How often do you remoisten your laying bins?

[Cainschams]

Hey guys! Just wondering how often you you remoisten/mix your laying bins that stay in the enclosure?

Personally I do it once every 1 week to 2weeks. It seems the top layer dries up for me around that time. It doesnt take much to mix it back to the right moistness. It also seems it hardens up good and remixing softens it making it easier to dig for the females. Since the first time my female panther laid I always had a laying bin in with her besides 2 or 3 weeks after she lays. I have never tried the trashcan method or really thought of it being comfortable for me. I would think the stress of moving her into a new location would be worse than having it take up some space in the cage. I know in some cases the method is needed though. I also use the bottom of a plastic trash container cut to 12 or so inches high, about 15 inches wide and 12 deep. I put in 1/3 sand and 2/3 topsoil. I use a bird style cage that slides right over the bin. Its nice and easy. Tell me about your laying bin

You can kinda see it in this pic

 

[BIGGUN]

I have a 6"x6"x1" deep container of totally dry sand in the bottom......When she goes to dig she throws the sand out on the bottom of the cage so it's easy to tell. I always figured leaving a damp substrate would promote bacteria and/or mold growth.

Kevin

 

[BocaJan]

I don't keep laying bins in with my females. They eat the sand and use the bin as a toilet. I spend a great deal of time with them and know when a laying is about to happen.

 

[summoner12]

I think a lot of breeders remove the females from the main cage when the time is right for her to lay. As Mike Monge told me 'it gives her one thing to do, so there is less chance of her not laying'.

My female dug up her sheflera plant pot one day... so i put her into a laying bucket and she dug like a fish swims and was done in 6 hours.



As far as the OPers question (sorry went off topic) My direction was to say; just keep a bucket around for her. When you think she is ready to lay, moisten it up to the right consistency. No point in disrupting her in her cage with the process of fussing with her laying bin. If she happens to be ready around the time you were digging up her bin to make sure its wet enough, she may not want to lay there.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I put my laying bin in the females cages when the time seems like its about right. I too think moving the female is an unnecessary stress, since my cages easily support big laying bins. They dont hardly notice my putting the bin in, especially if I do it at night. I've never had a female not know what to do come egg time, being in her normal cage is not distracting to the task. But like BocaJan said, if you leave it in there uncovered it gets poop on it and as BigGun said leaving it damp all the time could mean bacterial growth. So for me its in there for the time she's likely to lay, and pulled out the rest of the time. Between layings in the Summer, I rinse the sand in hot water and spread out to dry in the sun. in Winter, I typically rinse with hot water once, try to let it dry out before it gets used again, and then toss it in the garden and buy fresh. I cant be bothered to bake it and there's not enough hot sun in the Winter to do the job for me. So I guess to answer your question, it doesnt much get a chance to dry out while in use. If it seems a little dry on top, I mist it while misting the cage. Or, I remove the catch pan when I've got a dripper going, and let the extra drips fall in the laying bin.

 

[Cainschams]

Lots of great points! The bin I use always gets a good dry out after she lays. I never thought of the bacteriea but I have it set up so when I mist water doesnt get in there and she doesnt poop in there either. Also the point of that gives her only one thing to do is definatly a good one. This way has always worked for me but am open for new ideas. Thats why the thread was started Im curious to see how others go about it.

 

[summoner12]

Here is a pic of the bucket when she was done.

She smoothed the whole thing out. I had a couple of starter holes that she must have filled in. I didn't even need a second wall or anything to keep her in.. the bucket is deep enough to get 10-12 inches of dirt plus enough side to the bucket to keep her in.

 

[sandrachameleon]

... Im curious to see how others go about it.

Its always very interesting to me to see how others do things. It shows there are many roads to success, not hard and fast rules. Helps me not get arrogant thinking my way is best since it has worked, cuz lots of people have equally good, totally different ways of doing things that work just as well (sometimes better!)