Gravid? Obviously a fatty.

[Tobykun]

This is Lilly. I've had her for a year now. Is she gravid? What exactly does a gravid Cham look like? I thought they would be a dark color with spots??

She's obviously overweight. I've been cutting back her crickets, giving her three to four a day. My problem is I'm not sure how much is enough for her. As she tries to leap out and snatch the feeder cup before I even get it in the cage. Watching me at the door with her mouth slightly opened, tongue hanging out.

Any advice?

She also has fat legs. That worries me.

Also, today I was eating strawberries and she kept giving me the "feed me look." Out of curiousity I opened her cage and showed her the strawberry. She licked it and then "munch." I let her have two bites. Are strawberries bad? I think there was a thread about this before. Some people say yes, others say no.

And since everyone loves baby pictures:

 

[Chuck G]

She is fat! Like fat people,she will have a shortened lifespan.
Cut back on her food. Don't worry,she won't like you any more or less.

 

[Tobykun]

2 crickets a day good??

That just seems like not a lot.

 

[Chuck G]

I would say more like 6.

 

[Tobykun]

Seriously? I'm feeding her four now. Sometimes three other days maybe five.

Why is she so fat?? I can't understand it. They aren't extremely large crickets either.

She does sit around a lot. I see my male climbing up and down his cage all day long. While she spends a lotta time sitting around.

 

[Chuck G]

How old is she? She may be gravid,in which case she is allowed to be chubby.
How big is the cage?

 

[Tobykun]

Little older then a year. Meaning I've had her for a year. Her cage is 16 x 16 x 30. I thought gravid veileds looked....different. Darker with spots?

 

[Julirs]

Little older then a year. Meaning I've had her for a year. Her cage is 16 x 16 x 30. I thought gravid veileds looked....different. Darker with spots?

They don't always show gravid coloration. Does she have a laying bucket, she has quite a belly on her.

 

[SoCaliSon]

Often times they won't show the Gravid pattern unless there is a Male around to to trigger it. The best way you can tell if she is Gravid is if you have a male, pull her out and show her to him... If not, maybe try a mirror, but I don't know if that will work. If that doesn't work, I would try gently feeling for eggs in the belly. How long have you been witnessing a weight gain for.

Regardless I would definately provide a spot for her to dig just in case. It is always a good Idea to provide a digging bin for a fem over 6 months just in case she develops a clutch and needs to dig. I think egg binding is so common with unfertilized clutches, because the keeper, having not bred the Cham, sometimes is not concerned with giving her a place to lay eggs until it is too late. The colors don't look gravid to me, But the Belly sure does.

 

[Chuck G]

I agree with Juli, most of the time they show some intense gravid colors but not always. It would be a good idea to prepare a container for some egg laying just in case.

 

[Tobykun]

I do have a laying container. She was wandering around her cage a lot at about six months or so. So we bought a large plastic tub and filled it with soil and playsand mixture. I usually just remove the bottom of the cage and sit it ontop. She never went near the dirt though.

I'm gonna sit that back up and try showing her to her brother and see what happens.

 

[ciafardo 4]

dont they start to refuse food a few days be for they are ready to lay at least my females do ive always used this as the time to put them in a laying encloser i have made out of a large trash can

 

[Tobykun]

Ok...that was not fun. I tried to remove her from her cage. Sometimes she will come out, but only if she wants to. Today was not one of those days. She warned me to back off so I did. I felt her belly a bit, she just feels fat to me.

So...plan B. I removed Albert from his cage. He doesn't bite or hiss....just blindly likes to move forward and climb. He doesn't care what he's climbing on....So I put him in front of her cage. She watched him with both her eyes and he paid absolutely no attention to her....just kept trying to climb on her cage and then on top and then on the heat lamp. I was worried he was gonna get the lamp. So I held him back a little and we opened the cage. This caused her to puff up and hiss. Not happy. Then he got ahold of a vine and she tried to bite him and missed...luckly. He was happy to be away from her as I'm sure that in a fight she would most likely win. He's a puss more or less.

 

[SoCaliSon]

How were her colors? She defiantly sounds non receptive.

 

[Tobykun]

Same as always. We also tried a mirror. She just sat there and looked at herself. No color change. I moved it next to her and she stayed calm and didn't care. ATM, she taking water from me by hand using a dropper. Usually mirrors excite my male a lot. He enjoys trying to climb on himself....but not her.

Edit: She decided she wanted out. So I placed her in front of his cage. Poor Albert just sat there looking scared. She kept looking back at me then him as if saying you think this is a good idea? Nothing happened. Blah. I'll still place her soil tub under her cage to be safe. She's so weird though.

 

[SoCaliSon]

Yeah, always keep a place for her to dig in there. I think it sounds like she is just overweight, but just in case you should always have a place to dig. With all of my females over 6 months, they get an empty plant pot, with a play sand and organic soil mix half filled in the pot, and run a vine down in at the bottom corner of their cage.

 

[chamcrazy]

pics of my gravid female

I agree with the others, her colors do not really look like she's gravid but she is a little hefty! My veiled just laid her fertile eggs 3 weeks ago. Here are some pics of her when she was gravid. As soon as I showed her the male (when she wasn't quite ready for him) she turned the DARK blackish green with bright green patterns. (3rd attached picture) Then when I put her back in her own cage she was a constant greyish color until they copulated and layed her eggs. (Please refer to the 1st & 2nd pic.) Then she went back to her vivid beautiful self! I would definitely show her to another cham if you have one to see if it triggers her colors. Or try the mirror trick. Good luck.