Live plants or no?

[Veiled1996]

Hi,
I recently purchased new fake plants for my cham, Liz, she normally just hides in and on them. However, one of them, she started biting and pulling the leaves like she wanted to eat them. I've read that they will sometimes eat plants, but I'm not sure if I should put live plants in her cage or not. If I should, what's easy and nutritious and how do I go about doing it?

 

[Veiled1996]

This is liz, I'm not sure how old but shes a veiled.

 

[JacksJill]

Pothos is a great plant that is inexpensive and can take a beating.

 

[AnamCara]

Yes real plants. Just make sure they're not toxic.

 

[Tihshho]

IMHO it depends on your Cham. Some cham's are more than content with fake plants, but you just have to make sure that the cham's are not eating or trying to eat the synthetic material. In other cases, some cham's just prefer any cover they are provided. One of my female's happens to love her fake vined plant and gets upset when I try to replace it with a real plant. Luckily for me she doesn't try to eat the plant.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!

Since veiled females eat plants like crazy as a rule I would get rid of the fake ones and the moss before you end up with an impacted chameleon. Make sure the real plants are non toxic and washed (both sides of the leaves) before putting them in the cage. Make sure the soil is covered by stones that are definitely too big for her to ingest too.

Do you know that veiled females can produce eggs without having mated too...so they need a lay bin in the cage at all times once they get their adult colours. I would use a playsand produced by kings for allay in substrate...because they also eat soil and sand.

 

[Gingero]

I know of a chameleon that passed away from eating fake leaves. So I would strongly recommend switching to live plants. Not mention they help with humidity levels

Here is a video that walks you through what plants are safe, where to get them, and how to go about preparing them before putting them in an enclosure.