Veiled chameleon is eating the coconut fiber bedding

[kobe24]

Hey guys my veiled chameleon just got fed 4 crickets a couple hours ago and i just noticed him going to the bottom of his cage and eating a peace of coconut fiber bedding like he would to a cricket. His tongue comes out and he grabs a little peace of the fiber. Why is he doing this? Am i not feeding him enough. He gets around 8 crickets a day and is only 6 months old. Thanks

 

[camimom]

Well first, remove that stuff. YOu dont need it.

and second, what size crickets are you feeding him?

 

[reptilover]

Chameleons will eat dirt or substrate thinking its dirt to try and gain nutriants from it.. but in captivity since it can cause impaction and can be fatal we highky recommend substrate is removed and dirt in plant pots be covered by rocks to large to consume

 

[kobe24]

Thanks and the crickets i feed him are about medium size. They arent really big and i also just got some wax worms yesterday and he ate four yesterday and i gave him one today, is that ok.

 

[kobe24]

K thanks a lot for your reply, also my humidity is at 40 percent on the bottom of the cage and only 25 percent at the top. I have a humidifier running but it doesnt seem to be working that well. What is an ideal humidity for him. Thanks again.

 

[camimom]

Give him more crickets. Hes hungry. haha.

and use lots of live plants, that tends to keep humidity higher.

 

[laurie]

I agree get rid of the stuff on the bottom, and if he is only 6 months i would fed him a lots more than that, he is a growing boy, and all they do is eat at that age, think human teenager. How long have you had him? you can tell us all about how you keep him and maybe we can offer some ideas.

 

[kobe24]

K ill feed him some more crickets cuz he really does seem to like to eat a lot. I also just got some wax worms. I have 50 of them, how many of them do you think i should give him every day, or every other day if thats how it is. Also, what is your favorite plant to use and where can i easily purchase one, thanks again.

 

[Zubi]

No enough wax worms!! They are very high in fat and they really should only be fed once every few weeks. Some of my favorite plants are ficus benjamina, pothos, and umbrella plants

 

[kobe24]

Thanks for the reply, I have had him for only about 5 days now and he seems to be doing very well. I have a thread with some pics of him in the food forum if you wanna see him.

 

[kobe24]

Ok thanks so how many wax worms would you give in one feeding. They are pretty small. Thanks for the reply.

 

[kobe24]

Also, he is a veiled chameleon and not very large and i seen some very large crickets today at the pet store. Would you recommend buying these larger crickets or will they be too big for him to swallow. Thanks.

 

[stepho]

I heard the crickets should be the size of the space on his head that is between his eyes.

 

[kobe24]

Is that from the front of the cricket to the back or how fat the cricket is. Thanks