Exo-Terra Jungle vines safe if eaten?

[tiga]

We are new to this site, and i am new to owning a chameleon, although my gf has had two others. We've noticed that there seem to be some very knowledgeable people on this forum who may be able to give some insight on our situation.
Are veiled Chameleon Tiga, is 5 months old roughly. and seems to be starting to get interested in plant life for eating. Last week i witnessed her trying to eat some fake ficus leaves we have in our 65 gallon flexarium. So we went out and got her a real ficus for our cage, which she seems to be enjoying, and also trying to take bites out of.
But tonight i noticed she was also trying to take bites off the rubber of some of the exo-terra jungle vines we placed in our cage. I don't know for sure if she actually ate it, but we are pretty worried she might have. i am hoping it wouldn't be toxic to her, and have recently sent a email to exo-terra to verify that. but don't know how long that will take to be awnsered. hoping someone might have some knowledge of it will be safe.
She seems fine so far, still quite active. It seems quite odd i've placed some lettuce and other vegetables in her cage. And we don't feel it's a lack of feeding, she usually eats 10 - 20 crickets|and\or worms a day. We also try to feed her a wide variety of food, such as pinheads(dusted with calcium, and vitamin supplement), waxworms, mealworms, pheonix worms, the odd silkworms, and sometimes as a treat a small horned worm. And as far as we know seems to be a healthy eater. So we don't know what would cause this behaviour. Any help would be appreciated.
i will also attach some pictures of the cage and vines she bit into.

Two worried chameleon owners

 

[BocaJan]

I would give her some fruits and veggies to munch on, especially the leafy variety. Kale is quite healthy for chams. My vieled females get a little dish of kale and small pieces of strawberries, apples and grapes, whatever I have on hand. You can lay pieces of kale on the branches or between the vines and skewer the fruit on some branches. I have some little bowls I use as feeding dishes or plastic covers from yogurt containers, anything you can wedge between something to hold your "salad". If you give her some good things to eat she won't want the stuff that isn't good. BTW, if you have any open dirt ini your plant be sure to cover it up with river rock or she might go down and try eating the dirt. Did you wash the ficus really well, including the roots to wash off all the fertilizer and bits of styrofoam they put in the soil before putting it in her cage? If she is eating the leaves you want to make sure that you have washed off the chemicals they spray on the plants before selling them.

Veiled females are known to be munchers so enjoy. There should be others that can give you more veggie ideas but it is 2:33am here and I'm going to bed. LOL Can't think any more.

 

[tiga]

thanks for the advice, yea i know it's late we were just worried about the rubber being dangerous so thought we ask now instead of waiting. yes we washed our ficuses leaves very well with water, and we bought it from probably the best greenhouse in our province, the people who sold it to me said that they washed it as well when they get them, and the dirt apparently is unfertilized , but she still wouldn't give us a 100% guarantee that nothings ever been used on it before they got it. We like the idea of the rocks though to be cautious.

 

[Julirs]

Put some dishliquid soap and warm water in a large container and dunk the plant, swish it around, then rinse well-repeat! This washes off the fertilizers. I swear there is something addictive in those Exoterra vines! They are non-toxic, but the danger of impaction is very real if biting off large chunks. I have a handful of chams that do that, and I am always checking the vines to see what they might pull off.
I would remove all of the substrate (looks like coconut fiber) from your cage. A bare cage floor is best. If your chameleons are 5 months old-it is time to separate them.

 

[BocaJan]

Good point Julirs. I would definately get taller cages. Chams live in treetops and the higher they are the better.

 

[Lizardlover]

Yeah, Julirs said the vine thing, but as far as fruits and veggies, my chameleons enjoy carrots and grapes, but grapes are high in sugar so use them sparingly

 

[tiga]

Glad to hear it is not toxic. Tiga was quite active today hunting down food and exploring her cage, so are worries subsided a bit. We only have one cham for right now. but thanks if we get another we will definitly get another cage.
I didn't know it was better without the substrate, why is that? Today i actually saw her walking on the ground for a minute, i think looking for crickets.

About the size of the cage. We actually just upgraded from a smaller glass one, as this is what the people at pj's pets told me would be good for her, and later realized it wasn't. i was going to just buy the 260 gallon exoterra one thnat another pet store had, but thought it might be a bit to big for her right now. maybe i'll pick it up for the future seeing as i heard they have been discontinued, and there is only one left in stock.

 

[Lizardlover]

Substrate is a big no-no, if you cham misses a cricker they could ingest the substrate and get impacted, if i were you i would remove it. It is also a breeding ground for bacteria

 

[MutantHybrid]

Best bet is not to use plastic and fabric plants. I have seen reports of chameleons breaking off the fake leaves and swallowing them, which would lead to impaction and death as well. I have taken to using all real plants in my chameleon cage and feeding her plenty of fruits and vegetables. They love apples too, but feed only a couple bites at a time as they will only really get moisture from them.

 

[tiga]

Thanks for the advice i never even thought of the substrate being dangerous. We are definitely going to take it out. So just a bare bottom on the mesh you think would be good enough? As far as the the fake plastic trees, we are going to consider taking them out to. i would just like to see how our first real plant does. i've noticed quite a few of it's leaves are dying or falling off. Unfortunately we live in a basement suite in chilli canada, therefor we do not have a great place to put the cage that would receive enough sunlight. so we bought an exoterra repti glo 10.0 linear fluorescent bulb, along with a 100 W sun glo halogen neodymium lamp. you think that will be enough for the plants?

 

[Drone]

... i was going to just buy the 260 gallon exoterra one thnat another pet store had, but thought it might be a bit to big for her right now. maybe i'll pick it up for the future seeing as i heard they have been discontinued, and there is only one left in stock.

wouldn't worry, these are always available, I use something similiar
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...een/-/24-x-24-x-48-inch-aluminum-screen-cage/

 

[Lizardlover]

tiga, no not bare, just paper towels or something to absorb the mistings and make poop cleaning easier

 

[Chamaeleoeo]

looks like you have a water fall in there also. huge no no, is a breeding ground for bacteria that can prove fatal, and the fact they usually will defecate in the water...so take that out asap!!!!!

 

[tiga]

thanks again for all the advice. I will taking the substrate out once I get home from work. I've noticedshe has been walking on the substrate quite a bit lately is that normal? I will be taking the waterfall out as well , never even thought it might be dangerous and she does like drinking from it, but she also likes drinking from the misted leaves, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Ryan

 

[Fred]

live plants

You can buy a light specific for growing plants at the hardware store, they are not real bright and don't produce much heat and are safe to use over your viv. We got ours from home depot- its a linier flouresent tube type light. Ask anyone in the plant dept of a local store they should be able to point u in the right direction, just tell them what ur looking for, (grow light for indoor plants in cham viv)