Is this normal?

[David]

I have spotted my male panther of 8 months occaisionally eating things other than bugs. The other day it looked as though he was eating a crap on the bottom of his cage, but as far as I know it could have been a dead bug or something else.

This morning I saw him eat some spongerock from the soil of his Ficus benjamina plant.

And I put him in a Camelia bush outside for some brief sunshine where I check on him every few minutes and found him eating part of an old hummingbirds nest...

So, is this normal for Panther chams

He eats crickets and superworms regularly and get's MinerAll and vitamin supplements. He shows no signs of being unhealthy nor malnourished.
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[melric]

I don't know how normal that is because a lot chams eat weird things. I do know that it can't be good because they can become impacted. So try to make sure he doesn't eat anything that you don't feed him. I would remove whatever is in his plant to be safe.

 

[panthercross]

hey david I have a 12 month old panther nosybee and amibilobe cross. Mine has been doing some weird things as well. He ate the little sponge balls in the dirt your talking about, he eats bark, the plant in his cage. I put him on a new stick today and he just started chomping off the bark and eating. I was wondering if you could post some pic of your buddy I want to see if mine looks the way he should at his age. i did notice he has been having bad aim. anyone have any ideas?

 

[carol5208]

I would definitely cover the soil up (both of you) with some large river rocks. Styrofoam cannot be a good thing to injest. Also, if you think you cham is eating "crap" which I assume you mean poop, then I would clean that out immediately after he goes!!!!

 

[sarahog]

I have covered all the planting material in my plants with newspaper so that nothing in the soil/moss mixture gets eaten. I cup feed and so I somethimes think the Chams (mainly my female) gets confused and sees a little rock thinking it's a still cricket? I've seen her shoot at a rock before... She'll eat food if it's in her cup even if it doesn't move at all. The newspaper helped tremendously just lay a flat circle of it in your pot, cut a slit in one side so you can stick it around your stems. Still simple to water your plant, the newspaper doesn't block out water and water soaks through doesn't puddle up on it like it would plastic.

 

[ataraxia]

as far as eatting poo/soil im going to guess two things. 1) maybe still hungry. how much are you feeding and how often>? 2)hes possibly lacking some sort of vitamin. whats your gutload and supplement regiment?

fake vines or live plants? notice any of these chewed on? if so i would look at more hydration.

 

[David]

I would definitely cover the soil up (both of you) with some large river rocks. Styrofoam cannot be a good thing to injest. Also, if you think you cham is eating "crap" which I assume you mean poop, then I would clean that out immediately after he goes!!!!

as far as eatting poo/soil im going to guess two things. 1) maybe still hungry. how much are you feeding and how often>? 2)hes possibly lacking some sort of vitamin. whats your gutload and supplement regiment?

fake vines or live plants? notice any of these chewed on? if so i would look at more hydration.

The spongerock is not styrofoam, but is known as "Perlite" and is used in potting soil mixes due to it's ability to hold air and water for plants roots and growth. But the stuff is made from volcanic rock, so that can't be good for his digestion.

As to his food supply, he's regularly fed and there's often a cricket or a few in his cage, along with a worm here or there. So he's not going without.

Plants are a combination of live and fake, with fake on the mesh as a backdrop. Here's a couple pics of the young stud:

 

[Stanly]

there is quite a few reports of chameleons eating dirt and other objects. I covered my soil with rocks as many suggest, he still bites at them but there to big for him to get so he quickly gives up. I've also read of people using organic soil and screening it, then allowing them a "dirt snack" but if your's has perlite chances is it also has feritilizer.

IMO I'd replace the top few inches with some organic potting soil and either screen it (so there are no small rocks/roots that may choke him of cause impaction) or cover it with large stones as carol suggested.
but yes at lest in captivity it seems some do bite weird stuff (and from what I've read no one really knows why, just guesses) the best you can do is make sure there is nothing small or toxic laying around they can bite (much like you would do with a small child)