Need to vent

[JoXie411]

I spend so much time picking out the best spots for plants, watch them grow so beautifully, to one morning waking up to them GONE!!! A once beautiful wandering dude stripped of leaves. A freshly sprouted monstera leaf not yet unwrapped comped on. Why do these dam chameleons do this to me!!!! I swear by Thor Imelda and Larry I’m going to kick y’all out soon for destroying plants.

 

[Beman]

I totally feel your pain. I had to replace all of Beman's pothos when we moved. Not only did they struggle from the move itself but when I pulled them out he had stripped 5-8 feet worth of vines of their leaves. Now he is doing it to the new ones I added to the cage. He loves the new growth at the very ends of the vines and those are the ones he eats first.

 

[kinyonga]

Maybe we should give them more easily digested insects in captivity so we can have beautiful plants in the cage? After all, some people say that they likely eat them to aid in digestion...to help food travel through the system!

It seems to be something we have to expect/accept as a part of keeping veiled chameleons at this point. They seem to eat so much vegetation in captivity. Why do they do this in captivity? Does this mean the insects we give them in captivity are too hard to digest...push through the system?
There has to be a reason we can figure out...no?

 

[AmandaS]

Mushu strips his 30-40$ pitcher plants I get. It drives me INSANE.

 

[Beman]

Maybe we should give them more easily digested insects in captivity so we can have beautiful plants in the cage? After all, some people say that they likely eat them to aid in digestion...to help food travel through the system!

It seems to be something we have to expect/accept as a part of keeping veiled chameleons at this point. They seem to eat so much vegetation in captivity. Why do they do this in captivity? Does this mean the insects we give them in captivity are too hard to digest...push through the system?
There has to be a reason we can figure out...no?

I tend to stick with one main staple I rotate then have a few additions. So the two main staples I use are silk worms and dubia. I rotate month to month which I am feeding. With him on a reduced diet of 2 feeders 3 days a week I keep variety by rotating in new feeders and removing the old ones. It does not matter if it is silkworms or dubia he eats the plants the same. I even had him on crickets at one point as the main staple and that did not change either.

I honestly feel like he does it because he can and he likes it. I have tried offering dandelion greens with the hopes that it would curb his urge and he had no interest.

#VeiledProblems

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Ever tried keeping a bearded dragon with live plants?
These little barstads will tear one out just because...
We have to keep 5 or 6 replacements for each in the wings.

 

[kinyonga]

@Beman said..."It does not matter if it is silkworms or dubia he eats the plants the same. I even had him on crickets at one point as the main staple and that did not change either"...exactly why I can't understand why the only reason they eat the plants is said to be to aid in digestion/fibre

 

[Beman]

@Beman said..."It does not matter if it is silkworms or dubia he eats the plants the same. I even had him on crickets at one point as the main staple and that did not change either"...exactly why I can't understand why the only reason they eat the plants is said to be to aid in digestion/fibre

Like you I really would love to understand it better. I literally have not found a link to a specific feeder type causing it. So I tend to believe he just likes to do it. That in the wild they must do it at well. Maybe it is more about the moisture that is in the plant. I don't know.

 

[kinyonga]

Like you I really would love to understand it better. I literally have not found a link to a specific feeder type causing it. So I tend to believe he just likes to do it. That in the wild they must do it at well. Maybe it is more about the moisture that is in the plant. I don't know.

Trouble is that it's been said that they do it in the rainy season when there should be no need to eat vegetation to get moisture. IMHO there's more to it than what we know yet.

 

[Beman]

Trouble is that it's been said that they do it in the rainy season when there should be no need to eat vegetation to get moisture. IMHO there's more to it than what we know yet.

I wonder if its because in the rainy season the plants are wet? But I agree with you there is so much more to it than what we understand.

 

[kinyonga]

I used to wonder if they did it to self-treat for parasites like some of the monkeys and other animals do...but in captivity we test them too frequently for that to make sense, I think.

It makes more sense maybe that they eat vegetation looking for nutrients...maybe in the rainy season there are some nutrients missing from their diet due to the insects that are available lacking those nutrients...maybe?

Maybe they just like the taste because the vegetation has the same taste as the insects that eat that vegetation and then become the chameleon's meal?

Just random thoughts/ramblings.
We might never know.

 

[dinomom]

I spend so much time picking out the best spots for plants, watch them grow so beautifully, to one morning waking up to them GONE!!! A once beautiful wandering dude stripped of leaves. A freshly sprouted monstera leaf not yet unwrapped comped on. Why do these dam chameleons do this to me!!!! I swear by Thor Imelda and Larry I’m going to kick y’all out soon for destroying plants.

Here's is what's left of my (formerly) full, beautiful, braided umbrella. Today went to get a variegated scheff for his dining pleasure.

 

[JacksJill]

I bet perfect little Sejuani doesn't eat her plants.

 

[dinomom]

Mushu strips his 30-40$ pitcher plants I get. It drives me INSANE.

Right. Like when there's a beautiful baby pitcher just starting to swell I guess that is the most delicious stage. I have one now that I defy Dino to eat on pain of death.

 

[JacksJill]

When there is a tree in a horse pasture that you don't want them to eat the bark and kill it you wrap it in chicken wire. Doesn't sound attractive or practical but I thought I'd throw out the idea anyway.

 

[dinomom]

When there is a tree in a horse pasture that you don't want them to eat the bark and kill it you wrap it in chicken wire. Doesn't sound attractive or practical but I thought I'd throw out the idea anyway.

Do they make Barbie barbed wire, LOL? I will give this a think..

 

[JacksJill]

You should patent that.

 

[CasqueAbove]

Like this lol.

 

[Decadancin]

@kinyonga , I think I still owe you a response to the old assumption that veileds eat vegetation to get moisture... which I still don’t think is true, but I still don’t have enough proof to support my view. I have ideas, but no actual studies to support my claim.

 

[kinyonga]

@kinyonga , I think I still owe you a response to the old assumption that veileds eat vegetation to get moisture... which I still don’t think is true, but I still don’t have enough proof to support my view. I have ideas, but no actual studies to support my claim.

It doesn't make sense to me that they do it looking fro moisture if they're doing it in the rainy season. I'm always glad to hear your views ...whenever that is! No rush needed!