Bioactive egg laying

MissSkittles

Chameleon Enthusiast
Maybe I am over-analyzing, but I have to wonder....🤔
I have had my ladies bioactive since just after the last time they laid eggs. They have only used lay bins. This past week (Monday) I had to tear down Stella’s bioactive enclosure and set her up with a non-bioactive one with lay bin. Wednesday she promptly entered her lay bin and did her thing. Thinking about it, she had been very restless and hanging out lower in her enclosure for at least a couple of weeks prior. This has me wondering if she was ready to lay earlier but didn’t recognize that she could lay her eggs in the bioactive soil. Or is it just coincidental timing? I’m not sure if she ever explored the ‘floor’ to know that it was soil. What are y’all’s thoughts?
 
Could be either one...not quite ready or not liking the BIOACTIVE substrate. I'm kinda leaning towards the substrate though...just a hunch.
I’m leaning the same way. I enjoy the naturalistic approach of bioactive, but if it’s going to interfere with my girls laying, it’s out. In the wild there are no lay bins and no problems, but that’s all the wild chameleons know. My girls have only known to lay in the plastic bin of moist sand.
 
Since switching Imelda to the bioactive she’s only laid once in the bin and she did amazing!! She found her fav plant to lay her eggs under, I think that was back in October. She hasn’t gone respective since then but I’m sure her fertility problems are the reason for that.
 
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I’m leaning the same way. I enjoy the naturalistic approach of bioactive, but if it’s going to interfere with my girls laying, it’s out. In the wild there are no lay bins and no problems, but that’s all the wild chameleons know. My girls have only known to lay in the plastic bin of moist sand.

I kept my female on bioactive from day 1 and never had problems. Maybe your soil consistency wasn't to her liking? Either way, if you think it's safer to just use a lay bin, definitely go for it. No sense risking, but just wanted to point out my experiences. In the wild also they are said to rarely dig much, they usually lay against roots or rocks not far down.

If they have the instinct to lay in a bin of moist sand, you'd think they'd have the instinct to lay in the substrate eh lol(a big lay bin pretty much).

Sometimes stimulation can trigger things too... no idea if this applies to chameleons, but like human women can go into labor after exerting themselves. Maybe when you moved her that triggered her to lay then... just a 100% brainstorming guess lol. Heck, sometimes when I move my roaches, they go crazy breeding.
 
My girls are extremely restless in the weeks leading up to laying. I know they are really close if they are off the walls (literally). I think it is timing. You could always make a corner similar to your lay bin to experiment.

i also just leave the eggs in there for the isopods to take care of. They do a good job, and eventually the eggs almost turn to little calcium stones if they dont finish them off (which theh whll continue to chew on) . I use powder orange for the females as they have huge appetites for that sort of thing.
 
Maybe if you had a corner of sand in the bio substrate they'd gradually transition over to the bio substrate? Sand is kind of inert...so I don't think it would mess up the bio much except that it might hold too much water. The whole area south of where I live is sandy soil though and here are wooded areas that would be like. Bio substrate....so I'm thinking it might be ok. Just a thought...you have to figure it out by yourself.

I always liked using a bin though...that way I could swap bins and the chameleon wouldn't notice that I took her eggs and wouldn't be disturbed by me digging them up while it was in her cage.
 
Maybe if you had a corner of sand in the bio substrate they'd gradually transition over to the bio substrate? Sand is kind of inert...so I don't think it would mess up the bio much except that it might hold too much water. The whole area south of where I live is sandy soil though and here are wooded areas that would be like. Bio substrate....so I'm thinking it might be ok. Just a thought...you have to figure it out by yourself.

I always liked using a bin though...that way I could swap bins and the chameleon wouldn't notice that I took her eggs and wouldn't be disturbed by me digging them up while it was in her cage.

Good ideas, if they're infertile though she can just leave them in their for the CuC👍
 
April laid her first clutch of eggs recently and the bottom is fully bioactive. She knew to go down and dig but it did take about a week for her to be satisfied with a spot. I had to dig a test hole for her under a plant and she ended up using it. My only issue with it was not enough sand to hold a good tunnel. So I ended up adding more.
 
Appreciate all of the feedback. I think I will make a sandy corner when I redo her bioactive. That’s a great idea.
I know it doesn’t make sense that she would choose to refuse laying in the giant lay bin of her entire ‘floor’ - some chams lay in flower pots if that’s all they have with soil.
I never considered that the stress of redoing her enclosure could have brought on ‘labor’. Interesting idea that definitely is thought provoking.
Hopefully it’ll be at least another year before she lays again so I won’t have to over-analyze this again. However, my other girl is looking to be gravid also so I’ll see how she does laying in her bioactive set up.
 
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