Lay Bin Questions

[bob351]

I have chosen play sand as the medium I am going to take, does the bin need to be black? I just bought a rubbermaid container that is 16"x14"x14" but it is fairly see through plastic, I was thinking of taking sandpaper to it and scratching it to reduce visibility.

Is this necessary or will she feel comfortable enough with the clearish sides to lay in the bin regardless or like plant roots will it throw her off, the bin will be tucked behind two planters already in the enclosure and the side if blocked by my snake rack so it is very low traffic and secluded already.

As far as moisture in the media, should I add drainage rocks and holes to the bottom of the lay bin container so avoid flooding it with the misting? Also to keep it moist am I just misting it like I would any other part of the cage and testing it with my fingers every so often?

 

[bob351]

I just realized I can use a black trash bag as a liner and tie it around the lip tight but the other questions remain.

 

[Blang]

When my gravid females get restless and ready to lay I use a 30gallon garbage can with dampened beach sand and a basking lamp to bring the temperature up! I put the female in the g can in the morning so she can dig and lay her eggs!

 

[jannb]

I use a black trash can with sand. You want it moist enough to hold a tunnel but not so moist that you can squeeze water from it if you grab a handful. I normally dig a test tunnel for them and sometime they will use it. You might find these links helpful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/entry/egg-laying-and-the-laying-bin.345/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/
This helps with female panthers also: http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

 

[alphakenc]

Alphakenc I use a bucket from my big 10 pound protein supplements bucket,since my female not that picky for the size of the bucket ,I will fill them up with organic non color playsand then I add water until I can hand dig a tunnel in that playsand without collapse that tunnel,and I will only hand mist my female chamies whenever they needed to be mist ,I also use a towel to cover the whole cage,since the gravid females are all nervous wrecking so they can have their privacy in peace to lay all their eggs out.