hi guys, my female panther has been pretty swole the past few weeks so a few days ago i got a laying container in there and set her cage up with a bit more cover.

This morning when i went to water and turn her lights on, i found she had starting digging two tunnels

this startled me because when she started digging it was a lil bit dryer than i expected. so I misted good and she came up real quick for a nice drink.

hopefully she goes back down soon, as i tried to not get the container too wet as i didn't want her to get her nasals clogged up with mud.

anyways this is my first attempt at getting a chameleon to dig and lay eggs, so far so good, but i feel my mix isn't perfect.

if for some reason she keeps digging test tunnels, it may be a sign that my mix is not good enough, i could not find play sand so i used top soil and thouroughly washed bagged leveling sand....
i pray this isn't going to be a problem

all input appreciated

I find the mix of play sand and coconut fiber works great, digs easier, and holds a tunnel better. Just because she is digging test holes does not mean she is not happy, some just dig test holes, especially if this is her first time laying. The Home Depot and Lowes on 19 both have play sand.

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Julirs http://www.julirschameleons.com 2.2.50+ Veiled 1.1 Oustalet 1.2 Nosy Be 5.3.3 Pygmelions 1.0 Fischers 0.0.1 Mellers 0.1 Ambilobe 0.1 Side-Striped

The main issue with the moisture is to insure that its wet enough not to collapse on her while she is digging. IMO I'd leave her alone and let her do her thing, it should only take throughout the day.... Then get ready she'll be ready to MUNCH!

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~Liz~ Check out my site http://freewebs.com/lbesok
*1.2 Nosy Be *1.2.7 Ambilobe*2 Melleri .1 Beardie *.1 Leopard Gecko

If her test holes are not collapsing , she should be OK. Just give her peace and don't let her see you peeking . Where she eventually lays those eggs is supposed to be a secret ...LOL... only she knows where they will be.

Good Luck

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aka HarryO....705-715-1148
www.chromachameleons.com

after digging several holes it seems she is dissatisfied with the fill and depth of my laying container, she has come back up and is looking good. I'm going to get her a better container and a better mix and quick swap them out when she is up basking as to not disturb her. thank you julirs, i happen to have a whole block of profit disks(coco fiber) and hadn't even considered to use that before leaving the home to purchase something else i am very grateful you mentioned that

where exactly inside homedepot is that sand located, i searched all over garden and found both pool filter silica sand and also leveling sand. leveling seemed like the best choice as the texture is very close to playground sand, but then again u never know

If I remember it is in a weird place. In Lowes it is inside I think where the concrete is and in Home Depot it is not where the concrete is-maybe call and ask them...

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Julirs http://www.julirschameleons.com 2.2.50+ Veiled 1.1 Oustalet 1.2 Nosy Be 5.3.3 Pygmelions 1.0 Fischers 0.0.1 Mellers 0.1 Ambilobe 0.1 Side-Striped

I always soaked about 2-3 of those disks and mixed in with the sand, using a flower pot that is 11" tall and 10" wide.

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Julirs http://www.julirschameleons.com 2.2.50+ Veiled 1.1 Oustalet 1.2 Nosy Be 5.3.3 Pygmelions 1.0 Fischers 0.0.1 Mellers 0.1 Ambilobe 0.1 Side-Striped

i did it, she now has more room to dig, as her other holes, she was stopping when she got to the bottom.

thanks for everyones input.

I will def have some crix for her to munch when she is done. the mix feels much better with the coco in it, softer but still compact, will make for much better digging.

i feel terrible that i made her do all that work this morning for nothing, but she at least now has her routine down. after i made the swap she has been a bit weary of her new laying container, however i see her eyeballing it, and i know once things cool down she'll be right back down there.

she really is a beautiful girl. I have curtained her off now to give her the most privacy and i'm resisting the urge to peek

this morning when i found her i thought she was dead, i called flchams to ask if i should take her out of her hole, and he told me to just pretend shes not there and let her do her thing, the fact that she is digging is a good sign. I think i got the new laying chamber in just fast enough, waiting any longer such as waiting til she falls asleep tonight to switch it would have been extremely risky in my opinion. she is insanely cool with me as i'm always around with plants, i may certainly be a stress factor to her but she has learned to cope, and her life as an adult will be much better now that i've learned how to take care of females

i have 2 more gravid females and this is a great experience for me, as I will be setting them up quite shortly.

in my pursuit of knowledge i wish to learn whether its common that chameleons lay infertile clutches as soon as they reach maturity, or perhaps its the fact that they could see each other and the male thats caused it.

I broke my own rule about purchasing before doing all my research, but the deal was too good to pass up and the chameleons have been amazing to work with.

I hope to learn as much as possible and take this all in, so that when i decide to do it next time, it will be simple, and so that others can easily learn from my mistakes so they don't have to make the same ones.

thank you everyone.

hey everyone, since i switched her tubs out, she has not gone back down, sucks.


she has come up to where she sleeps and has curled her tail up.

i'm considering turning her lights out as they go out pretty soon any, i just don't want her to start digging as soon as i do.

should i start her lights up an hour early tommorow so she can get a good start?

I wouldn't worry too much-some females will spend days digging. If she is ready for bed, just let her start tomorrow.

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Julirs http://www.julirschameleons.com 2.2.50+ Veiled 1.1 Oustalet 1.2 Nosy Be 5.3.3 Pygmelions 1.0 Fischers 0.0.1 Mellers 0.1 Ambilobe 0.1 Side-Striped