Does yours eat his veggies?!

[parisaurusrex]

Ziggy LOVES to chomp on his plants… seriously, all of his plants look horrible now! I've read about putting some greens in his dish to get him to eat that instead, but he refuses! My question is, how do you get yours to eat what you give him instead of his plants?! Do I just keep trying by putting it in his cup with his other food?

I attached photos of what my plants look like

PS- Ziggy is starting his first shed since i brought him home, woo!

 

[Daybed]

Mortimer usually chomps on his pothos plant haha but no veggies or fruits yet although i put a hibiscus plant in there but he hasn't tasted it yet...

 

[Vito the Veiled]

Mine likes his veggies and fruit more than his crickets. Vito absolutely loves banana and strawberries. It's hilarious to watch him try to eat them. He does occasionally eat his plants though.

 

[buddhasveiledfriend]

Blueberries are a hit

I haven't seen mine eat veggies yet, although she loves blueberries.

 

[Deevo]

I have tried to offer fruits and veg to my cham but he just stares at me like "What? You eat it."

 

[Uberob]

Yes sometimes my Nosy Be will eat the dried leaves I have not cleaned out of the cage yet. Ill be surfing the internet in the same room as his cage and hear "CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH " . Sure enough hes eating dried leaves.

That's why you have to put non-toxic live plants in the cage.

 

[parisaurusrex]

all of my plants are non toxic! But I won't have plants much longer if he keeps at it! Just trying to get him to eat the greens I give him, instead of the greens in his home!! Or maybe I'm just gunna have to purchase a schefflera and pothos every few months

 

[ridgebax1]

When I got Omar, the guy suggested cutting up small pieces of greens and mix in the cup with his bugs with the thought being he would get some of the greens along with the bugs. I was thinking of buying those plastic "test tubes" that the florists use and attaching that to the trunk of his ficus with a collard or other type of greens in it. I thought that may keep it fresh for a day or so and tempt Omar to take a bite out of it. I just got him a new pothos since the gardenia had to come out because of spider mites and the ficus is still sad from being repotted.

 

[gofroggy08]

the ficus is still sad from being repotted.

that made me laugh because my hibiscus is doing the same thing. Paco hasn't munched on his plants yet but I'm curious how to get him to eat fruits and veggies.

 

[pssh]

Mine only likes various plants that I have collected outside (wild mustard plants, dandelions, etc.) and I put them in a small cup with water so they stay fresh. He didn't want to eat them at first, but I just popped some in his mouth while he was chewing up bugs a few times, and he started eating it himself after that. He doesn't eat them very much though, and he likes to eat his plants still, but it's not as bad anymore. At one point, I just dug up a wild mustard plant, rinsed it off, and potted it. I put it in his cage every once in a while for a few days and he would munch on it.

Maybe he will like fruits more? Try just putting some in his mouth when he is chewing and see what happens. If he really doesn't want to, don't force him, but if he seems not to care then just keep doing it a few times. He might start to like the taste.

 

[PoshPenny]

Your plants look like mine lol Frita is such a pig. She pooped a whole fig leaf once. I mixed organic baby food like carrots or sqaush with mustard greens I think the first time I offered them, it worked. Now I just chop up the fruit tiny. Raspberries though always turn into an ordeal. She swallows all of the pieces and literally inhales it, a seed came out her nostril once, I freaked out. Now I give her one part at a time. Try the red fruits like strawberries or raspberries on top of mustard greens diced thin on a Tupperware lid. Mustard greens smell more especially when diced, it will peak her interest. It is funny watching them try to eat it. Lots of empty bites. Then these huge bites and hanging off vines with stuffed mouths trying not to drop anything.

 

[italian chameleon]

Ziggy LOVES to chomp on his plants… seriously, all of his plants look horrible now! I've read about putting some greens in his dish to get him to eat that instead, but he refuses! My question is, how do you get yours to eat what you give him instead of his plants?! Do I just keep trying by putting it in his cup with his other food?

I attached photos of what my plants look like

PS- Ziggy is starting his first shed since i brought him home, woo!

mine used to do the same, just give him a bit more water and he'll eat a lot less of his plants. putting veggies in the food bowl didn't work for me, longer mistings and dripper sessions did.
congrats on the first shed, it's amazing how quickly it happens when they're little!

 

[fluxlizard]

my veileds always ate quite a bit of veggies. Back in the I used more veggies less bugs to try and control clutch size in my greedy females. I also figured why not gutload the lizard directly? It is easy to get them to eat out of a bowl, it just takes a bit of patience. Chop all leafy greens into small bits like coleslaw, shred carrots and anything else tough (green peppers, etc). Mix up and put in bowl, add bugs to veggies- especially wormy bugs that like to burrow. At first they will go for the bugs and occasionally accidentally eat some veggies. Sometimes the bugs will move the veggies and the veggies will look alive and they will go for the moving bits. After a while they get a taste for the veggies and even eat them when there are no bugs.

 

[happiness]

I put some greens I bought at the store in my chameleons cage and I checked back about 30 minutes later and it had holes in it .

 

[djfishygillz]

Hate to be a downer to the convo but don't chameleons eye plants for water when they are dehydrated?
I have read this from a few credible sources so I thought it was important to throw it out there at least.

