Veiled Post Egg Laying Attitude

[GlennWiggy]

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone has ever experienced this before:

I have a one year old female veiled cam that I purchased at 3 months. Anyways this little critter never had a single health problem or attitude problem for the first 6 months or so. Still has no health problems but as for the attitude of late, well. . . She used to seek my hand out to climb my arm and almost without any training needed would eat right out of my hand! Then she became full grown, sexually mature, and began to lay eggs for a cycle of about 4-6 weeks. During this time she became a bit more reserved which I could understand. After her cycle ceased, she almost instantly became confrontational to the point of me placing my hand in the enclosure and her hissing and/or taking bites but only really committing to biting me once. It's been about three months since the egg laying ending and yet she is still vicious as ever. The funny thing is though, if I put on a green glove she no longer takes that hand as a threat and will climb all over it haha. Just hoping this isn't a permanent phase. . .

 

[jajeanpierre]

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone has ever experienced this before:

I have a one year old female veiled cam that I purchased at 3 months. Anyways this little critter never had a single health problem or attitude problem for the first 6 months or so. Still has no health problems but as for the attitude of late, well. . . She used to seek my hand out to climb my arm and almost without any training needed would eat right out of my hand! Then she became full grown, sexually mature, and began to lay eggs for a cycle of about 4-6 weeks. During this time she became a bit more reserved which I could understand. After her cycle ceased, she almost instantly became confrontational to the point of me placing my hand in the enclosure and her hissing and/or taking bites but only really committing to biting me once. It's been about three months since the egg laying ending and yet she is still vicious as ever. The funny thing is though, if I put on a green glove she no longer takes that hand as a threat and will climb all over it haha. Just hoping this isn't a permanent phase. . .

Did you hurt her handling her when she was heavily gravid? She could associate your hand with pain. Is she in pain now with MBD caused by the depletion of calcium from her bones to supply the eggs? A broken bone is a broken bone and causes pain regardless if it is caused by fall or the bones collapsing from MBD.

 

[GlennWiggy]

I don't believe so. When she started laying I didn't handle her too much, but maybe she got used to no interaction? All her limbs work great and she eats like a monster. She's getting her multi with d3 once a week, calcium twice a week, with the proper uva and uvb light, and has always been very mobile. When I used to handle her every so often I would just put a finger or two under her chin and wait for her to climb on so it was always her choice. The only other variable I can think of is the new much taller enclosure with a pathos plant she received once she was full grown. Maybe she used to see my hand as means of climbing higher and now is content where she is so doesn't think she needs it. Not sure. Guess I'll have to get an x-ray on her if nothing changes.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I don't believe so. When she started laying I didn't handle her too much, but maybe she got used to no interaction? All her limbs work great and she eats like a monster. She's getting her multi with d3 once a week, calcium twice a week, with the proper uva and uvb light, and has always been very mobile. When I used to handle her every so often I would just put a finger or two under her chin and wait for her to climb on so it was always her choice. The only other variable I can think of is the new much taller enclosure with a pathos plant she received once she was full grown. Maybe she used to see my hand as means of climbing higher and now is content where she is so doesn't think she needs it. Not sure. Guess I'll have to get an x-ray on her if nothing changes.

Who knows what she is thinking, but I don't think you are supplementing with enough calcium. My understanding is a veiled female needs calcium with every feeding, not just two or three times a week. Phosphorus ratios are critical. There is also the issue of whether or not the UVB bulb is actually producing UVB rays.

There is something called "instinctual drift" which is when an animal stops doing a learned behavior and reverts to its natural behavior. Rewards and punishments don't seem to affect this drift back to natural behavior. It is the bane of animal trainers.

I always view my interactions with my animals, whether it be my dogs, my kids, my parrots, chickens or chameleons, as driven by their innate natural behaviors. Chameleons are asocial, so the most I expect from them is tolerance.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I don't believe so. When she started laying I didn't handle her too much, but maybe she got used to no interaction? All her limbs work great and she eats like a monster. She's getting her multi with d3 once a week, calcium twice a week, with the proper uva and uvb light, and has always been very mobile.

Forgot to mention, animals with MBD can be quite mobile until it gets really bad.