I have an 8 month old Sambava female has always been in great health. All care for her has been pretty much standard for panther chameleons. She was misted twice a day and a dripper was run for her for about an hour an day. Her heat/uvb was the T-Rex 150w spotlight. She was feed a variety of insects with her mainstay being about crickets, dusted with reptical twice a week. I would say that the average being 10 to 15 crickets a day, and her cage was entirely screen. I don't think that care was ever the issue. She started acting lethargic about a week ago, so I continued to observe her. Two days ago I had enough so took her to the local exotic vet, where they X-Rayed her and good lord she was full of unfertalized eggs. They sent me home with some antibiotics and liquid calcium supplement and told me to set her up a box to lay her eggs. I did this 48 hours ago and last night she passed, obviously exhausted.
How many other have had this problem? I know that it is not uncommon, but I was thinking that maybe we all could put our heads together and come up with some possible solutions. I read a study yesterday actually on the frequency in deaths in Veilds in just this type of situation due to the increase in captive Veilds clutch size. Since this is obviously due to the superior care and nutrition they receive that they would not be able to get in the wild my question is weather I, or we, over do it a little, especially for the young females. Should food production be cut down after they get to about 5-months either permanantly or until after their first or second clutch and their bodies are used to birth? I talked to a breeder last night and this was his suggestion, which I believe has merit. What are others thoughts?
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How many others have had this tragedy?
Replies (3)
Sorry I should of proof read it
No problem, you came across clearly. I'm afraid I don't have the expertise yet to answer you but I will be interested in any other posts regarding this situation. I am truly sorry you lost your cham. 
Marilyn
I haven't had it happen in my collection, but its not uncommon. I would have opted for a different feeding/supplementation regimen, though.
For gravid females, fertile or not, I feed larger meals daily. I supplement with RepCal Cal/D3 three days a week, MinerAll two days a week, and multivitamin once a week. One day she gets fed prey that hasn't been dusted.
The minute a female displays a desire to dig, she gets put in a bucket of moist sand and the ritual commences. I've never had a case of egg binding or significant calcium depletion in a gravid female.
E
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