Why the female chameleon choose the bottom of the cage ?

Hello, My chameleon is 8 months old and ready to lay her first eggs without fertilized.
I had put a bin of soil in the cage.
and she was stayed in it for 3 days. but not dig.
and now she come to the bottom of the cage.
Why she don't get into bin ,why she choose the bottom?
Her body is very fat. and she refuse to eat.
Should I wait for more days?
Or I should put her into a bin just like put her into a prison.
My first chameleon died of laying eggs.
I help this one can secure lay the eggs .
Thanks a lot !

I hope somebody could help and tell what should I do now, please ~

Hello,

Something about your nest soil situation she does not like.

An easy way if she is rejecting what you are providing-

Get a large bucket (5 gallons or even a 30 gallon clean and new garbage can.
Put a foot or more of soil in the bucket. I use soil I dig fresh right from my garden and this works best for me and always has the perfect amount of moisture content so that it holds together for the chameleon when it digs a tunnel without collapsing. In the past I have also used a mix of sand and peat moss, and added enough water so that I can dig a tunnel with my hand and the tunnel will not collapse.

On top of the soil, I scatter dried leaves from the garden to give the female something to hide in when digging her nest. I add a couple of dead twigs for her to climb when she is not digging.

The sides of the bucket or garbage can are too high for her to climb. It becomes her cage for a few days, and any time she goes near the bottom, she will be on the soil substrate and can dig.

Instead of a bucket or garbage can you can also use a 20 gallon plastic storage container- any large container that is kind of tall.
The tall solid walls give her needed privacy and feeling of security while preventing her from climbing out.
Also I get best response from garden soil. I think the smell stimulates them better than sand/peat.
Also the dead leaves I scatter are only a thin layer. Not too thick. I will find a picture to post in a minute for you.

Chameleon melleri laying in one of my garbage cans.



This species does not dig a long tunnel like calyptratus so eggs are easy to see in photo. Calyptratus or Pardalis dig a tunnel down first.

Sometimes they like to lay near roots or beneath something (board for example) or will use a tunnel that you start for them in the soil.

Here are pardalis eggs laid in the root ball of a potted hibiscus in the cage rather than in a bucket.

Wow, That's great !
It makes her feel savety.
When they always lay the eggs? in the morning or night ?
Should I turn off the UVA while she is laying the eggs ?

When they lay kind of depends. Experienced females who have laid before are much faster- first time laying might take a few days sometimes while they dig around and figure things out. In that case, eggs could come any time, day or night- I have had females dig and not reappear from tunnel for a day or more. Experienced females sometimes only take a few hours, and usually in my experience it seems to be in the later part of the day - late afternoon. But maybe different situations would cause different times of day I don't know.

It is OK to skip UV for a few days, but you don't want to skip for too long ahead of time (weeks).

If I put her into a large plastic storage container how long should I close it ?

I don't close it. I leave the lid off- must be tall enough she cannot escape. She still wants light to get started.

Do you have soil in there for her and the rest already?

And a word of caution- set everything up for her - a foot or more of soil, leaves on top, maybe start a tunnel for her, sink some branches down into the soil, put the whole thing in a fairly warm place, but not too hot or cold, then put her in there and then leave her alone so she has privacy and feels safe and secure. If you constantly check on her it sometimes bothers them so they are afraid to lay.

It looks like my bin is too small, and easy be seen by stranger.
She don't like it.
I will try a bigger one with wet soil and make her feel that she could hiding in it.
Beside my cage is too small to put in a large plastic storage container .

I use containers large enough she cannot climb out, then no cage is necessary until she lays.

It looks look my bin is too small for her. It makes her easy be saw by stangers.
I will try a biger plastic storage container with wet soil in it.
I will put some dry leaves on it to make her feel savety.
But It seems that my cage is too small to put a container.
Could I just take her in to a large plastic storage container directly?

I want to make sure whether she is ready to lay the eggs.
some days a go I found her didn't eat any food, and her body is fatter than before, I can see some differnt colors on her body.
She was green usual, but now I can find some light yellow spots on her body.
Is that she will lay eggs ?

What species is she?
Is she pacing and scratching at the bottom of her cage a lot?
Can you upload a photo?

She is Veiled Chameleon.
She just stay at the bottom without move.
She is hiding behind the plants now so I couldn't find her.

Its not a good sign that she is not moving around.
Can you fill out the questions in the "how to ask for help" thread at the top of the health forum please? Can you post a photo of her and the set up you have her in please?

Kinyongia is right- I have been giving you information based off the assumption that your female is indeed ready to lay.

But normally if she is ready to lay she will become very active- pacing the floor and trying to scratch and dig.

Something else might be going on with her if she is not moving.

The Detail of my chameleon

Whether her looking is the sign to laying eggs or not .


How about the containter I prepare for her(I will upload soon)
What I need to pay a attention ?

The Species :Veiled Chameleon
Sex: female
Age: I bought her at 08/2011 I have fed her for 7 months.
Handling: I never handling her, just keep her in the cage.
Feeding :
Crickets or Tenebrio molitors. She prefer to crickets.
About 8-9 circkets at a time, and feed her every day.
I put the bowl with circkets in to her cage.
Supplements: Ca+D3 weekly
Watering : with the watering can, twice a day, about a minutes.
She drunk the water on the leaves or nets.
Fecal Description: Black .
She never been tested for parasites.

Cage Info:
Cage Type: 40cm*40*60cm net cage
Lighting : eko UVA 60w, eko UVB 15w
Keep the light on for 10 hours but now I turn off.
Temperature -Day: 28 centigrades night :23centigrades
Humidity : 50%
Plants : Scindapsus aureus
Placement: a quiet place

Whether her looking is the sign to laying eggs or not .
How about the containter I prepare for her
What I need to pay a attention ?