Eating Dirt...
- Thread starter trd1215
- Start date
Lizardlover
New Member
1. you should cover it with large rocks.
2. I dont think its good.
3. They normally do that when they are looking for vitamins/minerals they arent getting enough of.
2. I dont think its good.
3. They normally do that when they are looking for vitamins/minerals they arent getting enough of.
jannb
Chameleon Enthusiast
My veileds like to eat dirt. I think they might need some sort of mineral that comes from the dirt. I bought some large river rocks to put in the tops of my plants or cut some screen or plastic to lay in the top. A little dirt want hurt them but too much could cause impaction. Jann
Miss Lily
Chameleon Enthusiast
It can cause impaction, plus there may be harmful chemicals in the soil too. Most people repot the plants using organic soil, then cover the soil with stones/pebbles (too big for the cham to eat) so that they cannot eat the soil. All chams are different though, Lily never ate any plants or soil, but Amy eats anything and everything so I cover the soil in my plant pots with stones. Better to be safe than sorry.
Jerm
Avid Member
It's amazing, some people on here can't get their chameleon to eat, others have a problem with them trying to eat too many things. I have witnessed a couple of my pardalis on the ground eating dirt and have heard others say that theirs have too. No one really knows why, problably an instinct to fullfill some need of theirs. Like the other guys said, if you don't want them to do it just cover the dirt. I personally haven't notice any health issues that were caused by this but you never know.
xanthoman
Avid Member
people have been arguing this one since the begining of cham keeping , you might try OCCASIONALLY supplementing with miner-all, just in case its a trace deficiency thing, one thing for sure, its an impaction risk (especially when perlite or vermiculite is involved) and should be discouraged
Fearaffect
Avid Member
I talked to Chameleon Company about this sometime ago, and he said that this is natural and that he adds calcium substrate or rocks(not sure what it was)into his plant pots for the Chams to eat. He doesnt see anything wrong with them eating a little dirt now and then and hasnt had an impaction problem yet.
I have 2 Chams that eat the branches I put in their cages(the reason I called him that day) and thats when he explained it to me.
As long as nothing poisones(sp?) in the substrate and not to big, its ok
I have been keeping reptiles since I was 15 and I haven't had a problem yet with substrate(other then a little mold from over watering)........seems people with Chams r just overly cautious on the stuff.........
I have 2 Chams that eat the branches I put in their cages(the reason I called him that day) and thats when he explained it to me.
As long as nothing poisones(sp?) in the substrate and not to big, its ok
I have been keeping reptiles since I was 15 and I haven't had a problem yet with substrate(other then a little mold from over watering)........seems people with Chams r just overly cautious on the stuff.........
Malicious
New Member
Chameleons eat dirt perhaps to make up for a lack of certain minerals and vitamins. Fonzie eats dirt from time to time. I don't worry about it. I would guarantee they consume dirt at one or another in the wild.
You can cover your dirt up with rocks or even moss, as many keepers do. I leave it as just plain organic soil, and havent seen it to be an issue.
-Jay
You can cover your dirt up with rocks or even moss, as many keepers do. I leave it as just plain organic soil, and havent seen it to be an issue.
-Jay
dodolah
Retired Moderator
the lack of nutritious gutload material you are providing for your cricket (oatmeal and potato are not enough, imho) can be one of the reason why your chameleon felt the need to experiment with dirt.
Try to diversify the gutload regiment and provide more nutritious food; you'll see that he might start lessening his appetite in soil. my chameleons do occasionally eat dirt in the past (and I let them).. once I concentrate on providing the nutritious feeders for him, I see the behavior gradually decrease.
Now, none of my chams seem to bother with dirt anymore..
So, in agist, let supplements do its supposed job, which is as an addition to the primary source of vitamin, minerals, and whatever beneficial for the chameleon's body. Try not to rely heavily on supplementation as the source of nutrition for your chameleon.
There are many food items you can offer to your chameleon.. such as:
Apple, Kale, dandelion greens, collards, carrot, spirulina, bee pollen, etc etc..
You can even eat them first and give the scraps to your crix. I know I eat most of the apples and let the crix and my roaches eat the core
Try this tip.. even when it fails, it still give huge benefit for your chameleon.
