Chameleon Eating Gecko

[RangoStar]

My veiled chameleon, Rango Star, ate a gecko! I know the species of gecko was a Mediterranean gecko. Are these known for carrying diseases? It doesn't seem to of clogged him, as his... pooping is still frequent, and it seems it has improved his energy, teeth, and muscle, as he has bulked up after consuming it. Should I be worried about parasites? And since it seems to of done him some good with all that protein and calcium, should I allow him to repeat it?
(I release my chameleon into my backyard usually once a day and allow him to roam up trees, chairs, etc, there are many geckos where I live)

 

[CarlC]

I wouldn't be feeding wild gecko's just because of the parasite concern. Yes chances are good the gecko has some sort of parasite.

Carl

 

[Saldarya]

Living in southern Louisiana myself, I can assure that it is very likely the geckos carry parasites as well as the other wild reptiles we have running around.

I covered this with a local vet and he was pretty detailed about the specific parasites he has dealt with due to this and as a result, I keep my chams in cages when they are outside.

Shoot me a PM if I can be of any help here in Louisiana.

 

[mhfan305]

When chameleons are in their natural environments, they eat other reptiles, they have parasites. Is the reason why chamleons eat other living things and dont die even though they are carrying something harmful is because the harmful things within the chameleons food source, lets say a gecko, is from that chameleons natural habitat? Or does this actually shorten the life span of that chameleon that has eaten the gecko carrying the harmful parasite even though its from the same habitat?

 

[RangoStar]

^Thanks, good to know you live here too, and know what I'm talking about! Thanks for the heads up, will have to watch him more out here.

 

[Saldarya]

When chameleons are in their natural environments, they eat other reptiles, they have parasites. Is the reason why chamleons eat other living things and dont die even though they are carrying something harmful is because the harmful things within the chameleons food source, lets say a gecko, is from that chameleons natural habitat? Or does this actually shorten the life span of that chameleon that has eaten the gecko carrying the harmful parasite even though its from the same habitat?

Chameleons in the wild certainly do carry parasites as you suggest and some sources of those may be the food they eat. That being said, in the wild there is a 'healthy' balance if you will of said parasites and the natural foods they eat, natural environment, etc that allows them to deal with it.

In captivity, we need to reduce all risk that we can as they do not have those optimal environments to help deal with it.

 

[fluxlizard]

When chameleons are in their natural environments, they eat other reptiles, they have parasites. Is the reason why chamleons eat other living things and dont die even though they are carrying something harmful is because the harmful things within the chameleons food source, lets say a gecko, is from that chameleons natural habitat? Or does this actually shorten the life span of that chameleon that has eaten the gecko carrying the harmful parasite even though its from the same habitat?

Most species live much longer in terraria than they do in the wild, provided they are terrarium born and bred and have good care.

It is tough being a wild chameleon, and parasites are a big reason why- I used to buy groups of panther chameleons from an importer before they were bred all the time and before numbers were limited (what ever happened to moroansetra and sambava morphs by the way?). At a certain time of the year, nearly all the panthers that came in were very heavily parisitized.

At the time published reports were that many species popularly imported have pretty short wild lifespans- 1 or 2 years.

 

[kgallego]

Living in southern Louisiana myself, I can assure that it is very likely the geckos carry parasites as well as the other wild reptiles we have running around.

I covered this with a local vet and he was pretty detailed about the specific parasites he has dealt with due to this and as a result, I keep my chams in cages when they are outside.

Shoot me a PM if I can be of any help here in Louisiana.

That's some good mud bug country