Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As you know I separated Makeda a few days ago b/c she was acting strange. It was suggested both by Liddy and John (charm_paradise) that she may be gravid - well I think you may be right! She has been scraping the soil but doesn't get too far then leaves, She is only making indentations. I purposely set up a Maternity ward with some exposed soil so she doesn't have get thru the repti-bark. But I have some questions:

Do they typically dig then leave over a period of days? I have been "bathing" her in a very fine, warm mist twice a day to keep her hydrated since I do not see her drink.

She has eaten a few hydei ff and has NO interest in silkies at all! The other thing that is happening is that she falls over a lot! She is not shaky when she walks but seems less sure of herself. I panic when I find her on her side b/c she struggles so hard to get upright (and of course I help when needed ) But she seems so skinny.

I am concerned that if she is in fact gravid is there any way I can help her? Such as loosen the soil and maybe even get a hole started for her in the area she goes to? Out of the three of them she is by far the most tolerant of me and is VERY used to me being a part of her daily life).

It's nearing lights out here and I hate it b/c I then worry about her all night

Any thoughts, suggestions, etc. ???

thanks,
lele

Lele-

I have noticed my females dig in the corners of the tank not to far down, stop and just sit there and no eggs laid. They will do this for a day or so and stop. When my Ambilobe pardalis laid her first clutch of eggs she would dig a few holes (testing the soil) before she dug a full hole laid her eggs and filled the hole back in. I don't know the routine of a gravid pygmy chameleon because mine have not laid any eggs yet, but I would assume it is very similar to any other egg laying chameleon. All my Ulu's love silkworms, you may try this, now it is going to sound strange but worked for me the first time I feed them to the Ulu's. The silkworms excrete silk out of there mouths, pinch around the head/mouth area lightly of the worm until you get the silk, pull away from the worm, and let go of the worm holding the silk and the worm dangling from the silk, place the worm in front of the chameleon, the worm will be spinning around trying to climb back up the silk. This will get there attention, once they get a taste there should be no problem feeding them in a bowl/cup. You may also try lightly dusting the first one. If she is having trouble walking I would try and keep things low in the cage just in case she falls. I would not loosen the soil because if she does dig a hole the soil will fall in on her, you could try staring a small hole. Keep us posted. Hope this helps!

John
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John @ Chameleon Paradise
1.1 Ambilobe Panthers
1.1 Nosy Be Panthers
1.1 Sambava Panthers
1.2 Rhampholeon uluguruensis

Lele-

Here is some pictures of one of my two females. She was walking to the other side of the cage passing over the food bowl and finished off the last of the slikworms. Enjoy

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John @ Chameleon Paradise
1.1 Ambilobe Panthers
1.1 Nosy Be Panthers
1.1 Sambava Panthers
1.2 Rhampholeon uluguruensis

But she is too cute! Love the blue eye turrets! Are you hoping for babies one day? Wonder how long it takes the babies eyes to turn blue...hehehe!
Thanks for sharing!
Kristen

I too am keeping R. uluguruensis and wanted to know if you could describe how you are keeping yours, and also, if you have any tips or advice. I'm keeping 1.1 in a 16 gal tall aquarium with a soil substrate and lots of leaf litter and branches. They are being misted daily and are kept in the low to mid seventies with a thermo gradient provided by a under cage heater (mainly so the female can pick her own temp for egg laying). I've read that a basking light does not need to be provided. Lighting is provided by a reptisun 5.0 UVB.

I also believe my female is gravid. How do you plan to incubate the eggs? I was planning on leaving them in the aquarium, hence the thermo gradient.

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Patrick

Mine also dug in the corners for a few days...she'd dig and then sit there with her head down in there for a bit, then come back out. I worried alot about that since I thought she was stuck and couldn't get back up...I helped her a few times when the others were climbing on top of her, but normally she'd get out just fine. THEN, out of the blue, she smartened up and dug not so in the corner...more towards the corner of the whole enclosure, but not smack dab in it...that is when she laid her eggs. Lele, I was actually on the phone with you when she was laying...remember? LOL!

Anyway, hopefully that is what is going on. I would just watch her, but try not to barge if you do catch her digging so she's not disturbed. It took mine quite awhile to dig, lay and then recover...so I'm sure you would see her doing one of the three if/when she does.

Good luck!
Kristen

Sorry I can't be any help. I haven't kept any of the pygmy leaf chams yet. My gut feeling is to leave her alone and resist "helping" her as much as possible unless she's obviously in danger. It might just add stress to the situation.