Try to diversify the gutload regiment and provide more nutritious food; you'll see that he might start lessening his appetite in soil. my chameleons do occasionally eat dirt in the past (and I let them).. once I concentrate on providing the nutritious feeders for him, I see the behavior gradually decrease.
Now, none of my chams seem to bother with dirt anymore..
So, in agist, let supplements do its supposed job, which is as an addition to the primary source of vitamin, minerals, and whatever beneficial for the chameleon's body. Try not to rely heavily on supplementation as the source of nutrition for your chameleon.
There are many food items you can offer to your chameleon.. such as:
Apple, Kale, dandelion greens, collards, carrot, spirulina, bee pollen, etc etc..
You can even eat them first and give the scraps to your crix. I know I eat most of the apples and let the crix and my roaches eat the core
Try this tip.. even when it fails, it still give huge benefit for your chameleon.
the lack of nutritious gutload material you are providing for your cricket (oatmeal and potato are not enough, imho) can be one of the reason why your chameleon felt the need to experiment with dirt.
Try to diversify the gutload regiment and provide more nutritious food; you'll see that he might start lessening his appetite in soil. my chameleons do occasionally eat dirt in the past (and I let them).. once I concentrate on providing the nutritious feeders for him, I see the behavior gradually decrease.
Now, none of my chams seem to bother with dirt anymore..
So, in agist, let supplements do its supposed job, which is as an addition to the primary source of vitamin, minerals, and whatever beneficial for the chameleon's body. Try not to rely heavily on supplementation as the source of nutrition for your chameleon.
There are many food items you can offer to your chameleon.. such as:
Apple, Kale, dandelion greens, collards, carrot, spirulina, bee pollen, etc etc..
You can even eat them first and give the scraps to your crix. I know I eat most of the apples and let the crix and my roaches eat the core
Try this tip.. even when it fails, it still give huge benefit for your chameleon.
Thanks for the help and information...I will certainly try it.
Chameleon Company
Avid Member
There is no basis for the above advice, no studies, etc. Point number three is pure conjecture. Cover the ground with rocks ? Like the jungle ground is covered with rocks ?
My experience working with many thousands of chameleons is that eating of dirt, bark, leaves, etc., is not to address a "deficiency", unless we want to classify eating bugs as addressing a deficiency, as if being hungry isn't a good enough reason ! Chameleons obtain necessary minerals, roughage, etc., from this behavior. It is not a reaction to a deficiency, rather just a normal seeking of added minerals and other needs. It is important that you keep your dirt natural, as noted (no perlite, etc) and clean (remove feces daily, replace top layer once weekly) but all this other milarkey about it being a bad behavior, or to be avoided, is not supported anywhere, anyhow, anyway. What is supported is that it is a natural behavior, and that you should in fact enable it.
jannb
Chameleon Enthusiast
He also needs d3 about twice a month
Fearaffect
Avid Member
Thanks for "joggin" my memory on what we talked about....lol
carbyville
Member
This is an old old thread but I just caught Claudia eating the dirt from her ficus tree and I flipped out. Straight to Google I went and it led me back here lol. Seems like this is a common, even normal, thing for chams to do. My soil is all natural, but my worry was about impaction which I see doesn't seem to be an issue, either. God Bless this forum! Haha.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
Jim, I agree with you about there being no evidence that eating dirt is to address some supposed nutritional/mineral deficiency. Birds in the Amazon basin fly for miles around to eat at the clay licks. For years they believed they were after some mineral in the clay. Only now are they discovering that the birds were after salt. Maybe there is a lot of salt build up in the soil in potted plants.
I don't think you can equate substrate or dirt in a chameleon's 5 cubic foot cage to the jungle envioronment. Many chameleons in the wild will not even come near the ground. Who knows, maybe it is stereotypic behavior caused by the stress of captivity.
It is not without risk, albeit, to only a few. When I bought on of my veileds, he spent three days pooping stool made up of rocks and bark held together by mucus. Some of the pieces he passed were the size of a normal stool. I've seen him climb down a tree to snap up a great clod of dirt. When he first arrived, he would bite the rocks, making this really awful grating sound--I was sure he broke some teeth. I cover his potted plants but not the others.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
Sheesh. I read through the whole thread and didn't notice it was 6 years old.
