need advice on laying bin.....

[KaydeesChams]

I have a 7 mo female and I have heard horror stories about females becoming egg bound because she wouldn't dig or lay her eggs in the soil provided in the laying bin.....so my question is what is the best soil, sand, etc. To use in your laying bin and please be specific ie. Brand etc. Any advice is very much appreciated!

 

[kinyonga]

IMHO...the idea is to have a container about 12" deep by 12" x 8" filled with moistened washed playsand in her cage from the time she reaches sexual maturity so that she has a place to dig to show you that/when she is ready to lay the eggs. This way you won't miss the sometimes subtle signs that she is ready. (Some females will lay the eggs in that size container.) I use King's sand...
http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/...ode+matchall&recN=128756&N=0&Ntk=P_PartNumber

Once she starts to dig intently she can be moved to a larger container...and left there. So IMHO the container has to be something that she can't escape from. I use a 65 liter rubbermaid container. I cut a large hole in the lid and screen it over. I fill the container half full of sand and add a branch. I put the chameleon in there ONCE SHE IS DIGGING INTENTLY...and leave her there. I put the lid on and lay a light on the screen part to keep her warm and let her see. be careful that you don't overheat the container by using too big a light.

Once she is digging don't let her see you watching her...or she may abandon the hole. If she abandons dit often enough, she can become eggbound.

You can feed and water her when she is in the large container as long as you don't leave any uneaten insects in there and as long as you don't do it while she is digging.

 

[jannb]

I also used washed playsand. I too have a female veiled and I wrote a blog about my experiences with her egg laying. I'm attaching a link to it below. You might find it helpful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

 

[KaydeesChams]

Thank you sooo much for your extremly detailed help it is very much appreciated I have been very nervous about this