Female Veiled Question?

[Ivy2020]

Hello!

Quick question about female veiled chameleons. My veiled is showing dark green receptive colors, she is still very young and has not layed her first clutch of eggs yet. She is not stressed and seems to do this randomly throughout the day, especially when she is sitting up high in her cage (almost like she is exhibiting herself). My question is if female veiled chameleons go through a receptive phase first and then lay eggs after? Sort of like how a female dog goes into heat and then later has puppies (or a false pregnancy).

Thank you all for your help!

 

[Ivy2020]

Here is a photo

 

[Beman]

Pretty girl you have...Yes that is similar. Receptive indicates I want to mate. She may throw some lovely blues as well. Gravid indicates that they do not want to mate. They will go black with coloring to show a male they are not up for it. This is when they are holding eggs. Some females will not show their gravid colors though if there is not a male around to ward off.

@AmandaS @MissSkittles do yall have pics of the girls receptive and gravid you could share? Maybe help the op with female specific info for laying. ❤

 

[MissSkittles]

Pretty girl you have...Yes that is similar. Receptive indicates I want to mate. She may throw some lovely blues as well. Gravid indicates that they do not want to mate. They will go black with coloring to show a male they are not up for it. This is when they are holding eggs. Some females will not show their gravid colors though if there is not a male around to ward off.

@AmandaS @MissSkittles do yall have pics of the girls receptive and gravid you could share? Maybe help the op with female specific info for laying. ❤

Why yes, I do have pics.
When she is receptive, she’ll have her pretty colors and be very restless. My ladies constantly patrol every inch of their enclosures and literally climb the walls. It can last for a couple of weeks. At any time from a few weeks to a couple of months she’ll be gravid and needing to lay her eggs. Each lady is different and I’ve found only subtle changes in their dots when gravid. Is why it’s best to keep a lay bin as a permanent part of the enclosure. Weighing your cham at regular intervals also helps to know where they are in their cycle. Weighing now will start giving you baselines for the future.
Receptive Grumpy



Gravid Grumpy

 

[MissSkittles]

*Edit. Yikes! Was starting to post a pic of Gravid Stella.

 

[Ivy2020]

Pretty girl you have...Yes that is similar. Receptive indicates I want to mate. She may throw some lovely blues as well. Gravid indicates that they do not want to mate. They will go black with coloring to show a male they are not up for it. This is when they are holding eggs. Some females will not show their gravid colors though if there is not a male around to ward off.

@AmandaS @MissSkittles do yall have pics of the girls receptive and gravid you could share? Maybe help the op with female specific info for laying. ❤

Thank you! She is very sweet! So if im understanding correctly, the mating behavior is exhibited prior to her actually laying eggs? Is this like a cycle? I should also mention that there are no males around and I do not intend to breed her.

 

[CBee7726]

Why yes, I do have pics.
When she is receptive, she’ll have her pretty colors and be very restless. My ladies constantly patrol every inch of their enclosures and literally climb the walls. It can last for a couple of weeks. At any time from a few weeks to a couple of months she’ll be gravid and needing to lay her eggs. Each lady is different and I’ve found only subtle changes in their dots when gravid. Is why it’s best to keep a lay bin as a permanent part of the enclosure. Weighing your cham at regular intervals also helps to know where they are in their cycle. Weighing now will start giving you baselines for the future.
Receptive Grumpy
View attachment 275934


Gravid Grumpy
View attachment 275936

With a lay bin as a permanent part of the enclosure, do you have to worry about accidental ingestion of the play sand/ impaction?

 

[Ivy2020]

With a lay bin as a permanent part of the enclosure, do you have to worry about accidental ingestion of the play sand/ impaction?

This is also what i worry about. My chameleon once in a while eats her lay bin substrate. She hasn't been impacted yet.

 

[MissSkittles]

This is a cycle whether there are males or not, mated or not. No, they won’t eat the sand. But, you want to use play sand which has a different shape than calci sand, which does pose impaction risk.

 

[Beman]

Thank you! She is very sweet! So if im understanding correctly, the mating behavior is exhibited prior to her actually laying eggs? Is this like a cycle? I should also mention that there are no males around and I do not intend to breed her.

Yes hun it is a cycle... So when a dog is in heat the scent is what triggers males... With chams the color they display to a male is what lets the males know Yes or No. This will always be done prior to laying her clutches... Timing varies from what I have seen from others on when they lay after the color changes. Some keepers will keep a weight on their girls using a gram scale... This says very clearly when they are forming eggs. Once you get a pattern to know what weight indicates prior to laying then you will have a clearer idea as well.

My fat boy on a scale... My males are weighed to ensure they are a healthy weight and to make sure they are reducing when they need to be. Beman is currently on a diet lol But this is a stand I have and a kitchen gram scale.

 

[MissSkittles]

Laying eggs takes a lot out of the ladies and shortens their lives. If they have too large of a clutch, the risks of getting egg bound increase. After her first laying, you’ll want to decrease her basking temp to no higher than 80* and slowly start reducing the amount you feed her. Gradually cut back to 3-4 feeders daily and then to the same amount every other day. Around 10 months old you’ll want to be giving 3-4 feeders only three times a week. This may help explain it. http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html
One of my ladies has laid twice and the other just once. Each laid between 30-45 eggs, which is a lot and it’s an ongoing process to reduce it.

 

[Ivy2020]

Thank you all so much!!

 

[Reptofreak]

Here is my girl Ivy who has passed receptive and gravid. Thought I would post so you could see the full black gravid color as I find it very beautiful.

 

[AmandaS]

Here is my Spring receptive and gravid.

 

[Ivy2020]

Here is my girl Ivy who has passed receptive and gravid. Thought I would post so you could see the full black gravid color as I find it very beautiful.View attachment 275958View attachment 275959

My girls name is ivy too. Your ivy is so beautiful. The dark coloring, do all chameleons turn this color when gravid? Or just some?

 

[Reptofreak]

My girls name is ivy too. Your ivy is so beautiful. The dark coloring, do all chameleons turn this color when gravid? Or just some?

Usually only if a male is present and they know it.

 

[kinyonga]

Many of the females will eat the sand. For years i have used a sand produced by King's that comes in a white bag with red, blue, yellow toys on the bag. it has never caused an impaction in the females.

 

[NashansCamos]

Here is my Jasmine receptive and gravid. She actually has those blues and oranges permanently but they become more expressed when she is gravid in the photos. The third photo is her first time being gravid