Gravid Female won't eat

[abramyan]

Hello everybody,
I have a gravid panther chameleon female that refuses to eat while i am around. She looks super healthy. Her caps are full and she looks pretty darn thick as can be. She's bout 50-60 grams and her poops look normal (not totally perfect but awesome). Almost never seen her close her eyes durin the day. She is kept outside in a 28 by 16.5 by 30 reptarium. She has a laying been in there and is about 3 weeks and 3 days gravid. She has normal colors and i have seen her eat twice. Sometimes i put a superworm or hornworm or silkworm near her and it dispears fast, but she simply will not eat while i am in the room. Does anyone know why she is like this? Should i bring her inside? Somebody tell me somethin'. My regards.

 

[suzi]

It is common for females to stop eating right before they are about to lay, and she is due in the next few days. It is also common for some chameleons to not want to eat in front of you. I have one female who will snatch up her food and hold it in her mouth and stare me down like.. Uh uh oh no you aren't going to watch me eat... Do you mind! She won't chew or swallow until I leave it is pretty funny

 

[kinyonga]

Make sure that when she is digging to lay the eggs you don't watch her. It can push the chameleon towards eggbinding.

 

[Elizadolots]

I've had a male Fischer's for about 6 months and just a week or so ago I saw him eat for the first time. It's really not uncommon for them to refuse to eat around you.

As kinyonga says, you need to give her privacy. If you can wrap some fabric or paper around the cage and punch a couple of "peep holes" so you can spy on her, it might be a good idea.

 

[kinyonga]

Forgot to ask...does she have a place to dig in the cage to show you when she's ready to lay? Sometimes the clutch can be laid way before the due date depending on when she was mated during her cycle.

 

[abramyan]

yes, i put her in that cage today because it has room for a proper size laying bin. I thought she was going to show interest because i see her sometimes near the bottoms of her cage but she showed no interest in it.