking for a mate.

 

[skeleptica]

I need some further explanation on this "egg" thing because I have never heard of this before. Let me get this straight, even if she has not mated with another chameleon she can still lay eggs? If this is the case, should I have something set up for her to lay eggs in? and what should I do with the eggs once this has happened? Does this happen every so often? What can I do to help make this more comfortable for her?

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."I need some further explanation on this "egg" thing because I have never heard of this before. Let me get this straight, even if she has not mated with another chameleon she can still lay eggs?"...assuming you are talking about a veiled, yes...they can produce eggs even when not mated.

You said..."If this is the case, should I have something set up for her to lay eggs in?"...if they do not have a suitable place to lay them they may die eggbound. What I do is put a container that when empty, the female fits into with a couple of inches to spare on all sides (including above her). I fill it about 2/3rds full of washed playsand and keep it in her cage at all times. This way you won't miss the sometimes subtle signs that she is getting ready to lay eggs. She can be moved to a larger container when she starts to dig intently. I use a 65 liter rubbermaid container for this. I cut a large hole in the lid and screen over it. I put at least a bag of washed sandbox sand in the bottom of it and a branch for her to climb/sit on. I put the female in and put the lid on and put a light over the lid. Make sure that the container doesn't overheat inside. You can water her and feed her in there but make sure once she turns her bum around into the hole there are no insects in there any more...they may chew on her.

Its important not to let a female see you watching her when she is digging the hole or she will abandon the hole thinking that its not a safe place to lay the eggs. If this happens often enough it can lead to eggbinding.

You said..."and what should I do with the eggs once this has happened?"...since/if she has not been with a male they will be infertile and you can toss them out.

You asked..." Does this happen every so often?"...it depends on the diet and temperatures that you keep the chameleon...they may lay them every few months or they may never lay a clutch.

 

[skeleptica]

okay, I'm doing the rubbermaid container thing, how long should I keep her in there before I check to see if she's laid the eggs?

 

[kinyonga]

Since I have the small container of sand in each egglaying female's cage, I leave my female in her cage until she is digging intently. When she comes out and goes back up to the branches, I move her to the big bin. She can stay there, in the bin, for a week if need be as long as you feed and water her....just remember that once she has turned her bum around in the hole you need to make sure there are no insects in the bin! You can even start a hole for her in the bin....a female will almost always continue a partly dug hole.

As for knowing when she is laying or has laid the eggs...I look in the bin through the screen to see what she is doing...but I make sure not to jiggle the bin and I make sure that she can't see me peeking. When she lays the eggs she will be quite a bit thinner and will go back up in the branches after she has finished filling in the hole. (So, when she has filled the hole in you should know that she is done.)

 

[skeleptica]

Okay, so I went and bought the rubbermaid container,cut a hole in th lid, covered it with screen, filled the container about halfway with sand, put a vine inside with one of her fake plants, I moistened the sand a bit so that she can dig a hole. I took her out of her cage, and put her in it and she freaked out, she didn't like it one bit and any chance she got, she tried to escape back to her cage, so rather than freaking her out I put her back in her cage, changed the container to one a bit smaller so it can fit in her cage, put the moistened sand in it and covered it halfway with leaves so she has her privacy still, will this still work? This has turned out to be alot more work than I had planned. I'm still new to the chameleon world but am trying to learn as much as I possibly can. I want what's the best for her, and the last thing I want to do is freak her out, so any opinions would be much appreciated.

 

[kinyonga]

As long as she can get to/into the container and views it as a suitable place to lay the eggs it should work.