Blueberries are considered to be a superfood for humans, but is it the same for chameleons? Blueberry is low in calories yet provides almost the same nutritional value as other fruits. So can chameleons eat blueberries?
Chameleons can eat blueberry. Blueberries are amongst the best type of fruit to feed your pet chameleon as its rich in vitamins and minerals. However, not every chameleon will like eating them.
Blueberries are sweet and nutritious, it is generally known as a fruit that chameleons enjoy. However, there are no guarantees your chameleon would love blueberries as each and every chameleon has a different taste. Given that blueberries are low in calories, it helps keep your chameleon in shape while gaining the nutrient out of it.
Nutrients Found In Blueberry That Are Great for Chameleons
Normally fruits would comprise a fairly high amount of nutrients which will support the growth of your chameleon and improves the health of it.
Blueberries are the same too, as it is filled in abundance with several different types of vitamins and minerals. For your chameleon to be fed a balanced diet, it’s always advised to add a mix of fruit and vegetable to their staple food of insects.
Blueberries would be a good addition to your chameleon’s diet as it would enhance the wellbeing and development of your chameleon positively through the absorption of its nutrients.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is very important to be included in your chameleon’s diet. Unlike humans who can produce their own vitamin A through their body by consuming pro-vitamin A, chameleons do not have the capability to do so.
Hence, it is important to directly include food rich in vitamin A like blueberries in your chameleon’s diet. The benefits of including vitamin A in your chameleon’s diet include improved eye health, strong gums, and teeth, as well as enhanced muscle strength.
Having a lack of vitamin A in your chameleon’s diet can be dangerous to their health, even leading to fatality. An early sign of vitamin A deficiency in your chameleon would be swollen eyes.
Vitamin A deficit could also cause your female chameleon to give birth or lay eggs with poor hatchling health. Thus, be sure to include food high in vitamin A in your chameleon’s diet.
Vitamin B-6
Vitamin B-6 is crucial for the health of your chameleon as it creates new red blood cells for your chameleon. Furthermore, vitamin B-6 also improves the functions of the neurotransmitter in your chameleon’s nervous system.
Neurotransmitters are basically the chemical messengers in your chameleon’s body. They assist in transmitting messages between the neurons and muscles.
Blueberry is a fruit that contains a decent amount of vitamin B-6. Including vitamin B-6 in your chameleon’s diet is essential as it neither has the vitamin readily available in its system nor can it produce the vitamin on its own like humans.
The creations of red blood cells by vitamin B-6 will help your chameleon to boost the cell activities in their body. Furthermore, with a higher rate of red blood cell formation, it will also stimulate improved heart health for your chameleon.
Moreover, vitamin B-6 also supports in enhancing your chameleon’s skin conditions as well as builds up a robust immune system. Having a lack of vitamin B-6 will directly affect your chameleon’s eyesight and heart negatively.
Vitamin C
Regardless of whether your pet chameleon is only a juvenile or if it is a fully grown chameleon, the importance of including vitamin C in their diet cannot be understated.
Vitamin C is necessary for the development and healthy growth of chameleons. Moreover, vitamin C also plays a crucial part in the recovery and repair of body tissues for your chameleon.
On top of that, vitamin C also improves the immune system of your pet chameleon as it aids in combating flu and viruses. Vitamin C is also helpful in enhancing your chameleon’s body’s ability in absorbing iron from their meals.
Furthermore, vitamin C also supports maintaining the bone structure of your chameleon and strengthens its teeth and cartilages. Lacking vitamin C in your chameleon’s diet could be detrimental to their health and would eventually disturb their entire health and body systems.
However, don’t fret as vitamin C is generally available in most foods that are present in your chameleon’s diet.
Vitamin K
Vitamin K is another vitamin that is found in blueberries. It’s is a fat-soluble vitamin, allowing it to be easily absorbable by your chameleon. The importance of vitamin K in your chameleon’s diet cannot be underestimated as it’s crucial in blood clotting.
Do not be alarmed, blood clotting can also be in a good manner. When your chameleon is bleeding, it is important for the blood to clot at the wound to prevent excessive bleeding.
Thus, adding vitamin K rich meals like blueberries for your chameleon is recommended. Lacking in vitamin K is also very dangerous for your chameleon.
However, having a lack of vitamin K in chameleons is very rare, but it is still possible. If your chameleon is lacking in vitamin K, it is somewhat possible for them to experience abnormal bleeding.
Unfortunately, this will not be visible to you as it usually occurs internally. Hence, by including blueberry in your chameleon’s diet, you could avoid putting your chameleon through this situation.
Carbohydrates
Pretty much every living organism requires energy for movements. Most of the time, this energy is converted from the carbohydrates consumed from their daily diet.
Similarly, chameleons also gain their energy by feeding on meals containing carbohydrates. Even though we have come to usually associate carbohydrates to be absorbed from meals like rice, bread, and wheat, let it be known that fruit and vegetables also do contain carbohydrates.
