Egg-laying in the wild

In a recent thread (https://www.chameleonforums.com/all-day-event-12632/), the following comments were made:

Brad Ramsey said:

I believe in the future you could shorten her excavation time by offering less sand.
They will dig to the bottom (or as far as they can) regardless of whether that is 5" or 20".

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Arrow said:

I used those big plastic buckets you can almost see through. The female would dig until she hit bottom

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I find this quite interesting. What exactly do they do in the wild? I've heard some people report that when there are pot-plants in the cage, they'll try lay eggs near the roots of the plant. Do you think that in the wild, they lay the eggs close to a tree (presumably one they have been living in), and just keep digging until they hit the roots, then lay the eggs there? Is this what makes them keep digging until they hit the bottom of the container - looking for roots? (because I'm sure in nature they wouldn't keep digging until they hit bedrock - that could take them miles!)

And then a more intriguing question: if they deposit the eggs that deep down, do they expect the hatchlings to dig themselves all they way up out of there a few months later?

I guess I'm just trying to understand what makes them dig down so deep, and whether this is also what they do in the wild, or is it because in captivity we can't provide them with ideal nesting conditions?

Really good questions, to which I do not have answers.
I imagine any answers would be somewhat speculative, but I am still interested to see the responses on this thread.

-Brad

I was reading up on this not so long ago, for my little Flap-neck, and I came across an article that said this
Egg-laying usually takes place in late summer (March to April in southern Africa) when the ground is at its softest after the rains. Between 20 and 35 eggs (rarely as many as 65) are deposited in a burrow of between 15 and 30cm - excavated and then closed up by the female over a period of several hours. The eggs may hatch within 150 days (5 months) in captivity, but take up to 12 months in the wild, when development slows up during the cold winter months. The hatchlings dig their way to the surface and immediately go their own way - fully independent and able to catch tiny insects with their elastic tongue.

I don't have the website, but I'm pretty sure that's all it said about it.

Imo

every photo of a cham laying in the wild i have seen was at the base of a tree. not sure if they were trees they cham was familiar with ( maybe so, they would have an idea of the temp and humid of that location ?)


IMO one reason they would lay at the roots is, supply of water. when it rains the roots help the water travel downward. since the eggs cant dry out maybe they know that there will be a more stable supply of water in that certain area because of the roots ability to deliver water more efficiently then soil alone.


another question is what nutrients are found in higher concentrations or exclusively at the root base of a tree that might be useful eggs?


IMO it could also be for protection, the roots would act as somewhat of a barrier against predators, maybe the constant moist soil and wet roots mask the smell of the eggs?

also the roots would prevent the soil from being too compacted? which would come in handy since it would be harder to dig out of compacted soil?

IMO since the neos would have to dig themselves out, the roots might help in the actual path they choose to dig out? follow the root?

may act as a guide to which direction is up? a burried cham might not have any other way of knowing which way to dig out.

as far as the digging to the bottom, i think its a safety thing? the deeper the safer for the eggs and the cham laying. maybe its maybe stable the lower you go? maybe more nutrients the lower?

does anyone know of chams digging beyond the 2-3 ft norm? what happs if we give them 10ft to dig?

i know when my veileds dug in a chamber with a tree they didnt go deeper then the roots, even though there was a couple more ft of dirt below the roots.

ive heard more reports on cb veiled that just plop eggs out anywhere, whether on the ground or off the ground, then wc veileds. could the digging be a product of wild life in one way or another?

just ideas

Interesting question.

You know, I have never really thought about this. I think the above observations must all be true to some extent. We all know that temp plays a big role as well. The temp range of the soil has to be an issue. That would explain why some Chameleons hatch out in shorter time periods in captivity then they do in the wild. I am sure there must be something going on about this and why there is so much problems in the Parson's community, getting the eggs to hatch.
A really interesting question.

the cruzin chameleons article talks about whats in the soil

i cant beleive no one has taken soil samples and graphed the contents and temps / humid of soil when chams lay.

no one has compiled a list of wild numbers and compared it to the weather reports for the area where the census would be done either. it would nice to see what affect weather has.

sorry for off topic