Fertilizer... Yum

[AdventuringChameleon]

Hey Everyone!
So Mowgli has gotten into this great habit of going down to the bottom of his umbrella plant to snatch up a little piece of fertilizer from the soil. We have some spanish moss over the top of the soil to try and cover it up and deter him, but sometimes he even will go for the fertilizer under the spanish moss and end up eating the moss instead. We've been trying to run over to the cage and stop him when we see him doing it, but it's not like he's going to be trained by us doing that. We want to put in another pothos vine, too, but there's even more openings for him to get at the fertilizers. Other than this bad habit he eats crickets and worms that we gutload every other night, so we think he's generally pretty healthy.

Here's a picture of him we took the other day:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/106594926@N05/13572999773/

Do you guys have any ideas or experience in regards to covering up the soil without killing the plant and allowing water down into it? For some reason Mowgli LOVES the fertilizer and we can't be watching him 24 hours a day. Thanks!

 

[SaintJimmy]

Big rocks. That is the only option when you're preventing them from eating everything.

 

[AdventuringChameleon]

That actually seems pretty obvious now that you say it... Thanks!

 

[Mike Fisher]

Couple questions: Why is there granulated fertilizer in the enclosure? Are you dusting feeders with a calcium supplement?

 

[spottea]

You can also buy this plastic mesh stuff from Joann's for a couple of dollars. Just cut it to fit the pot, and add a few holes for the plants. It will allow water through, and your cham can even stand on it. Place it on top of the rocks. It will also catch bugs, and poop! Easily washable.

 

[AdventuringChameleon]

The fertilizer was mixed in with the soil of the plant we bought for him. We considered getting some other soil without fertilizer to cover the other soil, but the rocks and potentially the mesh seem better because they catch crickets and poop more effectively. And we do lightly dust his feeders with a calcium supplement daily. The past two weeks he hasn't been eating as much for some reason (maybe 4 crickets and 2 superworms a day as opposed to 10 crickets a day), so that may have something to do with him eating the fertilizer. He drinks regularly, though, has very healthy looking poops, and his eyes and casque look healthy and aren't sunken, so we aren't too concerned about his health. ...unless of course you guys think we should be haha

 

[misshissingroaches]

Yeah, the plastic mesh stuff is usually labeled as a "plastic canvas" but I would probably use wire mesh and tape the edges so they are not sharp.

 

[whitruss]

what kind of fertilizer you use in your plants?

 

[Mike Fisher]

The fertilizer was mixed in with the soil of the plant we bought for him. We considered getting some other soil without fertilizer to cover the other soil.

I'd put a thick layer of peat moss on top, or re-pot it altogether. Landscape fabric works too but the aesthetics are not as nice. The layer of big rocks is nice looking but a bit harder to clean. Any one of those will work, but I'd try to figure out why the fertilizer is so attractive to him. They don't usually eat substrates unless their diet is missing something.

 

[Thegreatfonz]

I've had this problem and fixed it by buying the window screening they sell at lowes or home depot and just cut out a large square piece, cut a line down the middle of it without completely separating it. Then wrap it around the top of the plant and zip tie the two sides together. It still allows the water to pass through and my boy's stopped eating the dirt that he used to obsess over so much.
Also you should have repotted the plant you use in his enclosure you may not have proper drainage for the plant and could lead to root rot. I'd suggest using organic potting soil as well.

 

[AdventuringChameleon]

So we got some weed cloth from home depot and put it in there nice and snug and gave the pot a solid cleaning. Seems like it will work great! The crickets can't get down into the plant any more and it definitely covers up the soil well. Mowgli ate 10 crickets today and then we hand fed him one more so he seems quite alright.