I let my Dwarf Fischers go free range every now and then. Recently I noticed she was biting the calcium buildup from the edge of a flower pot. I freaked out a little and pulled her away and put her back in her enclosure. I was worried she would get either too much or too big of a piece. Then I thought that in the wild, maybe she would do something similar. So now I'm thinking she nay not be getting enough calcium from the dusted crickets. I know she shouldn't get "too much" calcium, but I wonder if she will just quit biting it off the pot when she's had enough. What do you all think? By the way, she bit it 3-4 times and then walked away and went up to the top of the planter. So it appears she isn't hogging out on it. This calcium is from our very hard water, which is filtered prior to watering the plants. It seems to me that it would be clean and safe. It made me think of when I had a Budgie (Parakeet) a long time ago, and I'd put a Cuttlebone in the cage. The bird would bite and scrape away at the Cuttlebone in order to get it's calcium supply. The birds always quit when they had enough. So I'm thinking my little girl cham is practicing safe calcium consumption. I'd appreciate any feedback on this.
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
What are your gutload and dust ingredients? Schedule? I'm not sure we know if a cham does chew mineral deposits if it has a deficiency or not. They do get attracted to odd things though. I had a veiled who roamed my carpets shooting at bits of mica (unless he thought the sparkly was a water droplet). Others report that chams seem to like perlite in potting soil.
The crust on the pot may also have residues from potting soil fertilizers. Hard to say if it will harm your cham, but because its a species sensitive to oversupplementation I think I'd start scrubbing the crust off periodically just in case. You can scrub it off pretty easily with vinegar then rinse. You could wash your pots with distilled or RO water to keep the crust under control too.
The crust on the pot may also have residues from potting soil fertilizers. Hard to say if it will harm your cham, but because its a species sensitive to oversupplementation I think I'd start scrubbing the crust off periodically just in case. You can scrub it off pretty easily with vinegar then rinse. You could wash your pots with distilled or RO water to keep the crust under control too.
I gutload with a variety of fresh veggies from my garden, and I amazed that small crickets (< 1/2") eat some veggies completely. I use carrots, green beans, collards, alfalfa, and apples. I also drop in a Flukers Orange each day. If I bring home any other fruits or veggies I'll add some of them as well. For dusting I use Flukers Calcium with D3.
sandrachameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
not that it has anything to do with the question you are asking, but do you use a calcium/mineral product that doesn't have vitamins in it?
Ive never heard of a cham scraping mineral deposits off a pot like birds do. but that doesn't mean its not possible
Ive never heard of a cham scraping mineral deposits off a pot like birds do. but that doesn't mean its not possible
