Laying medium- PLEASE HELP

[Bobby12]

Hi - can someone please help me... I have a 13 month old Ambilobe who has been gravid for 30 plus days. I supplied her a laying medium consisting of orgainic potting soil and peat moss in a pot thats is 24" deep and 12" wide with water and pact down to creat a sturdy laying enviorment. She ignored the pot for the first 28 days and for the last 4-5 days shes been digging like crazy but never depositing eggs. Apparently this is an unsuitable medium. ive changed it 3-4 times making the mixture more and less peat moss and more and less moisture... I am pretty sure there isn't too much water because it is not muddy at all. I just purchased play sand but I am reluctant because I was told the sand can get in the Cham's eyes but I think I will add the sand bucket tonight. I dont not want the girl to become egg bound and die but since this is my first attempt ever at breeding Panthers I do not know what to do or expect. Can someone please give me some advice -


On a side note the male I bred with the female is eating a lot less and seems sick of crickets. I cut load the crickets with different things as to create a different taste for the Cham. His diet since I have had him has been 90% crickets with superworms as treats (3-4 worms every week on the weekends) but now he seems to only want superworms. I do not want to have roaches in the house so are there any other suggestions? Also where is a good site to get different feeders? Is this normal for a 13 month Cham to get sick of crickets?


Thank you for your hlep...

 

[Brad Ramsey]

You need to stop messing around with the bucket.
She needs privacy, even to the point of covering the front of the enclosure with paper so she can't see you.
Does the medium pack well?
Can it hold a tunnel without collapsing?
I understand being anxious about this, but you have to leave her alone.

-Brad

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

Just let her be. My females dig anywhere from 1 to 8 holes. 1-3 being normal for me. You need to vary your chams diet. They get tired of the same feeder over and over and will jump at a different feeder usually. No matter what you feed your crickets superworms will taste better to most chams. They are very fatty and like crack for chameleons. If you feed them supers too often it sometimes can be a task to get them eating anything else.


Justin

 

[summoner12]

you need to give her privacy. like Brad said, cover the front of the cage so she can't see out. Don't even look in on her for a few hours, just let her be.

 

[Bobby12]

Still confused

I leave her alone - i even put her in a seperate room with nothing else in it, but if she diggs for hours and the next morning she is on a branch with the dirt moved around i check it for eggs. how am i supposed to know what she has deposited- even when i look in on her she is deep tunneling in the dirt head first and cant see me anyway. shes been making holes for the past 7 days and not dropping eggs. i havent touchd the bucket in three days because she keeps digging at it.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Just be patient and leave her alone.
She knows what to do and will do it when she's ready.

-Brad

 

[reptoman]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/egg-bottom-cage-33059/index4.html


for future reference.....dont change the laying bin at this point since she is already digging. She should have more clutches after she finally lays this time..up to 4 fertile clutches from a single mating. Try using a clear bin so you can see the eggs at the bottom.
Also, do not let her see you watching her dig. I put a sheet over the front of my female's cage once she started digging the 2nd time around and it worked out much better. 30 days is an estimated time for laying but not exact so be patient.

 

[Destiny]

you might want to try silkworms i order mine from Mullberry farms.com i'm going to order some soon because my female gecko is expecting soon.