Is my chameleon receptive?

[ConfusedHornwormGuy]

I may not be an expert but I started noticing pattern and behavioral changes about a week ago and minute [my•noot] changes in coloration/starting to show more browns/lights/yellows so I wasn't sure what to make of it.

I'm pretty sure she is on her way to being ready to lay soon, as I believe she is showing her full receptive colors right now and my is she gorgeous, had to pop her out of the cage for a bit to let her enjoy some more intense heat and to snap a pic.

I just wanted to double check with all of you, this means she is receptive correct? See attached.

 

[MissSkittles]

Aww…beautiful little lady. Has she also been very active and restless? If so, then I’d say she is receptive. It typically lasts for a week or 2. Make sure you have her lay bin ready to go as she’ll be needing it as soon as a few weeks after.

 

[ConfusedHornwormGuy]

Another pic, she's gorgeous. Honestly females are so much cooler than males, I had no idea they communicated on this level with their patterns. Nature is beautiful.

Aww…beautiful little lady. Has she also been very active and restless? If so, then I’d say she is receptive. It typically lasts for a week or 2. Make sure you have her lay bin ready to go as she’ll be needing it as soon as a few weeks after.

YES she is climbing up her walls like a madman and doing up and down loops all over the place. I even caught her laying belly down in the sand soaking up the heat and relaxing for a bit. I'm pretty sure she's ready to go I can just feel it. I'm excited!

Also I thought gravid meant that they are holding onto eggs and cannot lay them, but that is just egg-bound, right?

I will know when she is gravid/ready to lay based on a coloration change, correct?

You say generally about 3 weeks after the introduction of the receptive colors, they are then ready to lay as they are fully gravid? Is that correct? Or do you mean she will show these colors for a couple of weeks, go back to normal colors, then ready to lay?

Thank you again for all the advice and help.

 

[kinyonga]

She looks like she's well on her way to producing eggs. Do you have the egg laying container in the cage already? I hope so!

 

[Lindasjackson]

She sure does look full in her belly.

 

[ConfusedHornwormGuy]

She looks like she's well on her way to producing eggs. Do you have the egg laying container in the cage already? I hope so!

I do!

 

[ConfusedHornwormGuy]

Help! I caught her sleeping/resting her eyes during the day today! Her abdomen was sucked in while she was sleeping/sitting there with at least 1 eye closed (i couldn't see if the other was closed before she opened her eye) and you could see the bulges of where the eggs were because of how hard she had her abdomen sucked in, it looked like she broke half of her ribcage, that's how thin she made herself, I rattled the cage slightly while opening the door to check on her and she immediately opened her eyes and her abdomen went completely back to normal and now she is moving about fine.

I checked for external bruising to see if maybe she fell in her cage from all the activity she has been making because of her eggs, and I don't see any bruising or any signs or broken anything, she externally looks fine.

I should've snapped a pic prior to checking on her however my heart sunk when i saw her abdomen and i immediately thought to check on her, my first thought wasn't to snap a pic so I'm sorry for that.

My understanding is it is not normal for chameleons to rest their eyes during the day and is usually indication of something more serious (potentially).

However I have never owned a receptive female chameleon and am unaware of any behavioral changes which may accompany that.

Should I take her to the vet?

 

[Lindasjackson]

@Beman @kinyonga

 

[kinyonga]

Is she sitting low in the cage? Acting lethargic today? Did she go back to sleep again after you disturbed her when she had the eye shut?

 

[ConfusedHornwormGuy]

Is she sitting low in the cage? Acting lethargic today? Did she go back to sleep again after you disturbed her when she had the eye shut?

She didn't go back to sleep, she went back to basking as normal, when she was sitting there sleeping/laying with her eyes closed she was low in the cage, seeming lethargic at that moment, but doesn't seem lethargic now.

I am going to put some feeders in her cage and see if they're gone by tomorrow and see if she keeps doing the same thing. She seems fine but idk, it was weird because it is not something I've seen her do.

 

[kinyonga]

If she's sitting low in the cage and sleeping and lethargic, etc then it's reason for concern.

 

[ConfusedHornwormGuy]

If she's sitting low in the cage and sleeping and lethargic, etc then it's reason for concern.

After waking her she went back up and hasnt gone back down since. I'm not 100% on the lethargy, because she wasn't lethargic after. She's sleeping currently because it's night, but I'll be watching her tomorrow closely, hopefully I don't see her doing this again.

 

[ConfusedHornwormGuy]

I haven't seen her doing this since it originally happened. Still keeping an eye on her though.

 

[ConfusedHornwormGuy]

She's digging!!!!!!!! TODAY IS THE DAY!!!!

 

[ConfusedHornwormGuy]

My little green backhoe!

 

[ConfusedHornwormGuy]

She's making progress!

Ive been periodically spraying some water to make sure that sand holds form. It is wetted play sand but I just want to be better safe than sorry.

I'm so excited! This will be my first lay!

She's doing such a good job, it's amazing that she instinctually just knows what to do!

 

[summerseeking]

Make sure you are giving her privacy. You don’t want to spook her.

 

[ConfusedHornwormGuy]

Make sure you are giving her privacy. You don’t want to spook her.

I am definitely trying to not spook her. I've been leaving her alone and been peeking inside only briefly to make sure she hasn't collapsed her tunnel.

I don't want her to hold onto her clutch but I am also an anxious chameleon dad, so it's hard to not want to get involved but I know not to do anything that will spook her, I've been making sure she can't see me.

Luckily she has sand on her right eye so every time I've checked on her (every 10-15 mins taking a quick peek in) she has had her eyes closed or has been looking the other way, and isn't disturbed by the water as she is used to me spraying in there regularly, I was being careful to not hit her much with the water and was mostly just trying to wet the sand.

I've stopped spraying at this point however because the sand seems to be holding very well and her tunnel isn't collapsing.

Thank you for the advice.

 

[MissSkittles]

Try to have some yummy and nutritious treats for her when she’s done. I give my girls hornworms to help rehydrate them along with silkworms. You’ll want to feed her very well for a couple of days after and then return to her usual diet.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Im so happy for you! This is exciting!