hungry for dirt

[whitespyder]

(sorry if this is almost like a double post, someone recently just posted about their cham eating dirt.)

i havent actually witnessed my female eating dirt but ive snuck up on her once to see her at the bottom and staring at her laying bin. she definately does not have eggs developed, i took her to the vet recently and she was palpated and very empty of eggs! theres a tiny section of dirt in the laying bin that seems to have disappeared right by the section she was staring at and i think its been getting slightly larger as the week went on. the substrate in the bin is a mix of playing sand and coconut husk fiber dirt. she also hasnt pooped in two days but i wont get too worried just yet. would you be able to see sand in her poop and get a good idea of how much shes injecting? and if this does turn into an impaction problem, how could i prevent her from eating it in the future?

 

[kinyonga]

There is one type of sand that my female chameleons have ingested and it always has passed through them with no problems. I can't speak for all sands being able to be passed but if the sand passes through her you should be able to see it in the feces because it will make it sort of a sand-like "texture" in that once its dry it will "crumble" as wet sand that dried out would.

However, I have never used the coconut husk fiber dirt because I worry about it passing through. I hope that her not pooping isn't a problem.

BTW..the sand that I have had no problems with is produced by Kings and comes in a white bag with red, blue and yellow sand toys on the front.

You asked how to prevent her from eating it....this is a dilemma since you have to use something for her to lay the eggs in. The best advice I can give is to use something that she can pass through her system so it won't cause a problem. Sorry that isn't much help.

 

[pba110]

My guy would eat dirt everyday up until about 6 or 7 months old. I don't think it's something to worry about unless there are artificial fertilizers or big chunks of vermiculite. He's 10 months now without any problems.
I hypothesis they do this to develop their immune system and pick up trace elements.

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Not sure, but perhaps she is dehydrated and eating dirt to help pass whatever is bunged up in her digestive system? Kind like how some birds will eat gravel to help grind up and process food in their stomachs.

I think eating dirt is normal, unless it is frequent. A few times a year isn't bad, it may be an evolutionary thing to get trace minerals (which they wouldn't need too much of), to fit their needs. Chams are arboreal so eating an arboreal diet takes them away from much of the necessary properties of the Earth. But like I said, it doesn't take much.

Try spraying her twice as often as you do to get her hydrated and see if that helps her poop, if she keeps eating dirt then try some Miner-All 0 and gutload once a week for a month or two with Vit-All.

 

[kinyonga]

I know eating clay type soils can assist food moving through the intestines...but I'm not so sure that "ordinary" soil would. I'm leaning more towards it being a nutrient "thing" or a self-medicating/parasite control.

 

[whitespyder]

There is one type of sand that my female chameleons have ingested and it always has passed through them with no problems. I can't speak for all sands being able to be passed but if the sand passes through her you should be able to see it in the feces because it will make it sort of a sand-like "texture" in that once its dry it will "crumble" as wet sand that dried out would.

However, I have never used the coconut husk fiber dirt because I worry about it passing through. I hope that her not pooping isn't a problem.

im not using that same brand but its still play sand so im hoping its easy to pass as well. although if this ends up impacting her, ill replace the dirt in her laying bin with just sand and get rid of the coconut fiber.

Not sure, but perhaps she is dehydrated and eating dirt to help pass whatever is bunged up in her digestive system? Kind like how some birds will eat gravel to help grind up and process food in their stomachs.

up until now she has pooped almost every day that ive had her. there has been a few times that she skipped a day but this is the longest she hasnt pooped (3 days). i dont think that shes eating dirt to pass her stool, maybe shes not pooping because of her dirt eating. i also introduced superworms into her diet not too long ago and i dont know if that has anything to do with it but i wont feed her one again until she poops. ill try to get some more water into her, she drank a bit today already but it wouldnt hurt to give her more.

thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[graydon]

Ive caught my panther indulging in soil twice. He was well fed and had plenty of water and I too was wondering why they did this. The trace mineral theory makes a lot of sense.

 

[whitespyder]

she ended up pooping yesterday and sure enough, theres sand in it!

kinyonga, i also think i found some coconut fiber in there as well (i didnt want to dig too much since it was smelly of course lol) so hopefully she can pass all that out with no problems!