Trioceros hoehnelii new imported: questions, gravid female?

[TCMontium]

Hi,
I have a male and a female adult Trioceros hoehnelii and they are imported from europe just 6 days ago. I bought them 5 days ago, they can be wc or cb (seller said cb but I don't think an adult pair with female gravid can be cb). They are in an Exo Terra glass 18”x18”x24” with a wall in the middle, so there is 2 parts and they are not seeing each other. Both parts are 9”x18”x24”.
Substrate is paper towels, each part contains a ficus benjamin, a schefflera and a T-Rex Baby Aquavine.
Lightning: 1 Exo Terra Repti Glo 5.0/T8 15” 14W; male's basking is a 60w regular bulb without reflector; female's basking is a 25w regular bulb with Namiba Terra Reflector ø14cm aluminium. Is 25w bulb with a reflector enough for female? (I think female is gravid)
Ambient temperature is 72-77F and 67-69F after misting. Night temp is approx. 66F.
Humidity is 75-80% right before misting and 95-99% after every misting. I mist them with a pressurized hand-mister 3-4 times a day for 2 minutes each part (4 minutes for both).
Is there any problem or missing with enclosure, lightning, misting or temperatures?

They drink well from droplets on the leaves.
BUT! They are not eating at all...
Male ate 1 little dubia on first day and 1 little brown cricket on third day, thats all he ate in 5 days and its not much I think...
Female didn't eat anyhing, she is not even interested in dubias and brown crickets... I think female is gravid, she is smaller than male, but both are 15 grams and she is plump. I think, that is why she doesn't eat. She also is so slow and not changing her position for several hours (usually under the basking)! She also closes her eyes very often, like sleeping but she opens them easily, so I think she is not sleeping but just closing eyes.
This behaviors are like she is ill but she doesn't look ill. Are all those "not eating", "not moving", "basking a lot" and "eye closing" things can be because of pregnancy?

I am not a beginner at all, I have Panthers for more than a year and Xantholophus Jackson's for 4 months. But these Hoehneliis are so small and new imported, so I am a little nervous because of they are not eating and possible pregnancy of female. Cause I heard that gravid/pregnant females (especially ovovivipar species) usually dies, if they are imported, because of huge stress...


There are some photos:

Male:

Female:

Enclosure:

 

[Chris Anderson]

While these Kenyan imports are "farmed", they should be treated like WC. In my experience they have all the same requirements and issues that WC do, and I agree that breeders wouldn't be sending adult gravid pairs, so the reality is fairly self evident.

My recommendation would be to set each up in their own 18x18x24" Exo Terra. I've kept, bred and raised this species in these enclosures and never kept more than a single adult in a cage that size. This should also help you have a better temperature gradient in the enclosure as you'll have twice the space for each basking bulb (it would be good if you could decrease your ambient temps in the cage slightly). Make sure not to over mist in these terrariums, however. You should be able to get away with one (maybe two) short mists per day in these enclosures for this species.

The female does not look good. She is a little dehydrated and appears to be somewhat lethargic in the photos. I would definitely recommend increasing her hydration (are you familiar with the shower method?). I also don't like the way she is tilting her head upward. She may have an infection of some type. I would recommend a vet visit.

Chris

 

[TCMontium]

While these Kenyan imports are "farmed", they should be treated like WC. In my experience they have all the same requirements and issues that WC do, and I agree that breeders wouldn't be sending adult gravid pairs, so the reality is fairly self evident.

My recommendation would be to set each up in their own 18x18x24" Exo Terra. I've kept, bred and raised this species in these enclosures and never kept more than a single adult in a cage that size. This should also help you have a better temperature gradient in the enclosure as you'll have twice the space for each basking bulb (it would be good if you could decrease your ambient temps in the cage slightly). Make sure not to over mist in these terrariums, however. You should be able to get away with one (maybe two) short mists per day in these enclosures for this species.

The female does not look good. She is a little dehydrated and appears to be somewhat lethargic in the photos. I would definitely recommend increasing her hydration (are you familiar with the shower method?). I also don't like the way she is tilting her head upward. She may have an infection of some type. I would recommend a vet visit.

Chris

Thank you so much,
Now they are in their own 18x18x24" Exo Terra. But is paper towel a good substrate for these species or should I put coconut subtrate (its the same thing as Exo Terra Plantation Soil) with drainage underneath (lava rocks, same thing as Exo Terra Bio Drain Substrate) to have a higher humidity?

I mist well and I see that she drinks, I hope she will be well hydrated soonly. I know the shower method but tap water in Istanbul contains too much chlore to drink and this year there is more problems with the quality of tap water, it is even deathly for aquarium fish now! So, I can't use shower method.
She really is lethargic and now she doesn't open her left eye even when I handle her, that is not good news. She was sleeping for hours today.
Can I do something about sleeping and lethargicness? I can hydrate her easily but she is not eating and its hard to convince a chameleon to eat. Can she be close to give birth and can that be the case of sleeping and not eating? Or she is not close to giving birth and sick or really stressed and exhausted cause of the import?
I am really worried about not eating and sleeping, closed left eye.

Unfortunately, there is no herpetologist vet in Turkey. But ther is vets with laboratory, so may be they can do blood analysis or fecal tests, parasite analysis. But I am not sure if they know what to do with a chameleon fecal or blood.

 

[TCMontium]

She died today. She was so cute and beautiful.
I guess there is no way to rescue a gravid imported ovoviviparous, they die anyway.