In regards to that, blueberries make a good source of carbohydrates for your chameleon. When your chameleon lacks carbohydrates, it will become weary and tired quickly.
It might seem that your chameleon is being lazy. However, this could also be the effects of your chameleon not having sufficient energy due to a lack of carbohydrate consumption from its diet.
Magnesium
Akin to the other vitamins and minerals listed above, the inclusion of magnesium in your chameleon’s diet is just as important. Magnesium works along with vitamin B-6 to improve the quality of your chameleon’s blood circulation system.
When combined together with vitamin B-6 in your chameleon’s body, they will aid in regulating the flow of red blood cells. This is an extra for feeding your chameleon blueberries, as they contain both vitamin B-6 and magnesium.
The combination of vitamin B-6 and magnesium will also be a great supplement for your chameleon’s heart. With better blood circulation in their system and a more regulated blood flow, your chameleon’s heart health will automatically progress to be better.
Lastly, having magnesium intake through their diet will also help the chameleon with the absorption of calcium from their diet.
Fiber
Fiber is a very important form of mineral that most animals require in their diet, including chameleons. One of the most important reasons to include fiber in your chameleon’s diet is to aid in breaking down the food that is consumed.
Moreover, fiber also plays a major part in smoothening out the digestive system of your chameleon. Hence, fiber directly plays a part in averting your chameleon from having constipation due to indigestion.
In line with that, fiber also helps in preventing impaction in your chameleon. It is roughly estimated that a single fruit of blueberry contains approximately about 9% of fiber.
Protein
Protein is an essential mineral for all living organisms. It’s also important to include protein in your chameleon’s daily diet. Protein is mostly found in the meat of animals and insects.
Thus, the best source of protein for your chameleon is always going to be dry food like insects. However, it should also be noted that certain fruits and vegetables also contain protein.
Blueberry also does contain protein, up to precisely 1% of each blueberry. This may not be much but it makes for a good added volume of protein to be incorporated into your chameleon’s diet.
Protein is important in developing the body and muscles of your chameleon and it also plays a major role in aiding chameleons to heal from wounded tissues. In addition to that, experts have classified protein to be vital in assisting with chameleons shedding their skin better.
Potassium
Potassium is both a mineral and an electrolyte. Electrolytes are important for your chameleon as they produce ions that enable the chameleon’s body to function.
Whereas minerals are needed by your chameleon’s body to develop and function properly. Potassium is generally found in blueberries and it enhances the muscle works in your chameleon’s body, such as the heart.
This automatically leads to potassium playing an indirect part in regulating the breathing of your chameleon. However, there is no need to panic about overfeeding your chameleon with potassium.
Your chameleon’s body will only absorb the amount of potassium required. Any excess will naturally be excreted through its kidneys.
Chameleons lacking potassium in their system would tend to be weak and inactive. So, make sure to include potassium-rich foods like blueberries in their diet.
Calcium
Calcium is very crucial in the strengthening and formation of bone structures in chameleons. Chameleons require a decent amount of calcium in their daily diet regardless if it’s just a juvenile chameleon or fully grown chameleon.
However, a juvenile chameleon’s calcium requirement would be higher than that of a grown chameleon. Calcium also plays a major part in allowing your chameleon’s blood to clot.
This is especially important when your chameleon is injured or wounded. The increased ability to clot would prevent your chameleon’s wound to bleed out excessively.
Furthermore, calcium is also responsible for allowing the muscles in your chameleon’s body to contract smoothly. This is important as your chameleon’s heart also needs its muscles to contract for it to keep beating.
Hence, blueberries would be a great addition to your chameleon’s diet in terms of absorbing the required amount of calcium. If your chameleon lacks calcium, the bones in its body will tend to become brittle.
This makes its bones easily breakable. More seriously, lack of calcium makes your chameleon highly prone to Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD).
Iron
Iron is another mineral that’s commonly found in fruits and vegetables, especially in the berry family. This makes blueberries a good snack for your chameleon.
The inclusion of iron through blueberries in your chameleon’s diet allows your chameleon to receive its required intake of the iron mineral. One of the main purposes of including iron in your chameleon’s diet is to increase the oxygen count in its red blood cells.
With the increased amount of oxygen in your chameleon’s blood, its energy levels will also be increased, making your chameleon more active and healthier. In addition to that, iron also contributes to removing carbon dioxide from your chameleon’s red blood cells.
Precautions to Take Before Feeding Chameleons Blueberry
Blueberry is considered a superfood for humans due to it being rich in many minerals and vitamins. Likewise, blueberries are also a great snack for your chameleon to add nutrients that aren’t readily available in their usual meals.
However, like anything you feed your chameleon, certain precautions need to be taken to ensure that the fruit doesn’t cause any harm to your chameleon.
Blueberry naturally wouldn’t be harmful to chameleons if served properly. Hence, there are a couple of precautions for you to take before serving blueberries to your chameleon.
