WHy the crap is my P Cham eating bark?!
- Thread starter Huey08
- Start date
Vibrant Chameleons
Avid Member
I've seen this a few times myself. When they do this, I believe that they are possibly hungry. Your husbandry seems to be perfect so I wouldn't worry about it unless he's ripping off large strips of bark and eating them.
Justin Carl
Avid Member
I've read an article on a parson's chameleon that died from eatting a piece of bark.
She died from impaction, but it took a while for it to happen.
I think it was a slow death too.
Can you fill this out for us and please use details.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - What kind of cage are you using? What is the size?
Lighting - What kind of lighting are you using? How long do you keep the lights on during the day?
Temperature - What temperature range have you created? Basking spot temp? What is the temperature at night?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas?
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What kind of schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What are you dusting your feeders with and what kind of schedule do you use?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.
She died from impaction, but it took a while for it to happen.
I think it was a slow death too.
Can you fill this out for us and please use details.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - What kind of cage are you using? What is the size?
Lighting - What kind of lighting are you using? How long do you keep the lights on during the day?
Temperature - What temperature range have you created? Basking spot temp? What is the temperature at night?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas?
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What kind of schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What are you dusting your feeders with and what kind of schedule do you use?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.
Last edited:
Dankmeleon
New Member
hey i can't say for sure but i see this all the time when my chams are thirsty
bucky
New Member
Water possibly in bark
Cham0
New Member
thanks guys, as far as i can see, he is just stripping off small pieces of the wood, here is some more info, i also read that they sometimes do this to increase their immunity system?, has anyone else heard about this?
hey justin, here are my specs.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - 4x2x2 large screen cage, lifted 2 ft above floor level.
Lighting - powersun 5.0 uvb lighting, on weekends he gets about 1-2 hrs of outdoor natural sunlight. keep lights on a timer 12 hrs a day
Temperature - basking is 90degrees, day time ambient is 75, night ambient is around 65
Humidity - spray once in morning and once around sunset, have humidifier set to 50% on warm, which creates humidity inside cage to be around 50-70%
Plants - no live plants but was thinking about getting a hibiscus.
Location - not near fans, and i live by myself so its not really high traffic, hes usually going to bed around the time i get home anyways, (7-8pm)
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon -male ambilobe, blue bar panther, about 5-6 months old.
Feeding - I feed him about 1-2 hrs after he is basking in the morning, i cup feed him wax worms (every other day) and medium phoenix worms(about 4), and let him hunt 4-5 free roaming cricks a day. i gut load with water gel, kale, carrots, grapes, cricket feed, fish food flakes and sometimes cat food.
Supplements - i dust every other day with Rep-Cal Herptivite Multivitamins with Beta-Carotene, i do not dust with calcium since phoenix worms contain soo much of it.
Watering - i see my cham drink every morning, from dripper, and i set up leaves under the dripper where drops will form and fall, i also see him licking droplets from leaves and branches when i mist, i use Repti-safe water conditioner in both his misting bottle, and dripper.
Fecal Description - normal coloration, doesnt break apart, uric acid, is whitish and yellow. sometimes it can be rather large
History - just a CP. no illness history or conditions that i am aware of.
Current Problem - he is eating bark
hope all that stuff helps a bit more, thanks!
i included a bit older picture of my cage setup, there is a bit more foliage in there now for him to sleep and hide. the bark thing i just noticed him doing today.
hey justin, here are my specs.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - 4x2x2 large screen cage, lifted 2 ft above floor level.
Lighting - powersun 5.0 uvb lighting, on weekends he gets about 1-2 hrs of outdoor natural sunlight. keep lights on a timer 12 hrs a day
Temperature - basking is 90degrees, day time ambient is 75, night ambient is around 65
Humidity - spray once in morning and once around sunset, have humidifier set to 50% on warm, which creates humidity inside cage to be around 50-70%
Plants - no live plants but was thinking about getting a hibiscus.
Location - not near fans, and i live by myself so its not really high traffic, hes usually going to bed around the time i get home anyways, (7-8pm)
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon -male ambilobe, blue bar panther, about 5-6 months old.
Feeding - I feed him about 1-2 hrs after he is basking in the morning, i cup feed him wax worms (every other day) and medium phoenix worms(about 4), and let him hunt 4-5 free roaming cricks a day. i gut load with water gel, kale, carrots, grapes, cricket feed, fish food flakes and sometimes cat food.
Supplements - i dust every other day with Rep-Cal Herptivite Multivitamins with Beta-Carotene, i do not dust with calcium since phoenix worms contain soo much of it.
Watering - i see my cham drink every morning, from dripper, and i set up leaves under the dripper where drops will form and fall, i also see him licking droplets from leaves and branches when i mist, i use Repti-safe water conditioner in both his misting bottle, and dripper.
Fecal Description - normal coloration, doesnt break apart, uric acid, is whitish and yellow. sometimes it can be rather large
History - just a CP. no illness history or conditions that i am aware of.
Current Problem - he is eating bark
hope all that stuff helps a bit more, thanks!
i included a bit older picture of my cage setup, there is a bit more foliage in there now for him to sleep and hide. the bark thing i just noticed him doing today.
Attachments
Justin Carl
Avid Member
Everything sound really good.
I would definitely get a live plant in there.
They are great for keeping humidity up and water tends to bead on the leaves much better.
A hibiscus is a great choice, but they do require an ample amount of light.
I would cut down on the multivitamin.
Even at 4 months I would reccomend only 1 time per week at the most.
Twice a month would be an even better choice.
If you are feeding crickets, even 4-5, I would dust a couple of them.
Crickets have a very poor calcium to phosphorous ratio.
You could make up for it by dusting 2 out of 5 crickets with a phosphorous free calcium.
Phoneix worms are great feeders, but eventually you chameleon will outgrow them.
Phoenix worms also have a very tough skin, and it can be hard for you chameleon to digest them.
Have you ever seen a whole phoenix worm inside his poop?
Is this why you said his urate "can be rather large"?
Are you dusting with a phosphorouse free calcium with D3?
Dankmeleon
New Member
they are use to licking water off it and if it seeps in and he cannot get it he will eat at it when thirsty, in which over supplementation seems a likely cause if your humidity is good and you are hydrating him well
my baby girls were doing this it was scary with them, they get a bit more hardy at his size but still
my baby girls were doing this it was scary with them, they get a bit more hardy at his size but still
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy Andrew,
Schefflera (Umbrella plant) makes a nice plant for a chameleon environment. They are reasonably cheap, handle lower light levels better than hibiscus and can be found in many sizes at places like Home Depot etc.
What part of LA are you located? We have a chameleon group that meets at night on the last Tuesday of the month in Torrance. Toss me a PM or send a msg to [email protected] and we'll send you an invite
. (It's free!)
