Gravid Female Veiled Chameleon Colors and Behavior

[tlund345]

I recently introduced my male piebald chameleon to one of my female veiled chameleons. She did not show any dark colors and was quite receptive to him. He gently stroked her tail and legs and mating inseud. These are some pictures of her the second time I put her in his enclosure. I was surprised that she showed the aggressive behavior and vivid gravid colors so soon, meaning he was successful on his first meeting with her. Since then, she has gained 14 grams over the past 2 weeks and showing other behavior that you would expect from a pregnant female. I placed a container filled with 6 inches of play sand in her enclosure and she frequently climbs down the screen cage, about 5 ft tall, to inspect it. Should be interesting to see if she has a clutch. I have to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't become egg bound. Wish me(her) luck!!!

 

[Thehippie]

How big is your lay bin it should be mom 12x12 even better 16x16 here is an amazing egg laying blog https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/egg-laying-and-the-laying-bin.345

 

[tlund345]

I actually read that blog before I became a member and after she showed gravid colors. It gave me the idea for the kitchen scale lol. My bin is 24x12. I moved her to the largest enclosure so I could fit it in there and she would have a wide range of spots to adjust her body temp. She's also the only chameleon I have that drinks from a dish. So funny.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

How long have you been keeping chams?

You know she’s going to have a clutch either way right?

Drinking from a dish isn’t funny or acceptable.

 

[tlund345]

I bought my first one 17 years ago, but I always had males. This is my first time with female veileds, so I'm kinda winging it and looking for tips on incubating. I've been around reptiles my entire life though so I've done lots of reading on them. Watching to make sure she isn't egg bound, jackson's give live birth and have multiple clutches or generations from the same male after mating once, and veileds lay eggs just like chickens. Thanks for the heads up though, I would have been pretty surprised if I woke up to a clutch of eggs and no male in the house.

 

[tlund345]

And no matter how I set up my dripper, or how many leaves water is dripping from, she only drinks water that falls in a dish. So, it will have to be acceptable for now.