Blue berries
- Thread starter Ramrod
- Start date
Kaizen
Chameleon Enthusiast
So one or two a week is probably fine, but they really don’t have a digestive system set up for raw fruit.
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
I believe the fruit sched for a veiled is once a week, as much as they want. Yea mines favorites are always blue berrys and black berries.
You can also put leafy greens via a chip clip during the week for them to munch on.
You can also put leafy greens via a chip clip during the week for them to munch on.
Ramrod
Chameleon Enthusiast
Yeah, mine would eat fruits and vegies all day/everyday if I let him. Just didn't know about blueberries as they are a new item for us.
Do you feel this schedule runs the same with most fruits
Ramrod
Chameleon Enthusiast
Would the same hold true for raw veggies?
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm
"staples" can be offered via a chip clip 24/7
"OCCASIONAL/great treat" can be offered once a week. Berries are berries, black,red,blue etc.
Id say around 25% of his calories can come from "veg". But as Kaizen stated, in order to come out the other end they use gut bacteria the aquired at birth. So you dont want to go full beardy on the food.
Thatwizard420
Chameleon Enthusiast
I feed mine blueberries at every feeding, Is that bad, I feed him 1-2 times a week
Kaizen
Chameleon Enthusiast
look, I realize that some veiled keepers recommend fresh veggies etc, but I’m not convinced that they are a necessary or even usual part of their diets. We know veileds sometimes snag a leaf, but it’s not entirely clear why they do this. Some thoughts include for extra hydration, for fibre when chitinous insects are scarce (egg, when only caterpillars are available), and yes, some people say it’s to supplement their diet. I’m dubious of the latter though since it usually comes out of them relatively undigested. I am not a scientist, so what I say here is basically my more-or-less informed intuitions n
GoodKarma19
Chameleon Enthusiast
Given that chameleons have a relatively short digestive tract and aren't set up for plant consumption (as in breaking it down completely and utilizing it), I'd personally limit any fruit/veg to maybe once a week. The chameleons will absorb the nutrition much better/more easily if it's been pre digested by feeders, anyway.
I won't be going out of my way to provide my veiled girl Kismet with any additional plant matter, though I'll be watching to see if she actually snacks on any of her many plants as she grows. Seems like some individuals are more likely to display this behavior than others!
I won't be going out of my way to provide my veiled girl Kismet with any additional plant matter, though I'll be watching to see if she actually snacks on any of her many plants as she grows. Seems like some individuals are more likely to display this behavior than others!
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
I had a beardy that would not eat veg if his life depended on it, so anything goes.
GoodKarma19
Chameleon Enthusiast
We see a lot of adult beardie superworm/mealworm junkies at the clinic- it's a pretty common report lol! Beardies are opportunistic omnivores and are better suited to eating a majority diet of bugs than a insectivore like a chameleon would be to eating too much veg. It's not quite an equally compatible situation, as beardies have guts capable of fully absorbing the nutrition available
@Kaizen ...I have had many female veiled chameleons that will literally strip a pothos plant bare of leaves...the leaves are not snagged with a bug...they are deliberately eaten. They don't come out whole at the other end either so they must be digested.
I can't say that they are absolutely necessary because they can live without them too...but IMHO it doesn't mean they aren't serving a purpose.
I can't say that they are absolutely necessary because they can live without them too...but IMHO it doesn't mean they aren't serving a purpose.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
I’m curious if any of your veiled females nibbled on any other plants. While the Pothos are ravaged with bites, I don’t see any evidence that my girls have sampled the other plants.
Ramrod
Chameleon Enthusiast
I have a couple of bird nest ferns that get chomped on now and then and hibiscus that he won't touch. Think it is kind of a personal preference.
Pothos seems to be the plant they like best.
Curious though...why didn't the males ravage the pothos? Were the females looking for calcium?
@MissSkittles the leaves weren't just bitten...they were completely gone...just stems left.
Curious though...why didn't the males ravage the pothos? Were the females looking for calcium?
@MissSkittles the leaves weren't just bitten...they were completely gone...just stems left.
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Thatwizard420
Chameleon Enthusiast
To add to this, The blueberries seem to come out fully digested. I started feeding Blueberries when I met a local Veiled breeder, He had the chillest Cham ever. (ike you guys have no idea, Cham never flinched, changed colors, or seem uncomfortable with him being handled and touched etc.)
Breeder told me that his chams diet, consist Purely Of crickets and blueberries. When I asked him about supplementtion, he said he has never ever supplemented the food, just gutloaded the crcikets. He said his cham, Ralphie, was 9 years old. He showed me pics of his other 3 chams, 2 females, and another male. Male in pic was 7 YO, one female was also 7, the other which he said she had just passed away was 8 and he said she died laying a clutch of 80+ eggs. I personally believe this dude, but I will not do what he did, I just added Blueberries to his diet an he seems to be happy. For supplements, I still do it every feeding.
(I made a post about his home looking like a jungle and all 3 of his chams being free ranged.)
Unfortunately, I lost this doods number and haven't been able to contact him.
Breeder told me that his chams diet, consist Purely Of crickets and blueberries. When I asked him about supplementtion, he said he has never ever supplemented the food, just gutloaded the crcikets. He said his cham, Ralphie, was 9 years old. He showed me pics of his other 3 chams, 2 females, and another male. Male in pic was 7 YO, one female was also 7, the other which he said she had just passed away was 8 and he said she died laying a clutch of 80+ eggs. I personally believe this dude, but I will not do what he did, I just added Blueberries to his diet an he seems to be happy. For supplements, I still do it every feeding.
(I made a post about his home looking like a jungle and all 3 of his chams being free ranged.)
Unfortunately, I lost this doods number and haven't been able to contact him.
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Thatwizard420
Chameleon Enthusiast
Something I forgot to add was when I asked him why blueberries and how come he doesn't dust with calcium, He said Blueberries are high in Calcium, Low in phosphorus. I'm not sure what truth is there to that, but yeah.
