Eating own skin

[Savage]

He shed late yesterday - when I woke up (before his lights came on) i saw a big piece of shed skin hanging on the plants. I figure I would remove it when I spot clean/feed him in a hour. Well then I just looked over after writing the last post and saw him finishing off the shed skin - Is this normal?


VERY sorry for repost just found a previous post on the subject.

 

[Corruptedmuffin]

This is completely normal

 

[hallenhe]

I've actually never observed this with my chameleon, but see it all the time with my gecko. I've always wondered whether they actually get any nutrition from their own discarded skin, or if it's just a behaviour that evolved to evade predators (shed skin pieces would indicate the presence of the lizard; eat them up and there's nothing for a predator to find).

 

[panthercham]

Its normal.....I have 1 that eats his own shed. He seemed to do it more when he was younger and doesn't do it as often now, he will zap the odd bit here and there

 

[Miss Lily]

Lily never showed any interest in her shed skin. Amy, on the other hand, found hers to be quite a delicacy, lol! I saw her sitting on the edge of a flower pot happily zapping the skin off the bottom of the cage!

 

[chameleonman57]

Very normal for chameleons.

 

[Crazy Pet Lady]

May be an old wives tale, but I'm an old wife so.......they eat the skin sometimes because it contains many of the colorchange cells.....anyone else ever heard of this?

 

[nick barta]

Te eating of shed skin is not only common, but is the source for the skinhead varieties of reptiles...

Nick

 

[Kclarke02]

Reading this makes me feel better! I've read other reptiles will eat their own shedded skin and I've seen my Chloe do it a couple times now. It seems to be the leftover skin that's kinda hanging on. I figure it has to be itchy and annoying, otherwise maybe somewhat nutritious, not sure. Whatever works for her I guess...