It should be directly below the heat source so it lines up with the middle of it. If you are taking the temp farther down an angled branch then your temps are off. Meaning where she is sitting higher is hotter. I am willing to bet your temps are far hotter than you realize. I have never seen a cham sit and gape with a 80 degree temp. Once it is up over 85 and closer to 90 is when this is more common. Females should be kept at a basking of 78-80 max.
Female specific care:
As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6-7 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7-8 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeder amounts so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.
You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. The hotter the temp the more their metabolism speeds up so we have to keep the temp lower since we are doing lower food intake.
A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
I made this "How to" video to show how to set up a laying bin for a female chameleon. I narrated and edited it myself much like my other education video:https://www.chameleonforums.com/receptive-female-chameleons-educational-video-62869/
This video shows how we, at Chamalot Chameleons, set up laying bins for our females. There are a variation of techniques you can do, but this will give you a good solid idea of what is needed.
I hope this video helps a lot of female chameleons owners
enjoy
This video shows how we, at Chamalot Chameleons, set up laying bins for our females. There are a variation of techniques you can do, but this will give you a good solid idea of what is needed.
I hope this video helps a lot of female chameleons owners
enjoy
Veiled Chameleon Laying 101
Hi and congratulations on having a beautiful girl veiled chameleon. These little sweeties are near and dear to my heart, and I’ve learned from some of the very best keepers on the forum how to care for them and effectively manage their reproductive health. Now I’m passing that knowledge on to...
- MissSkittles
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- Blog: Veiled Chameleon Laying 101
She is pretty chunky in the belly though. You have been overfeeding her and it may have caused her to produce a very large number of eggs. You don’t want to change how you feed her now! The eggs are already cooking and she needs the nutrition to finish them. Make sure her lay bin is ready. If you want, you can even partially hang a privacy curtain for her so when you find she’s started digging, all you need to do is pull it across. I would advise having some little peek holes or other way to monitor her progress. Since other causes of gaping have pretty much been ruled out, that leaves her with her eggs taking up lots of space in her body and causing decreased ability to fully expand her lungs…kind of how we get overly full at holiday dinners and it presses against our diaphragm, making it harder to breath. Do keep us posted on her progress. 
