Need help telling if my female veiled is gravid!

[salish_31]

So, I recently got a female veiled and is said to be around 3-4 months old (I know that is young to be sexually mature). But she has been showing very bright colors and has been having spots all over. She also usually will eat bugs from the cup I hold up to her but stopped and started to run away when I try. She has been on the walls of the cage and I am worried she might be getting ready to lay eggs and I just don’t know. I will attach some pictures let me know if you need more.

• Your Chameleon - veiled, female, not sure of age . Had her for around a month.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I had to once because we had to adjust a plant in her cage. No hissing or any biting just walked up my arm. Have not handled since.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I feed her crickets, black soldier fly larve, and wax worms as treats.I gut load with carrots looking to do more if anyone has advice. I feed her about 8-10 every morning
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with, and what is the schedule? I am using calcium without d3 every feeding and the reptivite with d3 multi every two weeks
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I must for 30 sec every 9 hours I see her drinking sometimes
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? She has a half orange white thingy. The rest of her poop is a normal brown color and looks a little wet but not watery.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Not really that I can think of

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? It’s a medium screen enclosure. Looking to get an XL but it was not available when I got her
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?her lights are the Arcadia 6% her lights turn on at 9 and off at 9
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking spot is 78-82 usually and the lowest spot is 70 overnight lowest is 65 measure temps with a reptile thermometer
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity during the day is usually 50-60 and around 40 at night
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I am using a pothos
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high-traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? She is on my dresser in my room which is a very low traffic area in my home
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Florida

 

[Ghostbirb]

So, I recently got a female veiled and is said to be around 3-4 months old (I know that is young to be sexually mature). But she has been showing very bright colors and has been having spots all over. She also usually will eat bugs from the cup I hold up to her but stopped and started to run away when I try. She has been on the walls of the cage and I am worried she might be getting ready to lay eggs and I just don’t know. I will attach some pictures let me know if you need more.

• Your Chameleon - veiled, female, not sure of age . Had her for around a month.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I had to once because we had to adjust a plant in her cage. No hissing or any biting just walked up my arm. Have not handled since.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I feed her crickets, black soldier fly larve, and wax worms as treats.I gut load with carrots looking to do more if anyone has advice. I feed her about 8-10 every morning
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with, and what is the schedule? I am using calcium without d3 every feeding and the reptivite with d3 multi every two weeks
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I must for 30 sec every 9 hours I see her drinking sometimes
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? She has a half orange white thingy. The rest of her poop is a normal brown color and looks a little wet but not watery.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Not really that I can think of

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? It’s a medium screen enclosure. Looking to get an XL but it was not available when I got her
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?her lights are the Arcadia 6% her lights turn on at 9 and off at 9
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking spot is 78-82 usually and the lowest spot is 70 overnight lowest is 65 measure temps with a reptile thermometer
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity during the day is usually 50-60 and around 40 at night
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I am using a pothos
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high-traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? She is on my dresser in my room which is a very low traffic area in my home
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Florida

Hello
To me personally I think those look more like defensive colors.

Here is an image of my girl when she was younger. These were her angry colors and they look very similar to your girls.

Edit: I see that you have posted about this earlier. Do these spot look the same as they did last time you posted? Does she show them constantly? Have you seen any colors like blues, yellows or browns?

 

[salish_31]

Hello
To me personally I think those look more like defensive colors.

Here is an image of my girl when she was younger. These were her angry colors and they look very similar to your girls.
View attachment 351441


Edit: I see that you have posted about this earlier. Do these spot look the same as they did last time you posted? Does she show them constantly? Have you seen any colors like blues, yellows or browns?

Hello
To me personally I think those look more like defensive colors.

Here is an image of my girl when she was younger. These were her angry colors and they look very similar to your girls.
View attachment 351441


Edit: I see that you have posted about this earlier. Do these spot look the same as they did last time you posted? Does she show them constantly? Have you seen any colors like blues, yellows or browns?

Hello
To me personally I think those look more like defensive colors.

Here is an image of my girl when she was younger. These were her angry colors and they look very similar to your girls.
View attachment 351441


Edit: I see that you have posted about this earlier. Do these spot look the same as they did last time you posted? Does she show them constantly? Have you seen any colors like blues, yellows or browns?

