Eating Hibiscus leafs

[RSGriff]

I recently switched from a pothos and a schefferella plant to a hibiscus. He never ate leaves before, but is now eating quite a bit of the hibiscus. Should I be concerned?



Cage Info:

* Cage Type - 5'x2'x2' screen
* Lighting - 5.0 linear tube, house light for basking in day, zoomed night light for basking
* Temperature - peak-82*, bottom- 68*, Night- 75* one thermometer at basking spot, random checks at bottom with meat thermometer
* Humidity - 60%, Gauge at back of cage
* Plants -Hibiscus in indoor cage. Pathos, Schefflera Arboricola in outdoor cage
* Placement - Kitchen, corner. Medium-low traffic (also have outside cage for nice days)
* Location - Northwest Ohio, Toledo Area


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Male, Veiled
* Handling - bi-daily
* Feeding - His current diet is 7-10 small crickets with calcium dust almost daily with reptive/d3 rarely and a few mealworms. crickets are loaded with carrot, cricket crack, flake fish food and flukers cube water stuff. (fishfood to be removed immediately)
* Supplements - reptive with D3, once and a while, w/o D3 daily
* Watering - Drip and pressure sprayer system. Dripper runs 24/7, Mists every 8 hrs for 3min. I witness him drink.
* Fecal Description - Dark brown moist fecal, white urate. Never tested (to my knowledge)
* History - Purchased 4/13, arrived 4/14 from Tiki

 

[luevelvet]

The only plant our meller's ate was a hibiscus. Branches an all! I believe certain varieties can potentially be dangerous, though I've never had any issues with the two varieties I use.

HTH

Luis

 

[jannb]

Eating the leaves should be fine but using the fish food in the gut load is not good. It can cause gout.

 

[RSGriff]

The only plant our meller's ate was a hibiscus. Branches an all! I believe certain varieties can potentially be dangerous, though I've never had any issues with the two varieties I use.

HTH

Luis

He seems really into it. Hes attacking it with his tongue, and I see at least 3 large bite marks out of the leaves.

Eating the leaves should be fine but using the fish food in the gut load is not good. It can cause gout.

Really? I read somewhere that it was a good thing for gutloading. Ill have to try to find where I read this and correct them.

 

[jannb]

My girl eats the flower....big time.

 

[Dunnigan]

Really? I read somewhere that it was a good thing for gutloading. Ill have to try to find where I read this and correct them.

Fish flakes and dog food. Anything with animal protein in it can cause gout.

 

[gary1621]

Torts seem to love this plant too

 

[Malicious]

My female Veiled eats the flowers more often then the leaves. The plant is edible for chameleons, and humans alike. In asian cultures the flowers are used to make tea and the leaves are cooked and consumed in the same manor we cook and eat spinich. The blooms supposedly contain high levels of antioxidents as well.


-Jay

 

[RSGriff]

My female Veiled eats the flowers more often then the leaves. The plant is edible for chameleons, and humans alike. In asian cultures the flowers are used to make tea and the leaves are cooked and consumed in the same manor we cook and eat spinich. The blooms supposedly contain high levels of antioxidents as well.


-Jay

I was thinking that it did look appetizing . I may have to try some hibiscus flower tea if he doesn't get to it all first.

 

[Zen Reptiles]

The Okinawan's are famous for drinking hibiscus tea (and also famous for their very long lifespans ), and it is often drank in the Middle East as an alternative to tea, as caffeine is labeled as a narcotic and prohibited by Islam, and it also acts as a relaxant/calming properties so it's great to have throughout the day to combat stress. I buy the dried red flowers from a health food shop and have a cup every day.

It gets a bit sour if you let it steep for too long, so either put just a few in there if you are going to leave them in (they sink to the bottom so it's fine to leave them in there longer), or just steep it for 30 seconds-1 minute if you are using them in a tea bag.

Hibiscus is used in a lot of commercial tea bags to give the tea a reddish color. The color literally leaches out and turns your tea a very deep, rich color.