Laying box

[chemgrl08]

Hi all, I'd like some advice about laying boxes. My female beardie looks like she is about to lay (infertile) eggs; quite fat, lots of digging and scratching, and not eating the past week. (I hate beardie hunger strikes- they always make me nervous.) I have only had her for about 2 wks, but she is in the same enclosure as the person I purchased her from, so I doubt it is stress.
My question is about getting a lay box. On the sticky in this section, it says you should use a container that is 50-60qts... that's huge! I have a container that is 15qrts that could potentially fit in her enclosure, but not easily. (Don't worry, she has lots of room! She is in a 50 gal.) I also see that you should use play sand, yet play sand is lambasted as a terrible substrate everywhere else on this forum. Do I need to get the large 50gal and take her out of the enclosure to lay? (And try this every day?) Do I put a smaller size lay box inside the enclosure? Should I use a mixture of topsoil and sand, or something else?
Thanks for any answers; I just don't want her to get egg bound and I suspect she is not laying because she's not satisfied with the laying space.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....sand is fine for the lay box, I've used it for years. And you CAN try a smaller storage container, the kind that is about 20 " long, 12" wide + about 7" high. That's a guesstimate on the size, my lights are out in the dragon enclosures so I can't remember the exact size. But some of my girls will use that type of container....I keep the lid on and cut about a 6X6 hole in one corner of the lid in the top. I fill it about 2/3 with the damp sand and several of my females will use those. You need to put them in and usually they'll start digging right away. She may come out but as long as you have a log or rock next to it so she can get up in it, she should learn that that's her place for her nest.

 

[chemgrl08]

Great! Thank you very much, it was very helpful. I'm trying the play sand and smaller container now. She seems to like sitting in it so far, so I'm hoping tomorrow she'll have a chance to really dig into it. Thanks!