Turner1986
Established Member
I have a umbrella plant and a golden pothos in my males cage. I saw him trying to eat the dirt in the pothos plant so i coveres the soli top in marbles. How good should these work and are they ok to use?
Covering Soil with Marbles
- Thread starter Turner1986
- Start date
Psychobunny
Avid Member
I wouldnt use anything colorful or flashy. That will catch his eye, and make him more curious.
melble68
Established Member
Last time I played with marbles, one made its way unknowingly into my nose. You should keep them away from me and your cham. 
Definitely not the best of options to use. Lowes / Home Depot both have normally a couple of options to choose from. I personally think the black polished river rocks look incredible, but they have a pretty big price tag. I typically use the $5 a bag stuff and hand pick the bigger to medium sized pebbles. Left overs of the bag, I used as bottom of the pot filler when I re-plant for better drainage.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-0...dscape-Rock-440916/202257793#customer_reviews
Definitely not the best of options to use. Lowes / Home Depot both have normally a couple of options to choose from. I personally think the black polished river rocks look incredible, but they have a pretty big price tag. I typically use the $5 a bag stuff and hand pick the bigger to medium sized pebbles. Left overs of the bag, I used as bottom of the pot filler when I re-plant for better drainage. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-0...dscape-Rock-440916/202257793#customer_reviews
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
If they were large marbles (larger in diameter than the width of your cham's head) I don't see why you couldn't use them. Even if the shine attracted the cham's attention they would be too heavy for him to lift with his tongue.
Chameleon Company
Avid Member
What ?
Ummm .... why are you trying to prevent the chameleon from doing what it does naturally ? For instance, do you think your chameleon is demented or suffers some undesirable habits because it is trying to eat dirt ? Do you not recognize that the eating of roughage and dirt is essential to their natural husbandry ? The question should be whether or not your dirt is correct, and not whether or not you put marbles or stones on it.
Ummm .... why are you trying to prevent the chameleon from doing what it does naturally ? For instance, do you think your chameleon is demented or suffers some undesirable habits because it is trying to eat dirt ? Do you not recognize that the eating of roughage and dirt is essential to their natural husbandry ? The question should be whether or not your dirt is correct, and not whether or not you put marbles or stones on it.
GCash
Avid Member
Nice observation. Yes, impaction can be a concern but even expecting human mothers from areas where certain mineral are lacking have been known to indulge in "mud pies" from a craving to obtain the missing elements. Geophagy is a natural occurrence that can alert you to a lack of something important in their diet. Find the missing nutrients and you'll probably see less of the dirt consumption. I'd rather mine eat dirt than marbles any day as long as there is no fertilizers or pesticides to worry about.
Pharaoh2015
New Member
I go to a hobby shop and buy the bigger stones. Wash them and use them.
Chameleon Company
Avid Member
But again, this assumes "missing nutrients", and makes the comparison to "human mothers indulging in mud pies where minerals are known to be lacking" (my paraphrase).
I submit that eating of dirt is a natural part of their behavior in the wild, and that they obtain vital minerals from such. Just as eating insects satisfies one set of "deficiencies", the need for calories being one of them. The problem arises where we put dirt concoctions in our cage that are not "natural", and/or do not keep the dirt relatively clean. Often folks decorate their cages with all sorts of things, where the purpose was to make it visually aesthetic. Could be pine or other barks, plastics, etc. Unfortunately, chams will munch on plastics, IMMHO responding to their natural need to graze roughage, and intake smaller pieces of non-native bark, cork, etc. That is the beginning of asking for trouble. And such as impactions.
ZenChameleons
New Member
Might be able to eat the marble. We go down to the river and get a bunch of pebbles then take them home, boil them and they are good to go!
Turner1986
Established Member
ive just decided to do away with the marbles and am gonna transplant all the plants into organic soil so i wont even have to cover it
