Fear of Impaction... Real or Imagined???

[Decadancin]

So years ago my young veiled chameleon ate some moss and it did luckily pass. It was a long piece and I immediately removed the rest from the enclosure. I am just wondering how common an issue this is and if we sometimes may just be a bunch of worry warts .

With the very real trend of bio-active enclosures that contain dirt, coco husk, mosses, plants and vines of all types, how worried should we be? I feel like there is no way these animals could survive in the wild the way we treat them .

What do you think? What have you experienced? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

 

[snitz427]

Ive witnessed my guys “spit out” debris like leaves and twigs. Ive also removed things from their mouths!

I think that in the wild there is likely an abundance of food that comes to them, and they dont need to spend much time at ground level. Plants tend to overlap so you can move to other trees without going down. When you do go down to soil level, there are more plants, moss, ferns and lead litter down there and you prob wont find much soil right away.

I do watch and worry about impaction with Charlie, who eats soil. I think he’d eat a matchbox car given the chance! His enclosure has a thick layer of leaf litter and cork, and I ensure all my free range plants have a thick layer of rocks. IHe will still try to find soil to eat... or even goes down to look for fuzz on the carpet. So if anything, he encourages me to vacuum more often.

 

[Riddell1984]

I have this exact issue with my bioactive setup. I had to pull bits out of pascals mouth several times. I'm currently waiting for him To pass out a bit of vegetation he pulled in with a locust.

 

[Ares05]

I have this exact issue with my bioactive setup. I had to pull bits out of pascals mouth several times. I'm currently waiting for him To pass out a bit of vegetation he pulled in with a locust.

If its a fake plant I would be concerned, but if its a live plant, no worries! You have a veiled, correct? They are known for eating vegetation. That is why it isnt recommended to have too many fake plants (or any at all) with veileds.

 

[jannb]

Veileds eat everything and so do some panthers. I had one of my veiled babies from the clutch two years ago returned to me because he wouldn't eat and his owner took him to the vet and the vet said it was due to impaction from eating dirt and sand. He went to my vet and I took in a poop in a ziplock and my vet added water to the poop and mashed is around in the bag and you could see all the dirt and sand. Luckily, he was able to pass this and he was find. He went to live with a dear friend of mine in Naples.

 

[Riddell1984]

If its a fake plant I would be concerned, but if its a live plant, no worries! You have a veiled, correct? They are known for eating vegetation. That is why it isnt recommended to have too many fake plants (or any at all) with veileds.

Hes a juvenile panther. So far I havnt seen him any where near my fake scenery. It's the bits of mulch that come in the bioactive soil that he drags in with whatever locust is holding onto it for dear life.
I am soon to remove all fake scenery and add live plants. But want to do it piece by piece as nit to disturb him too much.

 

[Ares05]

Hes a juvenile panther. So far I havnt seen him any where near my fake scenery. It's the bits of mulch that come in the bioactive soil that he drags in with whatever locust is holding onto it for dear life.
I am soon to remove all fake scenery and add live plants. But want to do it piece by piece as nit to disturb him too much.

Oh, I thought you had a veiled. Oops!

 

[jamest0o0]

I second @snitz427 on seeing my chams spit out things they couldn't chew or pass. Made a post about it this past summer. I also agree they probably aren't at ground level all that often, but then again it does seem some cham species will purposely go to the bottom, even outdoors, to hunt or eat soil.

I kept leopard geckos on substrate for over 10 years(wasn't bio though, I did it out of ignorance when i was younger) and have been keeping my chams bio for several years now. Never had a problem. I'm sure it's *possible*, but with a little common sense(no gravel!) It's probably extremely rare. I doubt a well hydrated/healthy cham would not be able to pass most things that they could swallow.

 

[jannb]

Ive witnessed my guys “spit out” debris like leaves and twigs. Ive also removed things from their mouths!

I think that in the wild there is likely an abundance of food that comes to them, and they dont need to spend much time at ground level. Plants tend to overlap so you can move to other trees without going down. When you do go down to soil level, there are more plants, moss, ferns and lead litter down there and you prob wont find much soil right away.

I do watch and worry about impaction with Charlie, who eats soil. I think he’d eat a matchbox car given the chance! His enclosure has a thick layer of leaf litter and cork, and I ensure all my free range plants have a thick layer of rocks. IHe will still try to find soil to eat... or even goes down to look for fuzz on the carpet. So if anything, he encourages me to vacuum more often.

In the Wild we did see quite a few chameleons on the ground. Each trip we have even seen several crossing the road. In one area there were these grasshopper type insects in the grass on the ground and we’d always see a few chameleons down snacking on those. Most of the chameleons that we found were in small bushes and not in the trees as I thought they would be.

 

[snitz427]

In the Wild we did see quite a few chameleons on the ground. Each trip we have even seen several crossing the road. In one area there were these grasshopper type insects in the grass on the ground and we’d always see a few chameleons down snacking on those. Most of the chameleons that we found were in small bushes and not in the trees as I thought they would be.

Thats interesting to see/hear them walking around the roadways. My comment was meant more so that they probably dont go to the base of the tree or shrub to eat dirt/insects directly below (in the dirt) as much as captive may.

My guys do it looking for insects. The Veileds know to flip leaves to find isopods. Its certainly possible they hunt low in the wild... but there is such an abundance of insects in the woods near me I am surprised they would need to go very far to find a meal.

 

[jamest0o0]

I've seen my Panthers wonder to the ground outside to hunt for isopods. I believe it is common for Panthers to constantly try and extend their territory as well. A big reason for the "my chameleon loves me" threads lol

 

[The Wild One]

Most of the chameleons that we found were in small bushes and not in the trees as I thought they would be.

I thinkI just read something on this, in Yemen aren’t the chams usually found in the bushes?

 

[GoodKarma19]

I've witnessed both of my girls (1 panther, 1 veiled) inadvertently get some moss or leaflitter in their mouths while hunting. On multiple occasions, I've seen them spit out the bulk of it. What little they have consumed, has caused them no issues.

If your husbandry's on point and assuming your animal doesn't have any underlying conditions and is well hydrated, I see close to 0 impaction risk. Every single animal I've ever seen come to the clinic that has been diagnosed with impaction has had poor husbandry in some form or another, or has had access to inorganic/indigestible substances. Fake plants, perlite, pea gravel, coconut husk, coarse bark chunks, etc etc. have a much higher impaction risk than soft organics such as mosses and plants (though long stand sphagnum can pose a linear obstruction risk), and fine substrates such as soil and sand. We use soil/sand in laybins for crying out loud - the only real danger they pose is as a bacterial reservoir. Either swap that stuff out consistently, or introduce fauna that can keep the microorganisms in check.