Tomatoes - Oh Crap!

[Mael]

Lately my Male Veiled has been going on hunger strikes and not eating anything giving me no choice but to force feed him.

I woke up this morning and he was refusing food again so I decided to force him a Cherry Tomato as it was the only thing I had that was fresh from grocery shopping the night before.

Halfway to work I realized that I remembered reading Tomatoes are toxic to Chams!

I'm worried - has anyone else been in this kind of situation before and what happened?

 

[Hilikus311]

VET IMMEDITATLY

 

[Mael]

"Simply put if a plant is not on this list or one of the plants previously discussed then assume it is toxic until you can prove otherwise. For example even the common tomato is toxic. The fruit are not toxic but the plants leaves and stem are toxic. So in choosing plants be thorough it might just save your chameleons life."

PHEW.

I'm going to watch him when I get home.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I would advise against any force feeding in the future.
Particularly when there is no medical issue and definitely not a tomato.
Extreme situations call for force feeding. Healthy male veiled chameleons are often "off" their food for extended periods of time.
The animal will eat on it's own when it needs to.

-Brad

 

[Mael]

The force feed was vet ordered - he hasn't been himself and was not basking or moving for days at a a time.

How long is a "normal" time to be off food?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

How long is a "normal" time to be off food?

Hard to say. My male has gone several weeks without eating.
Is the ambient temperature in his enclosure cooler in winter?
They should be coming out of any winter brumation soon.
It is very soft, but mine are more lethargic and eat much less when the days are shorter and temps are cooler.

-Brad

 

[Mael]

Thanks Brad - that would probably be it. I just have to make sure he's actually basking and acting like normal. When he doesn't move for days to bask it really scares me. Is this common?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Again, in my experience this does not seem too unusual for this time of year.
As long as he is pooping, drinking and keeping his eyes open ... I wouldn't think anything is too wrong.
You could post a picture.

-Brad

 

[Eric Adrignola]

Tomatoes toxic to lizards? I never feed them tomatoes anymore, but I have done so in the past with no problems. I've heard various reports on this. I cannot find a single source that shows why tomatoes are toxic, excepting the "nightshade" avoidance groups.

Certainly there's not much reason for feeding them tomatoes.

Don't let them eat the leaves.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Tomatoes toxic to lizards? I never feed them tomatoes anymore, but I have done so in the past with no problems. I've heard various reports on this. I cannot find a single source that shows why tomatoes are toxic, excepting the "nightshade" avoidance groups.

Certainly there's not much reason for feeding them tomatoes.

Don't let them eat the leaves.

They are not "Toxic" they have really high levels of Vit A in them. The could potentially be dangerous if enough was consumed.

Thats why its not good to feed hornworms to Chams that have been feeding on Tomato plants.

 

[nicolie85]

Recently, my male veiled went on hunger strike for the first time (he is about a year old). I was really concerned, so I ordered some silkworms and mealworms. He would eat a few worms here and there (and yes the mealworms were feed about two at a time once a week only). Everyday I would still keep a few crickets in his feeding cup, just in case he felt he was ready to go off strike. After about three weeks, he was eating like normal again. It was such a relief to see his hunger come back. He was just doing the very normal chameleon hunger strike I guess .

 

[nicolie85]

Oh, and as far as tomatoes go, I wouldn't even feed them to my iguana. Any food that I can feed to my iguana, I figure is safe to feed my chameleon. I usually don't feed fruits, vegetables or greens to my chameleon directly, but I gut load his crickets with them.

According to the Green Iguana Society, tomatoes are safe to feed very very sparingly due to the high level of oxalates. The website states: "Many foods contain oxalates and phytates. It has been proven that they sometimes bind to calcium, inhibiting it from being properly used by the body." That is something that we as chameleon owners definitely want to avoid.

 

[honeywoods]

Hard to say. My male has gone several weeks without eating.
Is the ambient temperature in his enclosure cooler in winter?
They should be coming out of any winter brumation soon.
It is very soft, but mine are more lethargic and eat much less when the days are shorter and temps are cooler.

-Brad

This is exactly what our male veiled is doing right now. He hasn't eaten much at all for two weeks and scared the pants off us! A vet visit today has made us feel better...he said exactly what Brad is saying here.

 

[kinyonga]

The source of vitamin A in tomatoes is beta carotene and it DOES NOT build up in the chameleon's system. Its prOformed not prEformed.

Regarding tomatoes being toxic...the leaves and the stem are but the tomatoes shouldn't be. However they might be too acidic.

 

[blackbetty]

Leo has been slow to eat too. We are looking at 70 degree weather this weekend so Im hoping to get him in the sun!!

Why a tomato? Im just curious.. If force fed, I would assume ground up crickets or worms or something...

 

[dave101]

WHEW thanks a LOT for posting asbout tomatoes, now i know what not to get at the grocery store

 

[chamlover]

Nicolie85 i noticed you said you didn't give ANY greens to your chams but in your avatar you have a pic of a veil. All my veils eat greens from the time the are about a month old. Most veils LOVE GREEN and if not given any usually eat half your plants. i would consider giving it to them, some books on veils even say that up to 75% of their diet should come from greens.

Debby
Jungle Jewels Reptiles

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

The source of vitamin A in tomatoes is beta carotene and it DOES NOT build up in the chameleon's system. Its prOformed not prEformed.

Regarding tomatoes being toxic...the leaves and the stem are but the tomatoes shouldn't be. However they might be too acidic.

Thank you for that information. Very interesting.

 

[SoCaliSon]

I have fed slices to my Beardie. He goes crazy for them for some reason... He shows no side effects. But he has only had them once or twice. I am going to look for more reading on this now.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

The heavy load of oxalates in tomatoes and the possibility that that would inhibit proper calcium absorption is the reason not to use them.
Actual evidence of tomatoes causing a real problem in a reptile is (as far as I know) non-existent.
As always, I choose to play the safe card and keep them out of the mix.
As always, chameleon keeping dogma has made them deadly with no supporting research.
That last sentence is a bit harsh, but true. There are many shades of gray in this hobby and many people who paint with only black and white.
I believe that setting some parameters for new keepers can help them experience success, but I also believe there are many ways to, pardon the expression, "skin a cat".
I digress ... and should have made a new thread to make that point.
Bottom line is, you will have no problems with tomatoes ... if you don't use tomatoes.

-Brad