Myth 49: “All Females Need a Laybin Permanently”
I frankly do not know where the laybin frenzy came from. Everyone is repeating and parroting: "You have a female? You need a laybin like crazy…" What is the rationale behind this? It's nonsense!
FIRST ADVICE - PREVENTION: Anyone who takes the responsibility to advise others and feels competent to do so should first and foremost cry out: DO NOT LET YOUR FEMALE LAY ANY EGGS! Prevent it!
It's not only easy — it ensures a happy and healthy life for your female. Laying eggs for no reason shortens her life tremendously, and the physiological parameters leading to egg-laying make her life miserable.
LAYBIN - Much Ado About Nothing: Laybin. LAYBIN. It sounds like a curse or a spell. Like it's something complicated! My goodness — it's a box with a little play sand or dirt!
Anyone can improvise one in five minutes using common household items: a plastic box — a Tupperware or even an empty ice cream container will do. If the ice cream is full, it'll take ten minutes longer because you'll need to put it in a sealable bag… or better yet, eat it!
Sand or dirt? Easily available.
Even a plant pot — with or without a plant — will do. And, better than you may think.
So why are we inducing here a Shakespearean drama? This is Much Ado About Nothing. It's super easy and takes minutes to provide or improvise.
BLOCKAGE AND CONTAMINATION: Cages are generally too small. We end up blocking part of the cage for months with an object that has no meaning. Moreover, this object — a box with heavily moist substrate — can harbor bacteria and will inevitably be contaminated by excrements and biological dust. It becomes full of bacteria and fungi.
This not only contaminates the limitedly ventilated space of the cage with a high concentration of spores and germs, but also increases the risk of respiratory and digestive disorders in the sensitive female.
And such a contaminated laybin is not something you want your female spending her day digging in — dirt full of pollution, bacteria, and fungi… it can be a death sentence.
WE HAVE PLENTY OF TIME: When a female is gravid, everyone will notice weeks in advance — based on changed coloration, behavior, increased appetite, and a heavier body. Eventually, eggs may even be visible through the body wall.
This means we have weeks to prepare the laybin.
WE HAVE STILL TIME: Even if, for whatever reason, we fail to recognize the signs of gravidity (which is unlikely), the female will still have the option to lay her eggs in a pot of potted plants — which is perfect. This can be obstructed by the strange advice from some keepers to cover the pots with sand and large pebbles to prevent chameleons from eating dirt. Again, nonsense. If chameleons eat dirt, it's caused by other reasons — not the presence of dirt — and must be solved by adjusting supplementation and diet.
Anyway, if there's no place for the female to lay eggs, she will visibly descend to the ground and try to dig in different places. Still — ENOUGH TIME to make a laybin and place it in the cage.
THE PURPOSELESS MAINTENANCE: To make the laybin meaningfully functional, it requires maintenance. You need to check its humidity and water it regularly, as the moisture evaporates. To keep it clean, you'll need to dispose of the top layer of dirt — and not just the top. If a chameleon defecates into it, the liquids from the excrement, urate, and urine will penetrate deep. So you'll need to replace the upper layer regularly, and less frequently, the entire volume. For nothing.
It's as absurd as a young woman starting a relationship and going to work every day with a baby stroller — justifying it with: "If we eventually have sex and I become pregnant, I need to be ready for the baby to be comfortable once I deliver and come back from the hospital." Absurd and exaggerated? Yes, I agree. But what's the substantial difference from the laybin in the cage of any chameleon female? Replace the baby stroller with a tiny package containing a condom — fitting in even the smallest pocket or handbag — and walk freely. The "condom" for chameleon ladies is limited food supply and no overheating. Easy and elegant. Far better than a redundant box of dirt requiring more care than the chameleon lady herself. Don't you think?
So please explain to me — this is a call-out to the authors and parrots of the laybin frenzy:
What is the point of having the laybin in the cage?
Its useless presence, in my humble opinion, brings so many constraints that are not offset by the nonexistent necessity of being placed inside the cage forever.
I AM NOT AGAINST PREPARATION AND HAVING THINGS IN PLACE. I AM AGAINST A BLINDFOLDED FRENZY.