Urgent post! Is the Boston Fern really safe?

[BabyYoda]

Hello everybody! I'm new to the community, but have been reading the forums for quite a while. I have a 7 month old Male Veiled Chameleon named Baby Yoda, and it was an awfully close call when he was chomping away in his live plants section today. Although the plant is not toxic to our little friends, I think the thin vine like branches that holds the leaves may pose a serious danger for impaction or other digestive issues. The Boston Fern has always been one of my Cham's favorite live plant to eat. (& favorite spot to hover above and give me the "Now gib food , or go away you will" look.) Today, I was watching tv and heard a repeated thud in B.Y's enclosure, I got up and checked him out and he had a piece of the Fern vine like stem about 2 inches long hanging out of his mouth, and was having trouble trying to spit it out. He stood still and just closed his eyes as I reached and grabbed it, I gave it a quick pull and to my surprise another 4 INCHES of vine came out. He bit down and tried to yank the vine from me at the very end when I was pulling it out, but I couldnt believe how long this thing was and cant imagine what I could have walked into if I wasnt home to catch it. Usually, he just yanks the leaves off of the stem. But this time he yanked the whole stem with the leaves off and swallowed it. Has anybody else had any similar issues with their Chams with the Boston Fern? I've never had any problems with impaction with my Chameleons and this was a big scare for me. I wasnt able to snap a picture because it was all spur of the moment, but attached is a picture of one of the branches of the plant that he snapped while yanking (soil is uncovered because it is out of the enclosure & going into the green room for now) to give some perspective. Any further insight is welcomed & needed!

 

[janjan20]

Welcome! Yikes! Never seen this before and kind of unfortunate because the ferns are beautiful! IMHO I would remove the plant just due to paranoia! Lol But you may be able to trouble shoot this problem. Where is the plant situated? Is it the main one he hides in? Do you have any other edible plants he can munch on?

 

[BabyYoda]

Welcome! Yikes! Never seen this before and kind of unfortunate because the ferns are beautiful! IMHO I would remove the plant just due to paranoia! Lol But you may be able to trouble shoot this problem. Where is the plant situated? Is it the main one he hides in? Do you have any other edible plants he can munch on?

Good morning JanJan! I do have a small variety of other live plants that include 2 pothos plants, and a ficus tree on the bottom (still smaller & growing) attached is a picture of the hangar the Boston Fern gets placed (when not in quarantine due to my anxiety lol) B.Y's basking spot is where the cham is located in the pic as of now, he starts to venture out after a few hours under the lamp in the morning. The light seen near where the Boston Fern would be placed is just a 2nd UVB lamp without the heat light. I have him in an 80in×32in enclosure so he has plenty of room to move around and hide as needed. He seems to be perked up today, (its Hornworm Friday and I swear he knows it ) but I am still wary about the Boston fern being in the enclosure. I was thinking it may be wise to hold off on putting it back in until it gets a bit bigger with stronger branches. I will keep an extremely close eye on him when that time does come.

 

[janjan20]

That’s a good idea, maybe after not seeing it for a while he may lose interest and munch on other plants. Once it grows large enough you can put it back in and see what happens.