She started showing some yellow spots near her back leg and neck. And they are a lot more constant than before. Almost all the time (except when sleeping). What also weird is how this was accompanied by her not eating from me holding the bowl of bugs up to her. Instead she hides in the leaves for almost 30 min before going to her food bowl on the wall.

 

[salish_31]

Not sure why it showed three reply’s :/

 

[Ghostbirb]

Are these yellowy lines what you’re talking about? If so then I’m pretty sure they are just normal female markings unrelated to receptiveness or being gravid.

 

[salish_31]

View attachment 351443
Are these yellowy lines what you’re talking about? If so then I’m pretty sure they are just normal female markings unrelated to receptiveness or being gravid.

Yes. Those are them. I am also wondering if it’s normal that the top of her head ridges things turned a reddish brown. Is that normal?

 

[Ghostbirb]

Yes. Those are them. I am also wondering if it’s normal that the top of her head ridges things turned a reddish brown. Is that normal?

Yep i'm pretty sure all of that normal for a non receptive/ non gravid girl. She such a pretty young girl

 

[Beman]

Welcome to the forum. Not Gravid that is anger and defensiveness. Something is triggering her. I will go through your husbandry in the morning for you.

 

[Beman]

See my feedback in red bold. Let me know if you have any questions.

• Your Chameleon - veiled, female, not sure of age . Had her for around a month. based on size she looks to be somewhere in the 4-5 month range.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I had to once because we had to adjust a plant in her cage. No hissing or any biting just walked up my arm. Have not handled since.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I feed her crickets, black soldier fly larve, and wax worms as treats.I gut load with carrots looking to do more if anyone has advice. I feed her about 8-10 every morning. See gutload image and feeder image attached. at her age she should be eating a bit more than what she is getting. 15-20 a day.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with, and what is the schedule? I am using calcium without d3 every feeding and the reptivite with d3 multi every two weeks. This is perfect.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I must for 30 sec every 9 hours I see her drinking sometimes. 30 seconds really is not long enough to let them drink. 2 minutes minimum is most typically a starting point for misting sessions.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? She has a half orange white thingy. The rest of her poop is a normal brown color and looks a little wet but not watery. So the half orange and white thing is her urate. This is how we judge hydration level. When it is mostly to all white they are getting proper hydration. The more orange it is the less hydrated. If it is more than 50% orange than that is considered dehydrated.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Not really that I can think of

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? It’s a medium screen enclosure. Looking to get an XL but it was not available when I got her.. Look into DIY Cages. They sell a 2x2x4 size that is better than reptibreeze. https://www.diycages.com/collection...ducts/sc4-48x24x24-jumbo-vertical-screen-cage
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?her lights are the Arcadia 6% her lights turn on at 9 and off at 9. With this fixture type you want branches to be 8-9 inches below the fixture. This will then put her in the correct UVB level.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking spot is 78-82 usually and the lowest spot is 70 overnight lowest is 65 measure temps with a reptile thermometer. Note as she matures you will want to make sure basking is no hotter than 80.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity during the day is usually 50-60 and around 40 at night. 60% during daytime is a little high for a veiled.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I am using a pothos. See image and get veiled tested plants from it.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high-traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? She is on my dresser in my room which is a very low traffic area in my home
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Florida

The colors and patterns you are seeing are stress, anger, irritation patterns. Has anything changed in the room she is in? New curtains, pictures, new bedding?


Specific info for having a female.
As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6-7 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7-8 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeder amounts so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.


You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces. The hotter the temp the more their metabolism speeds up so we have to keep the temp lower since we are doing lower food intake.

A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/
This blog will help you a ton with what to look for and the how to of egg laying. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/

 

[salish_31]

See my feedback in red bold. Let me know if you have any questions.

