My veiled chameleon eating soil ?

[Julez666]

Just caught him eating soil from my plant pots ..... what should i do ?

 

[carol5208]

get some large river rocks and cover the soil up.

 

[DavidBuchan]

He was doing it deliberately? I know it happens, but I never saw any of mine eat soil on purpose. You should do as Carol says, and cover it up so he can't. Keep an eye on the next time he poops as well - make sure he's not impacted. What have you been feeding him on?

 

[Julez666]

Been feeding him locusts and crickets

Dusted in clacium , i will cover the soil up in due course , how do i tell if hes impacted , his poop is normal colour for poop sometimes abit white .

 

[carol5208]

if he becomes impacted, he will not be able to poop. Sometimes they maya not be able to use their back legs either.

 

[Julez666]

ok

Hes not impacted then his legs are fine and hes pooped . Why would he want to eat soil anyway ? There is food in there hes turned his nose up at lol decides he wants soil instead , or is he missing something he needs in his diet? Thanks for your advice.

 

[kinyonga]

It hasn't been proven as to why chameleons eat soil, but many of them seem to do it. Its thought that it might mean that something is missing from its diet. Lots of animals eat/lick soil in the wild to get things that they need from it. Some eat certain leaves from plants too, to self-treat parasites, etc.

 

[kinyonga]

Eating the soil likely doesn't hurt them unless there is something (fertilizer, little white pellets) in it that could hurt the chameleon or if it becomes impacted. The problem is that you aren't going to know if "your" soil can cause an impaction until it happens and then its very hard verging on impossible to treat.

 

[Julez666]

Thank you for your replys

I will cover the plant pots up tomorrow with some rocks , hope hes ok .

 

[kongchi]

I will cover the plant pots up tomorrow with some rocks , hope hes ok .

Not saying that eating soil is okay, but in nature, animals eat soil sometimes. Given if it's all natural soil, and he/she doesn't over indulge, I don't see what could be the problem.

Sebastian eats soi sometimes, and his son does too, not telling you to allow it, but I don't see a problem with it.

 

[ataraxia]

In the article kinyongia posted a while back. They found rocks in the stomachs of many chameleons. They suspected they are a natural anti parasitic of sorts. I wondered how could a chameleon know to do this. I first thought they are shooting prey and getting small rocks along with the bug. If it is true that they do in fact do it for an anti parasitic. It then brought up the question can they sense a up set stomach of sort. I personally think they are eating soil from the lack of a mineral but just maybe they can have an upset stomach. Who knows?

At any rate. i would read some of sandrachameleons blogs on gut loading and following a good supplement regiment. You can cover the soil or leave it be. just make sure it is clean with no additives. Along with this make sure your chameleon always receives proper hydration.

 

[Elizadolots]

It hasn't been proven as to why chameleons eat soil, but many of them seem to do it. Its thought that it might mean that something is missing from its diet. Lots of animals eat/lick soil in the wild to get things that they need from it. Some eat certain leaves from plants too, to self-treat parasites, etc.

I read that Brad Ramsey makes no effort to stop his chameleons from eating soil. Eating dirt is done by humans in some cultures and situations. It's a nutrient rich substance after all.

I think we tend to put a narrow human definition on "food". We stretch it a bit to include insects because that's so obvious.

As humans, we think of "wood" as "not food". But, in fact, many of us add wood fiber to our diets every day to help with regularity and cholesterol control (even weight loss). And some animals (including mammals like beavers) eat trees.

As has been noted, as long as the soil is "organic" it shouldn't really be a problem.

 

[Julez666]

update

Brought some nice BIG pebbles from the garden center to cover up the soil and another 5ft ficus plant looks good , hes now got more places to climb than you can shack a stick at , trouble is i can hardly see him at times theres so much foliage lol . He seems happy enough at the moment ill keep a eye on him , again thanks for all your responses and help you lovely people .

 

[Julez666]

reply to your post

In the article kinyongia posted a while back. They found rocks in the stomachs of many chameleons. They suspected they are a natural anti parasitic of sorts. I wondered how could a chameleon know to do this. I first thought they are shooting prey and getting small rocks along with the bug. If it is true that they do in fact do it for an anti parasitic. It then brought up the question can they sense a up set stomach of sort. I personally think they are eating soil from the lack of a mineral but just maybe they can have an upset stomach. Who knows?

At any rate. i would read some of sandrachameleons blogs on gut loading and following a good supplement regiment. You can cover the soil or leave it be. just make sure it is clean with no additives. Along with this make sure your chameleon always receives proper hydration.

I have heard of herbivours eating stones it helps break down the grass in their stomachs . Apparently you can catch seagulls with a small stone , if you wrap up a small stone in something they eat , throw it up in the air the seagull takes it on the wing and falls out the sky because it cant compensate for the extra weight instantly , so it drops from the sky . Then you can eat it lol....... N.B I have never tried this but have heard of it .