 

[PoshPenny]

I think that would be a great question for C Anderson. Frita is not dehydrated imo and her vets--she is however a female veiled--and a chunker--she would eat till she pops if I let her but I dont, she gorges on her fig tree but does not touch her pathos. She does poop on it. I have now started calling it the pooping pathos. Her urate is super white, she looks great. She loves veggies. It can be preference. I have 2 geckos, one who loves silkies, one who hates them. They have personalities imo that carry over into the things they prefer down to the very things they eat. That is my 2 cents. I mist my baby like clock work.

 

[PoshPenny]

I found this from one of his old issues #myth 8 on feeding. http://www.chameleonnews.com/04MayPollak.html

Myth #8: All your chameleon needs is some crickets or maybe some meal worms.
Fact: Variety in prey items is one of the keys to chameleon health and longevity. Crickets are certainly an excellent prey item and are the most commonly fed staple of the diet. Meal worms (Tenebrio molitor) are actually considered a poor source of nutrition as their bodies are too chitinous. Certainly they may be fed as an occasional treat but superworms (Zophobas morio) are a much preferred prey item that can and should be fed more frequently. Superworms are now commonly available in a range of different sizes. Additional prey that can be used to increase variety in the diet include silkworms, wax worms (Galleria mellonella), houseflies, fruit flies (Drosophila hydeii and D. melanogaster), stick insects (i.e., phasmids), mantids, and a host of wild-caught “field plankton”. Green katydids seem to evoke particularly strong feeding responses. Land snails, slugs, and pill bugs are other treats that may be used when available. Of course, any invertebrates collected in the wild should be from insecticide-, herbicide-, and molluscacide-free areas. The feeding of vertebrate prey (primarily pinkie mice, newly hatched finches, and anoles) to the larger species of chameleons remains a controversial practice. Large chameleons undoubtedly eat the occasional nestling bird or small lizard in the wild. Even medium sized chameleons such as the feral Ch. jacksonii xantholophus of Hawaii are known to eat some of the local species of gecko and skink (M. Lovein, personal communication). However, it is unlikely that even the largest chameleons ever eat mammalian prey in their native habitats.
Care also needs to be taken when feeding strange insects, especially those that are brightly colored as such “aposematic” coloration is often a signal to predators that the species in question is unpalatable or toxic. That is certainly the case with many species of ladybugs (i.e., ladybird beetles) and fireflies.
Some species appreciate and possibly require some vegetable matter in their diet once they reach adulthood. Of the commonly kept species, this is certainly true of Ch. calyptratus which appreciates a variety of greens, fruits, and vegetables. -Edward Pollak, PhD(http://www.chameleonnews.com/04MayPollak.html)

Though I'm sure some cham could seek out these sources of food to help with hydrating themselves, I don't think that it is the sole reason they eat them. At least that is not how I am interpreting this article. But will hope to hear from him and find out more.

 

[fluxlizard]

I have read this from a few credible sources so I thought it was important to throw it out there at least.

A lot of stuff is speculation and opinion.

IMO this falls into that category.

Do veileds need a lot of veggies? Maybe not.

Will they eat a lot of veggies if you do what I described earlier for a a few months starting when they are young? Yes they will.

Does it mean they are dehydrated?
No it does not. Veileds offered veggies in the manner I previously described will learn to eat them even if they are completely hydrated. It is probably useful for hydration in their sometimes harsh environment in nature. But they do digest it so it is useful for more than water and we can use this instinct to provide more variety in the diet, reduce total calories vs an insect only diet, and at least back in the 90s, some felt it helped to control clutch size if they filled up on veggies vs insects. I wasn't totally convinced it did this, but still feel there is benefit when it comes to variety in the diet..

 

[italian chameleon]

A lot of stuff is speculation and opinion.

IMO this falls into that category.

Do veileds need a lot of veggies? Maybe not.

Will they eat a lot of veggies if you do what I described earlier for a a few months starting when they are young? Yes they will.

Does it mean they are dehydrated?
No it does not. Veileds offered veggies in the manner I previously described will learn to eat them even if they are completely hydrated. It is probably useful for hydration in their sometimes harsh environment in nature. But they do digest it so it is useful for more than water and we can use this instinct to provide more variety in the diet, reduce total calories vs an insect only diet, and at least back in the 90s, some felt it helped to control clutch size if they filled up on veggies vs insects. I wasn't totally convinced it did this, but still feel there is benefit when it comes to variety in the diet..

as I said before, my female stopped eating her plants as soon as I gave her more water. However, you made a very good point in your last posts so I'll try feeding her veggies with your method and I'll let you know what happens! who knows, maybe I'll end up with a vegan chameleon

 

[parisaurusrex]

Ziggster gets plenty of water, and I see him drinking it often. He just likes to munch- he also gets a variety of food, I never feed him the exact same thing in a row. (i.e. if I give him crickets one feeding, the next i'll give some type of worm the next, and sometimes i give worms/crickets/dubias mixed together. I don't like eating the same thing every time I eat, why should he?) He has what he needs, he's just a leaf eater! We're working on eating our greens from the bowl, but so far he's just real big on his plants. When I re-do his home this next week or so (i've come across a few issues with his set up now) I'm going to buy a mustard plant, and baby tears, specifically for him to eat.

I appreciate all the commentary on here - thank you!