Our four month old veiled chameleon who is relatively new into our care is eating dirt! We got him a ficus tree to be on when he is outside the enclosure and he has a new habit of climbing down the trunk to the pot where he shoots his tongue out and eats some dirt. He does it then tries to do it again but by the second attempt I usually have a hand blocking his view. He has also tried to eat dead leaves from the bonsai that we let him play on. He currently eats about 10 crickets a day along with some organic kale which he seems to love. Is this reason to worry or is he just exploring?
Eating Dirt
- Thread starter Benny2202
- Start date
jpowell86
Chameleon Enthusiast
I have always believed this behavior to be exploratory. With that being said, I still prevented these explorations. You should get some large stone(pingpong ball size) to cover the dirt around the base of the ficus. I would also just make sure that the leaves from the bonsai are picked up prior to him being near it...especially depending on what kind of bonsai it is. It could be toxic to the little guy.
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
I am not convinced that anyone knows why some chameleons do this. Some believe that they are lacking nutrients or minerals in their diets, so they try and supplement it with eating dirt, sand, or other materials they are exposed to. I don't know if there is any concrete proof or evidence of this, but it could be a possiblity. Do you use a multivitamin at all?. That being said, as jpowell stated, you could cover up the base of the plant pot with large rocks. I use the riverrocks you can buy at Home depot or Lowes.
Benjlan
Member
I have a hibiscus tree in my enclosure that gets a lot of water due to the misting system. The soil gets little tiny gnats and newly hatched crickets in it.I believe my guy is shooting at these. I do supplements as recommended by the care sheets and he eats superworms, crickets, dubia, and whatever else I can find.
Sheac88
Member
I have read a few other threads on this topic and noticed my cham do this once or twice. Covering with rocks can inhibit the chams natural behavior. If he's eating a bit of soil, then there is a reason. We obviously don't know the reason for sure. We can speculate all we want, but the best thing to do in this situation is let him do what he does naturally. Also, be sure that you are using organic soil in your potted plants with no pesticides or added fertilizers.
LindsayG
Avid Member
I can understand wanting to let them do what is natural to them but not if it can potentially harm them. We do our best to make things as natural as possible but sometimes it's better to take protective/preventative measures to make sure nothing bad happens to our precious chams.
