2 toned??

We managed to acquire two sub-adult veilds the other day from a friend. The female of the two seams unusually fat. She isn't showing gravid colors and we can't feel any eggs inside of her. How soon after a successful mate will they show gravid colors? She is pooping and eating normally so maybe she is just that, fat? Also when we picked her up the other night while she was sleeping she displayed a two toned effect. One side of her body was dark and the other side was light!! Is this a common occurrence? Thanks.

Depends if there was a light on. Chameleons make their body darker to obsorb more heat. If there wasnt a light on, then that is something different...

No, there wasn't a light on during the night. But we did bring her into the light to look at her. Also, another question for you all. Our male seams to enjoy his baking spot inside the tank but after a while he starts to gape like our beardies and doesn't move from his spot. I've never seen a vield do this before.

Howdy,

Gaping can be a sign of over-heating. Got temps? You mentioned a tank. Would that be a glass tank? Among the many issues that chameleon keepers have with glass tanks is difficulty producing the proper heat gradient thoughout the tank. This is one of the reasons for the popularity of screen enclosures. A typical gradient target is around 90-95F at the basking site reducing down to the low 70's at the bottom. It is suggested to have a nighttime drop down to as low as 60's for Veileds. Usually, no added heat is necessary to acomplish the porper nighttime temps.

Try taking a read through these sites:

http://www.chameleonsdish.com/

http://www.chameleonnews.com/
Especially http://www.chameleonnews.com/ref.html

http://www.chameleonjournals.com/

Keep in touch,

Dave Weldon

Oops, that's my mistake. It's not a tank but a cage. The fresh air habitat by esu. They are out in the sun during the day so soak up as much natural sunlight as possible. If it rains or is nasty out we bring them inside with a uvb bulb and heat light. The hotter area is in the low 90's and the other side of the cage is in the mid 70's. The male will sit under the light and not move, eventhough he is fully capable of doing so.

Another question that I had was that the female is fat and is just starting to show gravid colors. She is usually all green and is now starting to show blue circles on her body with some differently shaded green circles as well. How long will they be gravid for? How long after they start showing colors will they want to lay the eggs? What is the best substrate for the eggs to be laid in? We have read so many differnet ideas as to what to use!

The two-toned color is freaky, isnt' it? My male was doing that for the
longest time. It's a temperature dependant thing, at least in my male's
case. The side facing the window would be a different color. I think the
slight temp difference (cold from the window in the winter) caused it.
When I put him in a cage away from the window, up in the air, this
stopped.

The gaping is weird. I've heard many people have th esam eissue, and
their animals weren't even given a warm enough basking spot. I think
it's something unrelated to heat stress - maybe respiratory problems or
defensive behavior?

I"d go ahead an dput her in a nesting cage - somethign she ca nlive in
comfortably, but lay eggs as well. The old standby trash can with dirt
on the bottom seems to be the best solution.