"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.)
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.)
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