Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I wanted to say thanks for all the info about senegals from the previous post, but now i have a new problem. Ambaji turned out to be a female...which i was really hoping wasnt true. I really hate to watch an animal lay eggs constantly with such a drain on their poor bodies to no means. Her eggs MAY be viable, and i do have a friend that is going to hook me up with a hoverbator....but for now i am just going to leave the eggs where they are.
Ambaji looks so drained.....i think i was lucky to have enough knowladge of reptiles, and to observe the digging behavior for what it was. I put a deep enough container of forest bed in her tank to where she was comfortable enough to lay...thank god for that. I was so concerned about egg binding.
When i bought a cham, i wanted something smaller and less aggressive than a veiled, so instead i bought an obscure species at a show that i knew very little about. I have been keeping herps for a decade now, but this is my first time with a cham....i had no idea what i had to learn...lol.
I want to do the best for her. However, i do not want to breed chams. I know how to gutload the crickets and make them as nutritious as possible...and i have supplemented her well....for the 2 weeks i have had her anyway.....I'm not sure how the vendor treated her before this though, since i purchased her from a show.
Any advice on getting her strength up would be appreciated...i dont want to lose her, she's so cool.
much thanks, jen
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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 motley ghost stripe corn- Raven
0.4 leos- Boji, Sanjae, fae and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.1 crested gecko- Jubeh and Inari
0.1 leucistic texas ratsnake-Ojo
1.0 whites tree frog- Sifaka
0.1 Transe pecos rat
1.0 (?) Senegal chameleon
1.0 Ruthven's X Thaeri king- Kemushi
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
0.0.4 crab people
1.0 Husband (hes my favorite, but i dont let the 'kids' know that. )

You said..."I really hate to watch an animal lay eggs constantly with such a drain on their poor bodies to no means. Her eggs MAY be viable"...if she was WC and since you haven't had her very long they could very well be viable. I have never known a Senegal to lay eggs from retained sperm...so this may be the only clutch you will get from her as long as she isn't mated again.

You said..."i do have a friend that is going to hook me up with a hoverbator....but for now i am just going to leave the eggs where they are"...I hope they will be alright there.

You said..."Ambaji looks so drained"..is she eating and drinking?

You said..."I know how to gutload the crickets and make them as nutritious as possible...and i have supplemented her well"...what are you using for a gutload? For supplements? How often for each supplement? What brand and type (compact/spiral or long linear tube)of UVB light are you using? What is the basking temperature?

You said..."she's so cool"...for sure!

I've only had her for 2 weeks, and they said she was CB...but i dont really trust the vendor (the name escapes me right now...they are sort of like regal...) Her basking temp is as high as 95...depending where she stands on her perch. The thermal gradient is 95-75 (75 near the bottom, on the cool end of the reptarium). The humidity is varied as well. I use beaked moss on the bottom of the tank to retain humidity (i watch for mold)..she has a full dripper (little dripper) that drips into a waterfall (with no pump, i just use the structure with the dripper) every morning. She gets sprayed down each evening.

I gutload with flukers cricket chow, cricket water 'cubes' infused with calcium.. and nature zone green cricket cubes. The I mix that with a bit of honey and fresh veggies from time to time.

Since i learned that she is a female, i have been dusting with reptocal 1.0 calcium with D3, and from time to time she has been getting bearded dragon dust by sandfire ranch. She has a 24" 5.0 bulb with a basking bulb. At night the temp doesnt drop below 72...my reptile room is warm.

I thought she was dead this morning....she was wedged in between some cage furniture on the bottom of the tank. She was weak and barely breathing. I picked her up and held her (which i have never done before...) she laid in my hands with her tail loosley wrapped around my finger...
I held her for about t45 minutes. She started to breathe a bit more, and while i was holding her i made a small hammock for her out of a bandanna in her tank near her basking spot. When i set her on her hammock, she stood up and weakly started to walk around. Then she started to climb, and her color started to improve... she started 'makeing sure' that her eggs are covered well.
I am surprized she bounced back like that...
now she has dissappeared again, i think she has burried herself in the moss again. I she going to die?
thanks for the help, j
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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 motley ghost stripe corn- Raven
0.4 leos- Boji, Sanjae, fae and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.1 crested gecko- Jubeh and Inari
0.1 leucistic texas ratsnake-Ojo
1.0 whites tree frog- Sifaka
0.1 Transe pecos ratsnake- Cleo
0.1 Senegal chameleon- Ambaji
1.0 Ruthven's X Thaeri king- Kemushi
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
0.0.4 crab people
1.0 Husband (hes my favorite, but i dont let the 'kids' know that. )

Egglaying is a big drain on a cham so she's probably exhausted. Doesn't mean she's doomed though. You can help her recover. If she's not drinking mist her very gently with warm water and drip some Pedialyte on her nose to see if you can give her some electrolytes and calories. Once she's drinking on her own stop the Pedialyte. Make her cage easy to move around in so it doesn't take too much energy to get to the basking spot or hiding areas (more branch pathways). Offer her some soft bodied insect treats like waxworms, or if you can get them silkworms or young tomato hornworms (cultured). Chams get excited by green insects. Hope she makes it!

thanks! She is up and around more today...she is still patting down the substrate that she laid the eggs in... I've tried feeding her, all i have are superworms, mealies, and crickets at the moment...all my horworms are gone...but i think she may make it. Thanks for the help! j
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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 motley ghost stripe corn- Raven
0.4 leos- Boji, Sanjae, fae and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.1 crested gecko- Jubeh and Inari
0.1 leucistic texas ratsnake-Ojo
1.0 whites tree frog- Sifaka
0.1 Transe pecos ratsnake- Cleo
0.1 Senegal chameleon- Ambaji
1.0 Ruthven's X Thaeri king- Kemushi
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
0.0.4 crab people
1.0 Husband (hes my favorite, but i dont let the 'kids' know that. )

I've only had her for 2 weeks, and they said she was CB...but i dont really trust the vendor (the name escapes me right now...they are sort of like regal...) Her basking temp is as high as 95...depending where she stands on her perch. The thermal gradient is 95-75 (75 near the bottom, on the cool end of the reptarium). The humidity is varied as well. I use beaked Personally, I would ditch the moss. I worry about them ingesting substrates and becoming impacted.

IMHO its very important with senegals that you make sure they drink well.

Regarding gutload....I use a wide assortment of greens (dandelion, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, etc.) I don't like using commercial gutloads.

I have always dusted with a phosphorous-free calcium at most feedings. I dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A. I dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder.

For the most part she will eat crickets off of the mesh of the enclosure (a reptarium). It is really warm in my reptile room, and it tends to dry out quite a bit, so the moss is the best way i can think of to keep the humidity up. I have planted cuttings of golden pothos in there too recycle the nutrients that i cant find..(poop) otherwise, her cage will dry out...i have a transpecos ratsnake next to her (for the lack of room.....) with an extra heat source to keep her dry.

she does get a phosporous free calcium supplement...although i will back off of it now....i gave her a bunch after she laid eggs. I will take your advice with the gutload for the crickets.
much thanks! the eggs are swelling and they look good. I am letting them incubate between 74-79f on a shelf...i havent dug them up yet, i will give them another week or so, then i will have to becuase i need to know if they are fertile...
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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 motley ghost stripe corn- Raven
0.4 leos- Boji, Sanjae, fae and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.1 crested gecko- Jubeh and Inari
0.1 leucistic texas ratsnake-Ojo
1.0 whites tree frog- Sifaka
0.1 Transe pecos ratsnake- Cleo
0.1 Senegal chameleon- Ambaji
1.0 Ruthven's X Thaeri king- Kemushi
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
0.0.4 crab people
1.0 Husband (hes my favorite, but i dont let the 'kids' know that. )

You said..."i have a transpecos ratsnake next to her (for the lack of room.....) with an extra heat source to keep her dry"...can she see it?

You said..."the eggs are swelling and they look good. I am letting them incubate between 74-79f on a shelf...i havent dug them up yet, i will give them another week or so, then i will have to becuase i need to know if they are fertile"...how can you see them? Now that you've left them, be careful when digging them up that you don't turn them.

Good luck with them!

She CAN see alot of the reptiles in the room.....she is on the back wall and there are tanks lining the other walls, but she is above all of the other tanks, so i think she feels safe. She doesn't act stressed from what i can tell...
She has a usual routine where she wakes up in the morning, gets a drink from her dripper (which drips into a non-functioning waterfall...i am out of outlets....) and then she hunts and basks for most of the rest of the day. When i get home from work (6ish) i give her a good spraydown, empty and clean the waterfall and start the dripper again. Then i usually feed her a bit more.
Her weight is bulking up now and she is showing 'happy' colors according to the chamnews online zine...i LOVE that she has Orange toes .

She laid her eggs in the corner of a deep clear plastic pan. I can see them through the plastic. I have uncovered them a couple of times to see if they are well, and once a week i slice one open to see if they are fertile. I'm not sure tho, i am assuming that since the incubation period is so long the embryos are microscopic? Is there a way to tell?
thanks again.
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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 motley ghost stripe corn- Raven
0.4 leos- Boji, Sanjae, fae and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.1 crested gecko- Jubeh and Inari
0.1 leucistic texas ratsnake-Ojo
1.0 whites tree frog- Sifaka
0.1 Transe pecos ratsnake- Cleo
0.1 Senegal chameleon- Ambaji
1.0 Ruthven's X Thaeri king- Kemushi
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
0.0.4 crab people
1.0 Husband (hes my favorite, but i dont let the 'kids' know that. )

You said..."I have uncovered them a couple of times to see if they are well, and once a week i slice one open to see if they are fertile. I'm not sure tho, i am assuming that since the incubation period is so long the embryos are microscopic? Is there a way to tell?"...why waste an egg to see if its fertile?? They may go through a diapause and not give signs of being fertile for a while. Generally, if you candle an egg and it glows pink or shows blood vessel development in it then its fertile. Fertile eggs generally grow larger as they develop.

Can you post pictures please?

Also...its more difficult to keep the parameters right for the eggs when they are left where they were buried.

i will soon...thanks for the info
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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 motley ghost stripe corn- Raven
0.4 leos- Boji, Sanjae, fae and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.1 crested gecko- Jubeh and Inari
0.1 leucistic texas ratsnake-Ojo
1.0 whites tree frog- Sifaka
0.1 Transe pecos ratsnake- Cleo
0.1 Senegal chameleon- Ambaji
1.0 Ruthven's X Thaeri king- Kemushi
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
0.0.4 crab people
1.0 Husband (hes my favorite, but i dont let the 'kids' know that. )