Leaves in feces...Chamaeleon calyptratus...

kinyonga

Chameleon Queen
"A very few chameleon species will eat the leaves of the plants in their cage. Most notably, the veiled chameleon. There are many ideas as to why they do this. Nutrition and hydration really don’t make sense considering what they eat and when they eat it in the wild. The one explanation that does make sense is that they use the leaves as roughage to help their digestion. This idea was put forth by Petr Necas as he observed veiled chameleons in Yemen eating leaves when there was ample food and water around. Their poop showed leaves undigested, but wrapped around the poop."...
https://chameleonacademy.com/basics-feeding-chameleons/

https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-behavior-eating-leaves/
In the above site it says.."The best explanation from from Petr Necas, who observed them in the wild. He postulates that they are taking a bit of leaf for roughage to help the digestive system. With a large component of their juvenile diet being caterpillars there needs to be roughage to help the mass move through the digestive system. Thus the finding of poop with undigested leaves wrapped around and in it."... @PetNcs were there ever parasites found inside the leaf packages in the poop too?

When they eat the leaves in the wild, are they biting off a chunk (mouth sized bite) or taking the whole leaf and are they swallowing it more or less whole or chewing it up? (Any I've seen eating plants such as pothos in captivity seem to take mouth- shaped bites and I don't usually see any big chunks in the feces.)
 
Last edited:
"A very few chameleon species will eat the leaves of the plants in their cage. Most notably, the veiled chameleon. There are many ideas as to why they do this. Nutrition and hydration really don’t make sense considering what they eat and when they eat it in the wild. The one explanation that does make sense is that they use the leaves as roughage to help their digestion. This idea was put forth by Petr Necas as he observed veiled chameleons in Yemen eating leaves when there was ample food and water around. Their poop showed leaves undigested, but wrapped around the poop."...
https://chameleonacademy.com/basics-feeding-chameleons/

https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-behavior-eating-leaves/
In the above site it says.."The best explanation from from Petr Necas, who observed them in the wild. He postulates that they are taking a bit of leaf for roughage to help the digestive system. With a large component of their juvenile diet being caterpillars there needs to be roughage to help the mass move through the digestive system. Thus the finding of poop with undigested leaves wrapped around and in it."... @PetNcs were there ever parasites found inside the leaf packages in the poop too?

When they eat the leaves in the wild, are they biting off a chunk (mouth sized bite) or taking the whole leaf and are they swallowing it more or less whole or chewing it up? (Any I've seen eating plants such as pothos in captivity seem to take mouth- shaped bites and I don't usually see any big chunks in the feces.)

It is still a theory, though i stand for her validity

wild C. Calyptratus get infested by parasites from childhood, but the parasite infestation imcreases significantly towards older age and their manifestation in the dry harsH season. Some
Juveniles to semiadults remin even without any detextable
Oarasites ornin ignoranle infestation levels

to answer the two questaions and add, as I know where rhey are targetting...
the aid for removal of
Parasites was also one of my thoughts

the consumation of leaves in the wildis happening regardless the animal is infested by parasites or not
There is no correlation between the ammount or
Oresence of leaf matter in the feces and oarasite infestation of any kind

the youg start feedinv regularly on plant matter from very small
Aize around 19-12 cm, earlier, itnis more incidental, when they are parasite free, and continues whole life cycle further.

thepredominant way in case if leafy plants is to take a bite of the mouth size, they eat even Sansebieria, in case of
Little leaves they just take a chunk
Same in the case of
Flowers: hibiscus they take a bite and they do not mind if they tear away more, they swallow anyway, in hairy-spheres-like Acacia flowers they take them completely
 
Thanks Petr. I knew you would understand why I was asking....it was pretty obvious anyway! :) I am always curious about things like this...and if I don't ask questions then I have less chance of getting an answer and figuring things out. Also, sometimes there can be more than one answer to why things happen.
 
Other animals eating leaves...
"Wild chimpanzees eat leaves from a variety of plants that pass through the intestinal tract whole. In some instances, the plant material increases intestinal motility that, which then purges the intestinal tract of nematodes. Sometimes in scats the leaves are even seen wrapped around worms that have been expelled"...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6000140/

"Worm-infected chimps also roll up and eat the fluffy leaves of the Aspilia plant, which acts as a sort of bottlebrush roughage, collecting and deporting worms from the gastrointestinal tract"...
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/meet-the-animals-that-self-medicate
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom