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My female Nosey Be has completely changed her behavior and personality since becoming gravid a couple of days ago.
She is staying hidden in the darkest parts of her cage in the leaves of the plant and rarely coming out into view. Also she opens her mouth and hisses if I approach the cage at all.
She will only bask if I am out of the room and prefers to stay under the leaves near the basking site.
She was never this shy. Is this normal behavior?
She can't see any animals from her cage or anything like that.
Also I heard not to stres them at this time but can I take her out to weigh her if I put her back right away.

It is normal for a gravid female to get a little uptight. That's why I have always insisted on leaving them alone when trying to lay and not to even look at them or let them see you for at least a full day. They get really defensive and shy. On the other hand, they will up their food intake quite a bit at least for another 2 or 3 weeks.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

Anson-

Yes that is typical pardalis female behavior being gravid. You will notice big changes some extreme some not. My Nosy Be female has always been friendly never gapes/hisses at me even when she is gravid. She is a bit more skittish but still very tame for a gravid female, and no I do not hold her only to move her she is in a cage 99.9% of the time. I have also noticed that food preferences will change when they are gravid so be prepared for that. None of my females are shy about basking they come out of the jungle and bask on there bio vines with no problems. You may find the female turning in for bed early but that is about it. Just be sure she can not see another male chameleon in a reflection, remember they have VERY good eye sight. Yes you can take her out to get weight, I would schedule this around the same time you clean the cage to keep stress to a minimum. Just don't over do it. Hope this helps!
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John W. Lucas

CHAMELEON PARADISE

CHAMELEONS ONLINE E-ZINE AUTHOR

Feeding Baby Chameleons
Caging Baby Chameleons

F. pardalis

Ambilobe Locale
Nosy Be Locale
Sambava Locale

Rhampholeon uluguruensis

Eggs Incubating-

F. pardalis - Ambilobe Locale

got SILKWORMS!

Photo © Chameleon Paradise 2003

I use big foam core spacers between the cages but I will try and cut them a bit larger so she can't see anything. She is staying very hidden in the plants with little basking when I am there but I am gone most of the day. I use a baby gate to keep my cats out of the room and have covered that with a towel so she can't see them. There is a big shift in behavior. Today I did not see her and tried to to move some pothos vines to see where she was. As I reached my fingers into the vines to move them I felt a huge CHOMP! yep, I found her alright!
Now how many days till She is ready to lay from the time she was mated? Should I set up the laying bin in her cage ahead of time so she is not frightened of it? It should be pretty big right, so it may take up too much room if I set it up in advance. I will also have to keep wetting it. When is it best to set it up? I am so nervous, I would not have even mated her except that Salvador is old and WC and just a beautiful blue color! His genes would be a great asset to cham breeders as many of the Nosey Be males out there seem to be less blue than that. I have always wanted to see what his offspring would look like. I have grown very fond of Dali and she is normally very sweet so even though she was very receptive I hesitated mating her since there is always a chance things can go wrong.

Anson-

I would recommend using just a large terry cloth, like a bath towel to provide a visual barrier between the two or more cages. You would be surprised how small of an area they can see through. The towel also helps with humidity.

They do have a good bite, I have only been bitten once accidentally when hand feeding a superworm, he did not draw blood!

The time frame for egg laying after breeding is a little different for each female. Mine have laid from 45-65 days after breeding. I use soil right out of the bag, it has just the right amount of moisture and dose not require you wetting it. With my setup I only keep a small pot of soil in with a gravid female. When she shows interest in digging I move them to a larger setup for egg laying. If the soil is to wet she will refuse to lay her eggs in it and you will notice her digging allot of holes but not laying. Hope this helps!
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John W. Lucas

CHAMELEON PARADISE

CHAMELEONS ONLINE E-ZINE AUTHOR

Feeding Baby Chameleons
Caging Baby Chameleons

F. pardalis

Ambilobe Locale
Nosy Be Locale
Sambava Locale

Rhampholeon uluguruensis

Eggs Incubating-

F. pardalis - Ambilobe Locale

got SILKWORMS!

Photo © Chameleon Paradise 2003