Eating Sticks????

[wacky22jacki]

Has anyone ever had a problem with their cham eating sticks?
He is a 8 month old panther - currently have fake vines in his enclosure but recently made him a huge outside enclosure - in that enclosure I have a mixture of fake vines and just regular sticks from my yard, well the past couple of days when he is out there he has been biting off parts of the sticks and trying to eat them!? He will eat them if I don't pull the stick out of his mouth - and I'm not talking about just little pieces he tries eating like 3-5 in long pieces! I am currently buying more fake vines to replace the sticks which he does bite on occasionally but he can't actually eat it - was wondering if this is normal behavior? and if anyone else ever had this problem with their cham?

 

[SaintJimmy]

I have heard (multiple times on here) of panthers chewing on sticks and trying to eat them. I think your solution is either find tougher sticks so you can prevent this on your end, and then maybe start using more fake fines or alive plants so if he eats it, it's like, a chunk of pothos vs. a hard long stick that could kill him.

Just my thoughts. Try to prevent this by getting thicker, less breakable sticks. They obviously aren't all that strong of sticks if a panther can simply bite the m off, to be honest. Get some bendy vines, pothos, ficus, something so that it won't hurt him if he eats it Or thicker sticks.

 

[Yowzercham]

Sticks

I would think that he is missing something. I would try a hibiscus plant in his cage and or springs of healthy greens to satisfy his urge to eat. Maybe he is just being a two year old..but take away undigestible, give him safe stuff...and make sure he has plenty of food available..and water.

 

[wacky22jacki]

Thanks for the replies - in his cage is multiple bendy vines and I have a huge hibiscus tree and schefflera plant in there - the sticks were just temporary until I got more vines but decided to keep a couple in there for something else for him to climb on, I will try definitely look for thicker sticks he simply cannot chew and will add lots more bendy vines for him !