Veiled male 6+ months ate vermiculite

[APailthorp]

My Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, male, 6+ months
Handling - Probably more than I should, daily for the last week. He doesn't like it.
Feeding - Horn and silk worms lately, seems to have lost interest in crickets and never seemed to see roaches at all.
Supplements - Rep Cal with and without D3. Calcium on most everything, with D3 twice a month, with multi once a month.
Watering - Mistking.
Fecal Description - Not tested for parasites yet, see below.
History - Spent months in the pet shop, arrived very small from Gourmet Rodent.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Screen, 18"x18"x36". To be replaced by Dragon Strand Large Breeder as soon as I get it, tomorrow I think.
Lighting - Quad HO T5 with Arcadia 6% UVB. 50w halogen spot, generic 65w flood. There's also a ceramic heat bulb pointed around the mid section of the cage to try and keep the temperature up.
Temperature - Ambient room temp is about 65. 70-85 in the cage, down to 60 at night.
Humidity - 40-60% typically, spikes to 99% then back to 80+ and gradually down after misting sessions, currently running 15 minutes total misting, in a single 5 then four 2 1/2 minute sessions.
Plants - Just a couple so far, a "Money Tree" and a small Pothos, as well as some plastic plants I try to set a drip on.
Placement - In the corner of our living room, away from windows, floor at about 26" above floor, top at 62".
Location - Seattle

Current problem - I didn't know that my plants had hazardous vermiculite, and I found a pea sized chunk in his poop Saturday. That reminded me I'd seen him snatch something from the base of a plant on Thursday, I hadn't thought of it at the time, I figured he'd found a wandering cricket, but later realized he might of thought he'd found a grub, and eaten vermiculite. Naturally I'm concerned about impaction. Since the first chuck he's pooped at least a little bit. Sunday and Monday I found grains of vermiculite, but no more chunks. Poop seemed to be just poop on Tuesday and Wednesday. There isn't a lot of it though, although that may be because since Thursday (coincidentally) I've had a shipment of horn and silk worms I've been treating him to. He seems enthusiastic about those, eating at least one horn and a couple of silk worms each day (I'm about out). I need to get him eating crickets again (not to mention roaches, whole 'nother story).

Yesterday, I gave him a "bath" as I understand it. I put a plant in the shower, set the shower to spray on the wall and bounce warm spray on the plant, then put Henri on the plant for about 20 minutes. He hung in there (small plant) closed his eyes and seemed relaxed (or just hanging on, hard to tell) but didn't reward me with fresh poop.

I took him to the vet today for the second time in three weeks; the first time was just a wellness check as a new animal and to get advice on what is probably a bone spur. She felt his gut and said she didn't feel anything, liked his level of activity (active but not aggressive), and recommended an extra misting a day (up to 5 from 4) and continued monitoring of poop. She said that he's passing any feces indicates no obstruction. So hopefully he's going to decide to gorge on crickets, make a nice big fecal pile for me to get a sample from for his parasite testing, and settle in.

 

[Carlton]

Sounds like he's OK. Now that you know about the vermiculite and maybe his desire for it you can prevent it in future. A top dressing of rocks too large for him to eat or a piece of windowscreen laid on top of the potting soil will help. Some chams never to try to dig up perlite/vermiculite and others keep trying.

 

[APailthorp]

Yes, river stone now top layer for any plants.

I searched this forum looking for other accounts of chameleons ingesting vermiculite, but didn't find any. From your reply I gather it is not unusual, and I've seen plenty of cautions about substrate. I just didn't consider an aggressive desire to get something small and white to eat.

Anyone have any other accounts of a chameleon consuming then passing vermiculite?

 

[Carlton]

Yes, river stone now top layer for any plants.

I searched this forum looking for other accounts of chameleons ingesting vermiculite, but didn't find any. From your reply I gather it is not unusual, and I've seen plenty of cautions about substrate. I just didn't consider an aggressive desire to get something small and white to eat.

Anyone have any other accounts of a chameleon consuming then passing vermiculite?

Yes. I had a male veiled who actively sought perlite in his plant pots. I suspect it was something he learned to do and once he did, it became a normal activity for him. When I let him roam the room he'd also shoot at shiny flecks of mica on the carpet. Too small to worry about though. He loved my Christmas cactus so I had to hide it just in case it was not safe for him to eat.

 

[APailthorp]

Yeah, I suspect Henri was spoiled at the pet store on meal worms, or maybe super worms. He sure goes for the horn and silk worms offered and seems to be holding out for more rather than shoot a cricket. I wonder how long it will take him to reconsider that strategy. Maybe not as long as it will take for me to panic and go fetch him another worm. Lizard brain wins.

 

[APailthorp]

Now that I have all the vermiculite out of the plants, he's eating dirt. For the larger plant I've laid in a bunch of medium river stones, but the smaller pots with the pothos spread all over still have dirt, which is apparently very appetizing.

I know he can find and use the cricket cup I set up for him, but it's been two days now and I think all he's eaten is dirt. There's a big horn worm running around, I know he's eaten those before, and a few roaches for good measure. And yet, dirt is on the menu. Just now I watched him hit it twice, with the horn worm in view.

I know others have said they won't starve themselves to death, but I'm wondering. If this boy isn't smart enough to stop eating dirt and start eating the bugs in his cage... maybe he's got a bad gene.

Or maybe he's just feeling weird since he's started a shed. I'm really looking forward to him eating regular...

 

[jajeanpierre]

Now that I have all the vermiculite out of the plants, he's eating dirt. For the larger plant I've laid in a bunch of medium river stones, but the smaller pots with the pothos spread all over still have dirt, which is apparently very appetizing.

I know he can find and use the cricket cup I set up for him, but it's been two days now and I think all he's eaten is dirt. There's a big horn worm running around, I know he's eaten those before, and a few roaches for good measure. And yet, dirt is on the menu. Just now I watched him hit it twice, with the horn worm in view.

I know others have said they won't starve themselves to death, but I'm wondering. If this boy isn't smart enough to stop eating dirt and start eating the bugs in his cage... maybe he's got a bad gene.

Or maybe he's just feeling weird since he's started a shed. I'm really looking forward to him eating regular...

When my male veiled first came to me, he pooped an amazing assortment of garbage for almost a week--bark the size of a normal poop, stones, more bark, twigs. When I put rocks in on top of the plants, he crunched down on them and I thought he was going to break his teeth. I put down bigger rocks. When out of his cage on a big hibiscus plant in the window, he crawled down to the pot and snapped up great globs of potting soil.

Your chameleon isn't the only one who eats dirt.

 

[APailthorp]

Your chameleon isn't the only one who eats dirt.

Good to know, thanks. So I guess it's a gene with some survival value.