Big News in the Summy Household
Child #2 holds his two veiled chameleons. The colorful one on the left is the male.
Our female veiled chameleon may be gravid!! As in, with eggs.
She is lumpy in the hip area. And has developed coloring that includes small blue-ish "robin egg" circles. Also, for the first time ever, she ventured to the bottom of the cage, presumably searching for somewhere to bury her eggs.
The female veiled sleeps on a fake branch.
It was truly heart-warming to see how the lumpy-hipped female veiled galvanized Child #2 into action. (Child #2 will turn 16 this summer. Yikes!). He googled all manner of info, then filled a five-gallon bucket with sand from Child #4's sandbox. He placed said bucket in the cage, a reptile bassinette, if you will.
To some, a 5-gallon bucket from Home Depot. For others, a veiled chameleon bassinette.
Quite frankly, I'm amazed the female ever agreed to "special time" with the male. His behavior toward her borders on abusive. He pushes her out of the way and eats his fill of crickets or wax worms before allowing her close to the bowl. He is not good father material. Although, in her defense, he's the only game in town. I imagine this is how she rationalized things about a month ago.
Will keep you posted regarding expected due dates, baby showers, meet-the-in-laws dinner, etc.
And a little bit of trivia: The verb "galvanize" came into our language around 1802 from the French verb galvanizer. Apparently, a physicist named Luigi Galvani was conducting experiments where he ran electric current through dead frogs' legs. I'm sorry I looked this up. I may be less inclined to use the verb now.
source:http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=galvanize
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Congratulations to all the Summys especially Mrs Veiled Chameleon. Looking forward to hearing lots more about the anticipated event.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting - you're going to be a grandmother!
ReplyDeleteI've "grandmothered" many a baby pet - such a thrill and a challenge.
Don't forget to carry pictures in your wallet... ;)
Congratulations! Now, what's going to happen to the brood when child #2 goes to college?
ReplyDeleteI see a picture book about chameleons in your future. One of my favorites as a kid was Eric Carle's The Mixed-Up Chameleon. There's a fun YouTube clip of chameleons changing colors on sun glasses. I'd have loved one for a pet as a kid too.
Interesting etymology on galvanize. Who'd have guessed?
So cool! Love the bucket = bassinet.
ReplyDeleteThis is cool. When information is relevant it is amazing how fast we can find it (although when we were growing up, it would have taken a trip to the library).
ReplyDeleteHow long does it take the eggs to hatch.
Barrie, in my experience with various critters (cats, tropical fish, rabbit, my son had an iguana at one point!) with the abusive father's behaviour - will you have to seperate the father from his family? His is obviously an omnivore! We had a rabbit eat her young, as well as cichlids...
ReplyDeleteBarrie, I know you must be so proud. A sincere congratulations. I'm sure I speak for all of blogland in saying that I can't wait to see the pictures of the little guys when they come. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteHa ha - meeting the in-laws and baby showers. The only game in town - :) Maybe she's young and doesn't know there are other fish in the sea or chameleons in cages. :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!! :)
Ha ha - meeting the in-laws and baby showers. The only game in town - :) Maybe she's young and doesn't know there are other fish in the sea or chameleons in cages. :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!! :)
WOW! This is way, way cool! I cannot wait to see how everything turns out. I am hoping you have better luck than we did with our homing pigeons...
ReplyDeleteooooh, cool shots.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! Can't wait to see all the grandchildren.
ReplyDeletevery interesting!
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm impressed not only by your vocabulary, but by that huge cage and 2 reptiles. I totally thought the colorful one in the first picture was fake. I guess I don't know too much about chameleons. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWow what pretty pictures of the Chameleons. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI'll be hesitant to use the term 'galvanize' too now..
Pretty blog :)
Sarah: I think the goal is to sell the babies to a pet shop.
ReplyDeleteDebra: The eggs incubate for about 9 months.
Jenn: Once/if she lays eggs, we'll remove them from the cage and incubate them in a tupperware container. So, no worries that the dad will mistreat the kids.
Well congratulations on the happy family! What a fun thing for your kids to watch.
ReplyDeleteI saw a chameleon in front of a tie dyed shirt but i'm pretty sure it was photoshopped. How much do they change color?
ReplyDeleteThe eggs incubate for 9 months? I would have thought a shorter time period. The chameleons have a big home to fit in a 5 gallon bucket.
ReplyDeleteYou are one cool mom.
Barrie, it is so cool that you let your kids have chameleons and that you let them have a breeding pair. We had mating rabbits, doves, and inherited a pregnant guinea pig. It is so special to see the babies arrive, and it is so much fun. Congratulations on your new status as great-grandmother. I assume Child #2 will be the proud grandfather, correct? My kids always kicked me up to great-grandmother when the pets had kids. They love making me feel old.
ReplyDeletei love it, i love it, I LOVE IT!!
ReplyDeleteKids + creatures = cool stuff.
good stuff, barrie... we all get invites to that 'meet', right? :O lol
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else find it odd that someone thought it a good idea to run electrical current through frog legs?
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! I'm guessing the babies will be very interesting in appearance?
ReplyDeleteThat's neat!
ReplyDeleteAs far as galvanic goes, you remind me of a vaguely recalled term from h.s. science: the "galvanic response" or "galvanic reaction" and, yes, I learned it in relation to frog dissection.
We had a feamle who laid eggs - with no male around. I believe he has to fertilize them after the fact. Our female also died in this process as she didn't get enough calcium - not enough time in sunlight.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the brood!
I just found out where "Good Samaritain" came from (on NCIS). Those chameleons are beautiful but I'm glad they're at your house.
ReplyDeleteYou are very witty today, Barrie.
ReplyDeleteThe chameleon isn't the first woman to "settle," sigh.
very cool
ReplyDeletecongratulations to new mom of 23 baby eggs Chameleon
ReplyDeleteYour son is so smart! And I can't wait to see what happens next.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, Barrie! Please let us know when the hatchlings come. Do you have any idea how long the eggs need to be incubated?
ReplyDeleteI would love to have a chameleon but here in Australia it's snakes, lizards and frogs. All of which we have shared our house with at one time or another.Just recently, it was a baby python that galvanised (love that word!) #1 son into action. It lives in a terrarium in his room and provides hours of endless 'snake-TV' watching for our cats.
ReplyDeleteMy dad really like chameleon
ReplyDelete