male ambilobe not interested

[Khans Crazy Critters]

Hi, I have a male ambilobe panther chameleon that doesn't seem interested in the pink and orange receptive female that is in his cage. When I put her in he almost took her as a threat. He started hissing and gaping at her. It was definitely not angled at me because he is super tame and calm. I quickly took out the female because I was worried about her. I recently put her back and he didn't do what he did last time. She is about 12 months old. I just checked on her yesterday and her colors are a little darker and she did hiss at the male but today she was still pink. Any ideas on how to make the male interested? (I have tried the mirror method once but he didn't seem to care)

 

[jpowell86]

Hi, I have a male ambilobe panther chameleon that doesn't seem interested in the pink and orange receptive female that is in his cage. When I put her in he almost took her as a threat. He started hissing and gaping at her. It was definitely not angled at me because he is super tame and calm. I quickly took out the female because I was worried about her. I recently put her back and he didn't do what he did last time. She is about 12 months old. I just checked on her yesterday and her colors are a little darker and she did hiss at the male but today she was still pink. Any ideas on how to make the male interested? (I have tried the mirror method once but he didn't seem to care)

I feel your mistake was introducing the female in his enclosure. The majority of the time, a male's initial reaction will always be to defend his area unless he has had visual contact with the female prior to placing her in the enclosure. The preferred method is to introduce the male to the female via her enclosure. If this can't be done for some reason, it is always better to find a neutral area to introduce them. Also, don't just put them together. Hold one and let them make visual contact before placing them together. You will be able to tell by the females reaction if she will be receptive to the mating.

 

[Khans Crazy Critters]

I feel your mistake was introducing the female in his enclosure. The majority of the time, a male's initial reaction will always be to defend his area unless he has had visual contact with the female prior to placing her in the enclosure. The preferred method is to introduce the male to the female via her enclosure. If this can't be done for some reason, it is always better to find a neutral area to introduce them. Also, don't just put them together. Hold one and let them make visual contact before placing them together. You will be able to tell by the females reaction if she will be receptive to the mating.

Sorry, forgot to add. The females cage has always been next to the males cage. As for the neutral zone, I put them outside on a small oak tree. Either way the male seems more interested in every thing else than he is with the female. When the female was in the males cage she didn't seem to notice him, and she still doesn't seem to care about him being in the cage with her. And he doesn't care about her being in the cage with him. Although she does look a little bigger today. I don't know, I am going to put a lay box in even though so she doesn't become egg bound.

 

[Khans Crazy Critters]

Well I walked in on the male bobbing his head as he ejects a sperm plug. The female is now in a separate cage with blocked sides an a large laybox. Hope all the eggs are fertile. Thanks for your help

 

[Khans Crazy Critters]

The female did lay eggs, but im sad to announce that all the eggs were infertile. The male is also a Sambava, and has almost no interest in the female anymore. Any ideas on spiking interest in him? We have even boardered up the cage for privacy. I'm working on moving them up to my room, because it's less trafficed.

 

[guanagator]

I would keep them visually separated going forward. Next time the female is receptive take the male and just let him see her from a distance, if he's interested introduce him to her enclosure. It can take some time but usually they will go right for the girls. If the female isn't interested she will let you know quick, otherwise I leave them paired for 24 hours or so to allow for multiple copulations. I've not noticed a difference between moving males v females I have had refusals when moving to quick and spooking one of them, best luck has been letting them see each other from across the room and waiting for the male to show interest before moving closer.