How to tell if chameleon is a plant eater or not?

[Reganold]

hey guys i was wondering how do you tell if your cham is a plant eater or not? because i see plenty of post about plants asking if their chameleon is a plant eater or not. but how exactly do you tell? thanks in advance

 

[Sinfulintent]

Put a plant in there and see? He may avoid certain plants and only eat certain ones, or eat all in his sight, I really think it depends on the cham and no real way to tell without testing it... I may be wrong though

 

[Carlton]

hey guys i was wondering how do you tell if your cham is a plant eater or not? because i see plenty of post about plants asking if their chameleon is a plant eater or not. but how exactly do you tell? thanks in advance

Most commonly the plant eaters are veileds. To me this makes sense as wild veileds probably took more advantage of the moisture in fruit and tender new foliage in their habitat that is otherwise fairly harsh for a lot of the year. Makes me wonder if Oustaleti and verrucosus might be coaxed to sample greens or fruit as well. But, again their native habitat may not provide much to try out. I have read that some people's panthers eat occasional veggies. Jax...not that I've ever heard of. Melleri...once or twice I've read that one ate Hibiscus leaves or flowers. Mine never did. A captive cham could always learn that an offered piece of veg or fruit is tasty, and once something becomes familiar it could be eaten regardless if that animal wouldn't naturally try it in the wild. I suppose wild chams occasionally get a mouthful of fruit or plant matter when shooting at insects (especially if they happen to be clustered on ripe fruit).

 

[Reganold]

Most commonly the plant eaters are veileds. To me this makes sense as wild veileds probably took more advantage of the moisture in fruit and tender new foliage in their habitat that is otherwise fairly harsh for a lot of the year. Makes me wonder if Oustaleti and verrucosus might be coaxed to sample greens or fruit as well. But, again their native habitat may not provide much to try out. I have read that some people's panthers eat occasional veggies. Jax...not that I've ever heard of. Melleri...once or twice I've read that one ate Hibiscus leaves or flowers. Mine never did. A captive cham could always learn that an offered piece of veg or fruit is tasty, and once something becomes familiar it could be eaten regardless if that animal wouldn't naturally try it in the wild. I suppose wild chams occasionally get a mouthful of fruit or plant matter when shooting at insects (especially if they happen to be clustered on ripe fruit).

yes i have a veiled. male about 4 months old

 

[fluxlizard]

In the books there are many species mentioned that have eaten plants either in the terrarium or in the wild. Especially flowers, but other things also. And in the past I have tried feeding other species vegetable matter just as I have veileds. They will eat it often when fed in the same manner. I shred very fine like coleslaw or finer and put in bowl with insects in bowl so it gets picked up on accident at first, after a while many veileds just go to the bowl after the insects are gone and munch away on salad, other warm loving species will often go do taste samples and eat a little, but not as voraciously as veileds.

 

[Reganold]

thanks for the help guys. i was just wondering because i was considering adding a pothos or a corn plant (d. fragans) and i know that if pothos are ingested in large quantities it can be bad. does anyone know how suitable the corn plant is for a veiled?

 

[fluxlizard]

I don't know about corn plant.

And pothos never caused any problems for my veileds when I used to use it.

If you bowl feed fresh veggies like I described, it will greatly reduce the amount of pothos your veiled consumes- at least it did for mine.

 

[Reganold]

thanks flux. what kind of veggies/fruits do you recommend?

 

[DavidBuchan]

If you have a good gutload there is no need at all to feed fruits/veg; my guy won't eat them........anyway, anything that you can use in gutload is worth a try to see how he feels about it - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

 

[fluxlizard]

I just feed the same stuff I'd feed to an iguana. Anything shredded up with a base of leafy greens. I try to offer 2 or 3 things each feeding and rotate things around so I don't offer any one thing very often. Go easy on the same stuff you want to go easy on for an iguana- spinach and cabbage. Occasional use is fine, every day is not a good idea. Just go for variety and you will do fine.

And no, they aren't strictly necessary, but the way I think about it, why not gutload the chameleon directly? Also it's a good way to add more variety to the diet. And it is probably pretty good for health. Most omnivores that eat lots of vegetation do better than individuals that eat lots of meat.

 

[Reganold]

I just feed the same stuff I'd feed to an iguana. Anything shredded up with a base of leafy greens. I try to offer 2 or 3 things each feeding and rotate things around so I don't offer any one thing very often. Go easy on the same stuff you want to go easy on for an iguana- spinach and cabbage. Occasional use is fine, every day is not a good idea. Just go for variety and you will do fine.

And no, they aren't strictly necessary, but the way I think about it, why not gutload the chameleon directly? Also it's a good way to add more variety to the diet. And it is probably pretty good for health. Most omnivores that eat lots of vegetation do better than individuals that eat lots of meat.

alriight thanks for the help ill see if he takes some greens then. and i agree on the health thing. besides in the wild don't veileds get most moisture from leafs and fruits?

 

[DavidBuchan]

alriight thanks for the help ill see if he takes some greens then. and i agree on the health thing. besides in the wild don't veileds get most moisture from leafs and fruits?

In the wild they get most of it from their insects Make sure they are well hydrated with healthy stuff and you're good............as well as dripper and misting of course.........

 

[Lovereps]

The corn plant is safe if it is the one shown here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/pla...owse=common&view=photo&order=compatible&ltr=C

You never know which cham will like chomping on the plants.

FWIW, my K. multis love to take the occasional nibble or two.
So far, I've never seen a Jackson's chomp on a plant.

 

[Reganold]

I just feed the same stuff I'd feed to an iguana. Anything shredded up with a base of leafy greens. I try to offer 2 or 3 things each feeding and rotate things around so I don't offer any one thing very often. Go easy on the same stuff you want to go easy on for an iguana- spinach and cabbage. Occasional use is fine, every day is not a good idea. Just go for variety and you will do fine.

And no, they aren't strictly necessary, but the way I think about it, why not gutload the chameleon directly? Also it's a good way to add more variety to the diet. And it is probably pretty good for health. Most omnivores that eat lots of vegetation do better than individuals that eat lots of meat.

thanks for the help so far. ive heard shredded carrots are good for iguanas. is this true for chameleons also?

 

[DavidBuchan]

thanks for the help so far. ive heard shredded carrots are good for iguanas. is this true for chameleons also?

Carrots are fine, yeah. I meant to include this link in my previous post but somehow forgot - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

 

[Reganold]

Carrots are fine, yeah. I meant to include this link in my previous post but somehow forgot - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

thanks alot. will do. he took a few pieces of apple from my hand. lol he gave up shooting them and grabbed em from my hand