• Your Chameleon - veiled, female, not sure of age . Had her for around a month. based on size she looks to be somewhere in the 4-5 month range.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I had to once because we had to adjust a plant in her cage. No hissing or any biting just walked up my arm. Have not handled since.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I feed her crickets, black soldier fly larve, and wax worms as treats.I gut load with carrots looking to do more if anyone has advice. I feed her about 8-10 every morning. See gutload image and feeder image attached. at her age she should be eating a bit more than what she is getting. 15-20 a day.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with, and what is the schedule? I am using calcium without d3 every feeding and the reptivite with d3 multi every two weeks. This is perfect.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I must for 30 sec every 9 hours I see her drinking sometimes. 30 seconds really is not long enough to let them drink. 2 minutes minimum is most typically a starting point for misting sessions.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? She has a half orange white thingy. The rest of her poop is a normal brown color and looks a little wet but not watery. So the half orange and white thing is her urate. This is how we judge hydration level. When it is mostly to all white they are getting proper hydration. The more orange it is the less hydrated. If it is more than 50% orange than that is considered dehydrated.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Not really that I can think of

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? It’s a medium screen enclosure. Looking to get an XL but it was not available when I got her.. Look into DIY Cages. They sell a 2x2x4 size that is better than reptibreeze. https://www.diycages.com/collection...ducts/sc4-48x24x24-jumbo-vertical-screen-cage
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?her lights are the Arcadia 6% her lights turn on at 9 and off at 9. With this fixture type you want branches to be 8-9 inches below the fixture. This will then put her in the correct UVB level.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking spot is 78-82 usually and the lowest spot is 70 overnight lowest is 65 measure temps with a reptile thermometer. Note as she matures you will want to make sure basking is no hotter than 80.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity during the day is usually 50-60 and around 40 at night. 60% during daytime is a little high for a veiled.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I am using a pothos. See image and get veiled tested plants from it.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high-traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? She is on my dresser in my room which is a very low traffic area in my home
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Florida

The colors and patterns you are seeing are stress, anger, irritation patterns. Has anything changed in the room she is in? New curtains, pictures, new bedding?


Specific info for having a female.
As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6-7 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7-8 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeder amounts so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.


You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces. The hotter the temp the more their metabolism speeds up so we have to keep the temp lower since we are doing lower food intake.

A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/
This blog will help you a ton with what to look for and the how to of egg laying. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/
View attachment 351456View attachment 351457View attachment 351458View attachment 351460

Thanks so much. I will look into fixing/adding what you suggested. We did just have family visiting with a baby and they stayed in the room she is in. The baby was up every two hours or so to be fed at night, which caused his mom to turn on a lamp. My girl might have been getting interrupted sleep so that might have caused the high stress levels.

 

[elizaann2]

Thanks so much. I will look into fixing/adding what you suggested. We did just have family visiting with a baby and they stayed in the room she is in. The baby was up every two hours or so to be fed at night, which caused his mom to turn on a lamp. My girl might have been getting interrupted sleep so that might have caused the high stress levels.

Poor bug. Hopefully she settles again.

 

[Beman]

Thanks so much. I will look into fixing/adding what you suggested. We did just have family visiting with a baby and they stayed in the room she is in. The baby was up every two hours or so to be fed at night, which caused his mom to turn on a lamp. My girl might have been getting interrupted sleep so that might have caused the high stress levels.

Yes between the light being turned on and the additional activity in the room when she is not used to having people around may very well have caused the stress colors.

 

[MzLaurie]

Hello, you didnt mention a basking lamp. I like to get one with a dimmer switch especially since she is growing. That way you dont have to adjust the branxh fistance from the light but you can dim the bulb. I like to use a splash proif basking bulb 50 watt for her. Get a small temo guage

 

[MzLaurie]

Sorry having tech issues here. Get a temp guage and fasten it to where she basks to keep an eye on the temp level there. Alsi you need to create a jungke gym for her to climb all over. On amazon you can get Bend a Branch by Fluker Farms fir really cheap. They come in three different thicknesses and since she is growing i woukd get one of each. Chameleonacademy.com has great advice on setting up cages. If you get more real plants in her cage it will help boost the night humidity which should be at 90%. Also a watwr dripper that drips onto plant leaves do she slways knows where to get a drink. You can poke a hole in the bottom of a plastic cup and fill it with ice cubes everyday and set it in the same place so it drips onto a plant. That works too. Also you need to get a variety of sizes of zip ties to help you set it up. Never put plastuc plants inside the cage but you can put them on the outside to add to the look and offer her privacy. If you take her out of the cage, you have to keep her in sight at all times. They are very fast when they want to be. you are in Florida but in the winter never let the room temp drop below 50-55. Cold temps can kill them. Best of luck to you with your new amazing gal.