HELP! female veiled chameleon not using her flowerpot!

[machoca]

Hi, my pregnant chameleon has recently began to spend a lot of time on the bottom of her terarium so i came to this site looking for info on how to take care of her. I watched the educational video (which is really great by the way) and bought an 8 inch flower pot and filled it with some peat moss and a ficus plant all the way to the top and then added some water so she could do her tunnel without it collapsing but its been 2 days and still hasnt dug on the pot. Is this normal, does she need more time for her to find out she needs to dig inside the pot and not on the floor ? Thanks!

 

[camimom]

first off, her lay bin needs to be at lesat 12 inches deep and just as big around.
second- it should be filled with washed playsand or topsoil.
next- females can take days to dig and lay their eggs. also she may not be ready to lay.

and she wont lay if she sees you watching her.

 

[carol5208]

I am not sure which video you watched but the recommended size for digging is a minimum of 12 X 12 X 12. Also most members uses washed play sand or a mixture of playsand and soil. I don't have females but have read alot of stuff on here about people who do and 8 inches using peat moss does not sound right. also, if she goes down to the pot to dig and she sees you she will abandon the digging. You might want to cover the cage. I am sure others who have laying females will respond.

 

[carol5208]

first off, her lay bin needs to be at lesat 12 inches deep and just as big around.
second- it should be filled with washed playsand or topsoil.
next- females can take days to dig and lay their eggs. also she may not be ready to lay.

and she wont lay if she sees you watching her.

oh lord, we must have been typing at the same time! lol

 

[AngieL]

Hi! Maybe an 8 inch pot isn't big enough. If she's gravid I would imagine that she herself could be at least 8 inches long, yes? She'll probably want to dig a deep tunnel that she fits in so I personally would try a bigger lay bin. If she's reluctant to dig and lay you may need to put her in a trash an bin, so she can't escape and doesn't have anything else to do or distract her. Also she needs PRIVACY so checking on her all the time will put her off

Here's a great blog by Jann, this is where I learned all I know, including the trash can bin !
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

 

[AngieL]

oh lord, we must have been typing at the same time! lol

Me too!

 

[camimom]

oh lord, we must have been typing at the same time! lol

Great minds!!!

 

[kinyonga]

When was she mated?

 

[Dez]

I am not sure which video you watched but the recommended size for digging is a minimum of 12 X 12 X 12. Also most members uses washed play sand or a mixture of playsand and soil. I don't have females but have read alot of stuff on here about people who do and 8 inches using peat moss does not sound right. also, if she goes down to the pot to dig and she sees you she will abandon the digging. You might want to cover the cage. I am sure others who have laying females will respond.

Carol I assumed he watched my video:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

In my experience 8 inches deep is adequate but deeper will not hurt. I use topsoil or a sand and soil mixture but washed playsand works as well.. I am not sure about the peatmoss as I am not sure it will hold the shape of a tunnel

With really stubborn females I put them in a tote bin o large trash can full of dirt with a screen on top and leave them in until they dig.

 

[carol5208]

Carol I assumed he watched my video:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

In my experience 8 inches deep is adequate but deeper will not hurt. I use topsoil or a sand and soil mixture but washed playsand works as well.. I am not sure about the peatmoss as I am not sure it will hold the shape of a tunnel

With really stubborn females I put them in a tote bin o large trash can full of dirt with a screen on top and leave them in until they dig.

I was thinking that it must have been yours but it has been awhile since I viewed it. I just know that everyone always says standard 12 inches....you know better than me Dez!! Never heard of anyone using the peatmoss though, maybe that is the problem not the size

 

[tahipp23]

What should i do?

I just interrupted my veiled chameleon from laying her eggs. I thought she was dead in the tunnel she dug because her eyes were closed and she was laying down. I dont know what to do since I destroyed her tunnel trying to see if she was ok.. I wasnt sure if she was going to lay eggs or not because usually she just eats the sand and never digs. Any advice will help!

 

[Dez]

I just interrupted my veiled chameleon from laying her eggs. I thought she was dead in the tunnel she dug because her eyes were closed and she was laying down. I dont know what to do since I destroyed her tunnel trying to see if she was ok.. I wasnt sure if she was going to lay eggs or not because usually she just eats the sand and never digs. Any advice will help!

ok.. once I had a veiled female whos tunnle caved in on her and I dug her out because she was completely buried.

She had not finished laying her eggs... I made a tunnel for her and put her back in the bin.. She ended up not using the tunnel I made but made her own and laid ok.

Put your girl back in the bin and see if she continues to dig..and don't disturb her

 

[tahipp23]

thank you

Thank you so much! i will try that

 

[machoca]

good news !!

Good news people! I dug a deep hole with my hands on the flower pot hoping she would get the idea and it worked!! She is currently now digging on the 8 inch pot. Thank you for all your advice and responses !!