Anyone tried vegetable plants?

[KiwitheCham19]

Overall question: Have you tried growing vegetables in your chameleon cage? If so did your Cham eat it? Any comments concerns? Second question, are there other safe flowers besides hibiscus?


I have a pied veiled and he loves chomping on any plant I put in his cage. As a Cham mom and a plant mom (my plant collection is borderline hoarding status at this point) I try to give him some variety of safe plants.

Everywhere I check it has the same basic list of Cham safe plants (pothos, hibiscus, umbrella, yucca etc) but I was thinking of using some ‘safe’ vegetables and grow them in his cage.

Some ideas:
-kale
-sweet pea/sugar snap pea (they vine like crazy which would be awesome)
-romaine lettuce
-broccoli

I also wanted to get some flowers but besides hibiscus (have already) I don’t know which others are safe for chams?

Before anyone gets on me about just feeding chams veggies - He’s on 100% insect diet (gutloaded with fresh fruits and veggies) with calcium and monthly reptivite. I know they aren’t ‘supposed’ to have vegetables in their diet and I’m not saying I wanna feed him a salad haha. Since he nibbles plants might as well add some nutrients

 

[RoryLikesChameleons]

It would be hard to grow vegtables like lettuce or kale because they grow in a very different climate to a chameleons enclosure so if you were to grow a vegtable you would have to find one that are non toxic and suits the chameleons climate and humidity levels

Overall question: Have you tried growing vegetables in your chameleon cage? If so did your Cham eat it? Any comments concerns? Second question, are there other safe flowers besides hibiscus?


I have a pied veiled and he loves chomping on any plant I put in his cage. As a Cham mom and a plant mom (my plant collection is borderline hoarding status at this point) I try to give him some variety of safe plants.

Everywhere I check it has the same basic list of Cham safe plants (pothos, hibiscus, umbrella, yucca etc) but I was thinking of using some ‘safe’ vegetables and grow them in his cage.

Some ideas:
-kale
-sweet pea/sugar snap pea (they vine like crazy which would be awesome)
-romaine lettuce
-broccoli

I also wanted to get some flowers but besides hibiscus (have already) I don’t know which others are safe for chams?

Before anyone gets on me about just feeding chams veggies - He’s on 100% insect diet (gutloaded with fresh fruits and veggies) with calcium and monthly reptivite. I know they aren’t ‘supposed’ to have vegetables in their diet and I’m not saying I wanna feed him a salad haha. Since he nibbles plants might as well add some nutrients

 

[MissSkittles]

While that’s a great idea, I’m not sure how well it would work out. Kale is a bit high in oxalates, which if your cham eats could bind to the calcium in his body, which wouldn’t be so good for him. I believe broccoli is the same in that regard. Peas might be interesting, but I’m not sure if the leaves would be safe to be eaten. I doubt the vines would be strong enough to hold the weight of a cham. The there’s the question of what will you be doing with any vegetables grown in the enclosure. I’m not so sure I’d be wanting to eat anything that has spent any amount of time in my cham’s enclosure. With reptiles there is always the risk of salmonella.

 

[kinyonga]

I have to agree with @MissSkittles about you not eating any of the veggies you grow in the cage...but there should be some veggies that would work in the cage. Just be careful of things like tomatoes...where the tomato is edible and the leaves are poisonous.
You would keep crickets and such fed while in the cage then too.

 

[KiwitheCham19]

It would be hard to grow vegtables like lettuce or kale because they grow in a very different climate to a chameleons enclosure so if you were to grow a vegtable you would have to find one that are non toxic and suits the chameleons climate and humidity levels

I don’t mind if they don’t grow as big compared to outdoor gardening. I was thinking of growing the seedlings until they are mature enough to handle being in the cage. His set up is in my sun room so it gets lots of natural light and extra grow lights.

It would be hard to grow vegtables like lettuce or kale because they grow in a very different climate to a chameleons enclosure so if you were to grow a vegtable you would have to find one that are non toxic and suits the chameleons climate and humidity level

While that’s a great idea, I’m not sure how well it would work out. Kale is a bit high in oxalates, which if your cham eats could bind to the calcium in his body, which wouldn’t be so good for him. I believe broccoli is the same in that regard. Peas might be interesting, but I’m not sure if the leaves would be safe to be eaten. I doubt the vines would be strong enough to hold the weight of a cham. The there’s the question of what will you be doing with any vegetables grown in the enclosure. I’m not so sure I’d be wanting to eat anything that has spent any amount of time in my cham’s enclosure. With reptiles there is always the risk of salmonella.

Hm that’s a valid concern. While he munches on most plants, I don’t know if he would consume enough to cause problems? I’ll keep looking researching for more info. I will not be eating any veggies from his cage, I was thinking of “harvesting” any peas (or greens if it is safe) and giving them to the insects as part of their gut loading.

For snap peas, I was thinking more of coverage/vining on screen walls instead of climbing ability. They aren’t thick vines but they will grow all over the walls of the cage.

Thank you for your response!!

 

[KiwitheCham19]

I have to agree with @MissSkittles about you not eating any of the veggies you grow in the cage...but there should be some veggies that would work in the cage. Just be careful of things like tomatoes...where the tomato is edible and the leaves are poisonous.
You would keep crickets and such fed while in the cage then too.

Def not tomatoes, as I responded to the other post, I will not be eating any veggies from his cage. Most likely will give them to the insects. Since it would grow inside the cage, I don’t think the plants will grow as well as outside so I don’t know if i will get much veggies to harvest from them anyway.

 

[KiwitheCham19]

It would be hard to grow vegtables like lettuce or kale because they grow in a very different climate to a chameleons enclosure so if you were to grow a vegtable you would have to find one that are non toxic and suits the chameleons climate and humidity levels

I don’t think humidity would be as big of an issue compared to keeping succulents/cacti in the enclosure? I would put the veggie plants in once they are large enough to be handled. I will agree that they won’t grow as well inside the enclosure than if they were grown outdoors. But since I will not be growing for my own harvest I don’t really mind if they stay small or don’t produce actual vegetables.

 

[RoryLikesChameleons]

I don’t think humidity would be as big of an issue compared to keeping succulents/cacti in the enclosure? I would put the veggie plants in once they are large enough to be handled. I will agree that they won’t grow as well inside the enclosure than if they were grown outdoors. But since I will not be growing for my own harvest I don’t really mind if they stay small or don’t produce actual vegetables.

You would also have to worry about the when the vegtables start falling off the vine and start rotting unless your planning on constantly taking out the vegtables and throwing them away unless your enclosure is bioactive and will eat the vegtables