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I've filled a little plastic container with some moist bedding (Bed-a-Beast from a local pet store) and placed it in the lizards' cage for my female, Alexandra, to get used to before she's ready to lay her eggs. What I'm not sure about is if I need to do something different. Here's what it looks like. It's about 6 inches in diameter. Will she figure out what this is for, do you guys think?

A collared will dig a hole, and scatter all that dirt everywhere. Mine have always dugs about 3-4 inches deep...not straight down, usually at an angle. They need a larger, deeper area to dig into. I copied and pasted this info I typed up a while back...

I call a nesting box, the area within the tank I prepare for my female to lay in. I usually don't use a box at all. I place a brick (normal rectangular) all the way on the left back wall, and another all the left side, at right angles to it...this leaves a space in the middle of the two bricks to hold about 3" of sand. When you do this, you wil find the sand will not be held back in the front. I simply add a vertical flat rock to a portion of the front to hold the sand in. I then dampen the sand, and mix it with my hands until it is damp throughout. Not dripping wet, with standing water, but damp enough to clump when squeezed. I acually mix it very similar to my geckos moisture consistency. After dampening the sand, I place a large flat rock, or terre-cotte flower pot base over the area.

Make sure to leave a noticable entrance into the area. When she gets closer to laying time, start checking the area. When she lays, she will be noticable skinny...Scary skinny Don't worry, she will be ready to resume eating again soon. I forgot to mention...a good sign she is nearing the time to lay, is her decrease in appetite. She will decrease eating, then stop...at the same time, she will start digging more often, or hanging out in the prepared area. I don't worry too much about temps of the area, since I will move them ASAP after she lays them. I have found, if laid on top of a under-tank heater, the eggs will often stick to the bottom. Under the rock or dish, it protects them from too much heat, since they will be buried anyway. I usually have my egg laying area beneath one side of the tank, under the incandescent. The rock on top gets pretty warm, but I highly doubt the temp of the sand gets very warm at all.

For the egg box used in incubation, I use Perlite as a medium. I started using Perlite, because I can't find Vermiculite around here anymore. I put about 3" of Perlite into a deli-cup container. I add water until it is all moist. The material is quite different from Vermiculite, as it will not feel very soft/wet. The best feature of the product, is you will be able to see cleary the water level in the deli-cup. I wet it evenly, then keep the water level at least 1" below the bottom of the eggs. You can then watch the level, and add more water as needed. Very cool feature. Hope this helps you out.

You can also use a type of sweater box, or one of those gladware plastic boxes used to store food in. Very Cheap, but needs to be about 3-4 inches deep. The collareds will dig a hole to bury the eggs in...the dirt will go everywhere.

Thanks! I've just put in a setup like you described. I take it you pick up the eggs by hand and put them in the deli cup? Any advice on moving them without damaging them, aside from being as gentle as possible?

I try to pick them up, just as they lay in the sand. I use my fingers, and grab them by the long end. You may be safer, using a spoon, but I think rolling them is too likely...or juggling them in Eve's case.

Usually they will be buried deep, so you will have to carefully remove the sand from around them; much like an archaelogist removing dirt and rock from a bone. I have a incubation dish ready (deli cup) with vermiculite or Perlite filled near the top...enough space for the lid to set on. I push a spot into the vermiculite that I will set the egg into. It keeps it from rolling around.

John