chameleon eating soil?

so i just put a small live ficus in my panthers cage today and i covered the soil with river rocks to prevent him from getting to the soil. as i watched him, he moved the rocks with his feet and mouth and then tried to eat the soil. i have since moved the plant out of the enclosure and am not really mad at him or anything but has anybody els had this problem with chams doing this?

Hi!,
yep, all mine have munched on soil at some point or another.
I believe it is just a natural occurence and as long as there isnt anything that can cause impaction, its ok.
Everyday I watched Krunch go to the bottom of his enclosure, move a rock or 2, grab a little soil and come back up.
I will say I have noticed to has come to a halt since I started the Repashy All in One.
In my animal husbandry experience, both my horses and dogs have done this as well. I think it may be a missing mineral in their diet, but that is just my own observation.

So as long as you see healthy poop, keep the plant with the rocks on top in your cage. The other thing I did was add washed sand under the rocks, it helped with the gnats, not sure if they dont like the grit

I have had several of mine do this in the past as well. I also am not sure why they do it but they have all been healthy so I just took at as something they like to do!