chameleon eating some soil
- Thread starter Chamster
- Start date
CleaTheChameleon
New Member
Cover up your soil with big river rocks. Big enough so that the chameleon cant eat one. The reason they do this is maybe they arent getting enough minerals and it can lead to impaction which you dont want. Go and buy some big river rocks to cover up the soil in the plant
Lizardlover
New Member
True chameleons are just as prone to impaction as pygmys, yet we keep them on soil. He may not be getting the minerals he needs (try some sticky tongue indoor formula) but as long as the soil is organic dont worry about covering it.
CleaTheChameleon
New Member
Glad you agree and Danny you brought up a good point that i didnt even think about. That is if it is organic soil you dont need to cover it up.
Yes good idea you dont want him to get impaction, i had to cover the bottom of my plant with big river rocks a while back when i saw him eating dirt, but now i just have artificial plants so i dont have to worry about it no more.
CleaTheChameleon
New Member
Glad you agree but i do need to say that your chameleon would appreciate a nice live plant. not all artifical
Lizardlover
New Member
CleaTheChameleon
New Member
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
It's fine.
-Brad
-Brad
summoner12
Avid Member
It is fine for the cham to eat the soil if you have the right soil. if you don't have perlite or hard clumps hat can get him impacted, your finr.
When it comes to open patches of soil, I plant things like wandering jew and pothos in those spots. Both plants will fill out the bottom of the pots and there safe for your chameleon to eat. Im not a big fan of rocks so this is the method I use, but my chams still eat soil from time to time so I figure its fine. Oh and when it comes to planting those 2 all you need is to stick a 3-4inch cutting about 2inches in the soil. Do about 4-6 a pot and 2 months or so that stuff should be growing thick and long!
jojackson
New Member
Kev's right, but I want to add something for clarity, its particular matter, normal debris, such as bits of bark, commercial filler/aerators like perlite/vermiculite that nurserys add, small stones and the like that are the danger, equally so, chemical additives, like water penetration products and fertilisers. Not to mention cham poo.
Avoid those and soil eating is safe.
That said, yes, dirt does exist in the wild, whats unsaid is that chams (most, not all) dont spend so much time near the ground eating it, they move about up in the trees/shrubs etc, so eating soil, be deliberately or otherwise, just dosen't likely occure so much in the wild.
By contrast, in captivity, a lizards range is severely restricted (non free-range) with just a few feet of floor space in most cases, and an equally small area to roam.
Statistically, a captive lizard with a soil eating habit, will have far greater opportunity to do so with frequency than its wild counterpart.
Despite the fact that instinct works (in evolutionary terms), a lizard dosent always know whats best for it.
There has been no study of the effects of soil eating, in particular, doing so constantly, that Im aware of, with any species.
Over the long term, a diet of soil may indeed lead to problems with digestion/
nutrition (not just accumulative impaction, (not all soil types are so easily digested, clay for example)).
The more soil the lizard eats (instead of healthy insects), the less nutrition it gets over time.
A little common sense goes a long way. Balance in all things. Letting your lizard 'go nuts' on soil, because its finely sifted and no chemicals, is not nessesarily wise.
