How long between displaying gravid colors and laying eggs?

A

aliguori

New Member
Hi,

I have a fourteen month old Panther Chameleon that has not been bred. Just this week, she started displaying gravid colors, stopped eating (at least, not as much), and has been pacing the flower pot that holds her Weeping Fig. She's also visibly fat so I'm pretty sure she's ready to lay (infertile) eggs.

I put in two laying containers, both small kritter keepers. This is all that will physically fit into her enclosure. One's filled with soil and the other is filled with a soil/sand mix.

She's pacing around these containers a bit but so far, she hasn't done any digging. I'm not really sure how long they typically display this behavior.

This morning, I removed the tree from her enclosure and put in a 5 gallon bucket half filled with moist sand. She did not like this at all. No digging and she took on a very pale coloration for most of the day. I removed her this evening and put her back with the tree and she quickly took on gravid colors and resumed her pacing activity.

She's upstairs in my reptile room. I'm normally up there but it's very quiet. This weekend noone was allowed up there (including myself) to give her privacy. Still no digging as far as I can tell.

This is all a long way of asking whether I should just let her be with the current laying boxes or put her back in the bucket (that she seems to hate). How long do they normally display gravid colors before laying? Is it a couple days or a couple weeks?

She's doing very well right now. She's drinking from the dripper, is moving around well (and a lot). I have no concerns that she's egg bound and feeling ill (yet).

I'm just not sure at what point people give up on the egg boxes and switch to a larger container. Do you put a heat light on top of the larger containers?

Thanks in advance and sorry for rambling :)
 
There is no definite time from the first showing of non-receptive colors and when the eggs will be laid because the chameleon doesn't always show the non-receptive colors...they can come and go.

I leave the small container (minimum 12" deep x12" x 8") in all the time and usually only move the female when she has started digging. If you are going to move her to the larger container, then don't keep moving her back and forth from the cage to the container...I would commit to one or the other.

Also don't let her see you watching her when she's digging or she might abandon the hole thinking that its not a safe place to lay the eggs.
 
If she shows any signs of going downhill (lethargy, sitting low in the cage, eyes shut during the day, etc.) you need to pay attention to them right away in case she becomes eggbound.
 
aliguori said:
Hi,

I have a fourteen month old Panther Chameleon that has not been bred. Just this week, she started displaying gravid colors, stopped eating (at least, not as much), and has been pacing the flower pot that holds her Weeping Fig. She's also visibly fat so I'm pretty sure she's ready to lay (infertile) eggs.

I put in two laying containers, both small kritter keepers. This is all that will physically fit into her enclosure. One's filled with soil and the other is filled with a soil/sand mix.

She's pacing around these containers a bit but so far, she hasn't done any digging. I'm not really sure how long they typically display this behavior.

This morning, I removed the tree from her enclosure and put in a 5 gallon bucket half filled with moist sand. She did not like this at all. No digging and she took on a very pale coloration for most of the day. I removed her this evening and put her back with the tree and she quickly took on gravid colors and resumed her pacing activity.

She's upstairs in my reptile room. I'm normally up there but it's very quiet. This weekend noone was allowed up there (including myself) to give her privacy. Still no digging as far as I can tell.

This is all a long way of asking whether I should just let her be with the current laying boxes or put her back in the bucket (that she seems to hate). How long do they normally display gravid colors before laying? Is it a couple days or a couple weeks?

She's doing very well right now. She's drinking from the dripper, is moving around well (and a lot). I have no concerns that she's egg bound and feeling ill (yet).

I'm just not sure at what point people give up on the egg boxes and switch to a larger container. Do you put a heat light on top of the larger containers?

Thanks in advance and sorry for rambling :)
Click to expand...
just let her be. they dont like laying when other people are around. If she is able to see any other reptiles you might want to block the visibilty as it may make her think its not a safe spot. a heat light is not nessesary
 
Sure enough I came home this evening from work and she's visibly less chubby and there is at least one egg exposed in the flower pot. I figure I won't dig around for the rest until tomorrow at least.

What do folks do after they lay in terms of food? I'm currently using Calcium Plus at every feeding. Does anyone do anything like feed a pinky after laying to help regain fat/calcium?
 
after my females are gravid i like to do afew things. Oral calcium supplement every other day.
A diet consisting of 25% waxworms 30% silkworms 45% young crickets.
I do this diet for 1-2 weeks. the waxworms will regain her fat. the crickets will be a nutritional balance (Make sure to gut load them particularly well during this period) and the silk worms are high protein. Dont use a pinky mouse as its high in animal protein. Pinkies are great for variety, but when your trying to get her back to health its not a great idea.
 
To complete this thread, she laid a total of 14 eggs. She laid two eggs late in the day, then another 10 while the lights were out, and then two more in the morning.

She never dug at all, even while she was in a egg laying bucket with moist sand.

She's now got quite an appetite and is getting fed crickets daily. I'll move her back to every other day at the end of the week or when she stops eating as aggressively.
 
I'm in need of information. Our female panther chameleon was digging for about a week or two and is now very skinny, can it be that she laid the eggs? I don't want to start digging around for the eggs just yet, as I don't want to stress her out. What concerns me is her color, brownish. Eating and drinking normally but still brownish. Getting misted every 5 or so hours except after 7 PM which is her last mist until 9 AM.
 
Welcome to the forum @BadDaddy!

Please start your own thread. If you have trouble please let me know and I'll help you.

It's possible she could have laid the eggs as long as there was a suitable place in the cage for her to lay them.
 
Thanks for the information. She is eating and drinking water, however she is always dark. She was plumb before starting to dig, now she thin. I did buy her a new cage, quite big. 24 D x 36 W and 48 H. Keeping it 80 to 82 degrees, humidity during the night 75 and day 50. I'll be placing side coverings to keep humidity in. Worried she's thin and dark. On occasion she'll plumb up and display her colors but only temporary. Also if you can help me post, I would appreciate it. Plenty of plants and I had a bin that was 12"wx12lx6D.

Thanks
 
Kinyonga
Sorry about the late reply. Brought her to the vet and after speaking to the Specialist at Yale. She determined that Rosey was inbred (bought at Petco) due to her unnatural colors. Gave us a mixture to fatten her up and raise the calcium level after she laid eggs. Rosey is responding nicely now. I want to thank everyone who reached out to us. We appreciate the support and guidance.
Thank you ALL
 
Calcium/VitD3 0.001 CC and Oxbow Carnivore Care .72 ML.
 

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