Laying bin...stupid question?

[joeandsoph]

This might sound like a silly question, but what we are using for a laying in, isn't big enough I don't think. So I have found a new laying bin. does it actually matter what colour it is as long as it's opaque?

Thanks!!

 

[beeze]

It needs to be 12 inches high and I would not use a bright color. Most chams do not like red and other bright colors.

 

[Chameleons Canada]

The colour doesn't matter, opacity it might. My females usually dig on the sides of the bucket, never in the middle. I think they might get the idea of how deep they are in the ground by the amount of light going through the tunnel open.

If the side is clear, it might also distract them or make them uncomfortable. I use a 5 gallon, white paintbucket I bought at the home depot. This is more than enought for most species.

 

[joeandsoph]

It is opaque but it's yellow. That's all I can find as an emergency unless I can go and try to find another tonight. Do you think yellow will be ok.

 

[joeandsoph]

I attached a pic of the bin

 

[summoner12]

Throw a white trash bag inside..... one that is tough enough she won't dig through it..... if it's not sloppy in there it should stay tight to the walls and she'll just dig along it and not through it.

The other thing to do is just put her inside of the bucket and if she fires up and looks upset... ya know you need a new color.

You could always spray paint it.... but that will need a couple of days to air out and dry.

 

[Miss Lily]

Try it in the cage first and see how she reacts. I put a rather nice croton plant in Amy's cage - it had lovely red leaves. Amy didn't like it though and sat on the opposite side of the cage giving it the evils until I took it out!

Lily laid her first clutch in a clear tub (she actually had a choice of two in her cage). The second time she laid in a 4 litre icecream tub which was white and opaque. I think it's more about how the laying medium feels and 'digs'. Both times Lily dug down into a corner making a large hole rather than digging an actual tunnel, but she always dug down to the bottom.

What are you using in the tub, playsand, soil or a mixture of both? Also make sure that she will be able to climb back out of the tub again after. They sometimes dig several test holes before they are satisfied and they can do this over several days. Lily dug a few test holes for 3 days before finally digging for real on the 4th day.

 

[joeandsoph]

We've got playsand at the mo Tiff. If she digs, how do we know she'll be able to get out ok lol. How big is a 4 litre ice cream tub, we have an ice c ream tub at the minute but it seems too small for her?

She doesn't seem to bother about colours, we've out allsorts of different things in her tank and it never bothers her.

 

[kinyonga]

You can stick a branch into the sand so she can climb out of the container when she's done. Is he container going to be in her cage?

 

[summoner12]

They need height. They dig down anywhere from 6-14". Maybe even more if you let them. But if you give them about 10-12" of dirt they will either dig to the bottom or as far as they like.... It is a good idea to put a plant inside or something covering the dirt on one side... They know to dig near roots... so something looking like a plant will trigger them to dig near it.

This last time my female laid she went like a corkscrew.... and it wasn't all that far down... just like the time before. I think this has to do with her size. She isn't much more than 100g when loaded up with eggs..... So not a ton of body mass with large reserves for energy to dig deep holes.

 

[joeandsoph]

Thanks for the help guys. Well she still looks fat and her 'stripes' are orangy / yellow I suppose almost a mustard colour. We are going to weigh her tonight. Is there a certain weight she should be at around 6 months. So worried she's going to egg bound :-(

 

[Miss Lily]

I'll be interested to see how much she weighs - Amy was 112g at her last weigh-in! She had gained 3g in 2 weeks, don't know if that's good or not.

 

[joeandsoph]

Really! Just weighed her and shes 50g. Unless we have the scale totally wrong? If not then that's very odd for saying they look so identical.

 

[Miss Lily]

I used my new digital scales and they appear to be very accurate - my son (he's 16, bless him!) had great fun checking to see if packets, tins, etc actually weighed the same as was stated on the packaging. Amy must be huge - she weighs more than double what Tilly does! How long is her body, snout to vent?

 

[joeandsoph]

I'm not sure how big she his never really mesured. I can't do it right now lol she's asleep and don't want to disturb the little gal again as she been out once to be weighed today. She seemed to like the scales!!! Very odd!