Appropriate Amount
Blueberry as a snack would add a lot of nutrients to your chameleon’s body. Nevertheless, like everything else, if your chameleon is overfed with blueberries, it could be dangerous for its health.
Thus, make sure to judge accurately and only place appropriate amounts of blueberry on your chameleon’s food bowl.
The appropriate amount of blueberries to feed an average fully grown chameleon would be 3 to 4 blueberries at a time. This should only be done once a week as a snack. However, this will also depend on the size of your chameleon, the bigger the more you can feed it.
Chameleons enjoy a good snack as much as anyone else. So, if you place a large number of blueberries for it, your chameleon would eat all of them.
This would cause your chameleon to overeat and make it feel nauseate and become very uncomfortable. Furthermore, due to the high content of water in blueberries, it could also cause your chameleon to get bloated.
This may also lead to your chameleon disliking blueberries and avoiding them in the future. Therefore, make sure to always only place the right amount of blueberry for your chameleon’s consumption.
Blueberry Size
Chameleons enjoy chewing on their food in their mouth. If the blueberry is big in size, it wouldn’t discourage your chameleon from eating it.
Instead, your chameleon will fight its way into eating and swallowing the blueberry. By doing that, your chameleon invites problems like choking, impaction and constipation.
As we know, all these 3 scenarios are dangerous for chameleons and could lead to a fatal end if not immediately mended. Furthermore, chameleons have their trachea opening on the bottom of their mouth.
Given that blueberries contents a high dosage of water, when your chameleon tries to bite onto a bigger size blueberry, it may accidentally cause the outflowing juice to flow into its lungs and drown it.
Thus, make sure to only place small size blueberries for your chameleon to enjoy. If the blueberry is bigger than your chameleon’s mouth, then cut the fruit down into smaller pieces to avoid putting your chameleon through unwanted health complications.
Pesticide Dangers In Blueberry
Unfortunately, blueberry plants are grown with the use of lots of pesticides. The United States Department of Agriculture has stated there are more than 50 different types of pesticide residues clinging to the conventional blueberries you buy in the stores.
These pesticides are used on blueberry plants mainly to get rid of insects attacking the fruits. However, the residue that remains on the fruit is still harmful to be fed to your chameleon.
If you proceed to feed your chameleon blueberries with residue pesticides, it may cause your chameleon to endue food poisoning. There are a couple of ways to avoid accidentally poisoning your chameleon with pesticide residues on blueberry.
The easier option would be to invest in organic blueberries. This may not always be viable as it’s much more expensive and harder to acquire than conventional blueberries.
To serve your chameleon conventional blueberries yet avoid causing pesticide poisoning, I suggest washing, rubbing, and scrubbing the blueberries after purchase to remove the pesticide residues clinging to the blueberries.
How to Feed Blueberries to Chameleons?
Chameleons are naturally very revolting against new food. Given that blueberry is a type of fruit, it would be harder to gain your chameleon’s attention to try out this new snack.
Blueberry comes with lots of beneficial vitamins and minerals that will do wonders for your chameleon’s health. Hence, it is important to employ the right methods in introducing the fruit to your chameleon.
If your chameleon dislikes blueberries at introduction, it will be hard to reintroduce the fruit to it again. Before going on to feed your chameleon blueberries, be sure to first wash the fruit clean and remove any dirt on it.
Furthermore, ensure that the blueberries placed for your chameleon are at the right size and appropriate amount. Here are a few ways to feed blueberries to your chameleon.
Feed By Hand
Chameleons are intelligent animals, yet they get anxious when fed a new type of food. It does indeed take a lot for a chameleon to trust anything easily, and that includes a new food being served to them.
However, captive chameleons are attentive to their owners. Therefore, it’s a good idea to use this trust your chameleon has in you to begin introducing blueberries to them.
Although it’s something new to your chameleon, since it is coming from a trusted hand, the chameleon would attempt to try out the food at least. This method of feeding through the hand is widely used by many experienced chameleon owners.
In fact, it is a widely recommended method to introduce new foods to your chameleon. If you have achieved success through this method and your chameleon is already enjoying blueberries, then you can move on to the next way of feeding it blueberries.
Feed Through A Food Bowl
The more conventional way to feed your chameleon would be through a food bowl. Captive chameleons are commonly fed their daily diets through a food bowl.
This is done after the food is introduced to your chameleon through hand feeding. To slowly transition blueberries into your chameleon’s diet, it’s best to serve blueberries in combination with insects.
By doing this, your chameleon will pay attention to the bowl of blueberries. As time passes, you could begin serving blueberries by themselves to your chameleon as a snack.
Try not to load your chameleon’s food bowl with too many blueberries to prevent your chameleon from overeating and blueberries from drying up. Blueberries shouldn’t be kept out for more than 4 hours.
Once the blueberry is dried, it would have neither the water content nor the vitamins and minerals left in it. Eating a dried up blueberry is not healthy for your chameleon. Hence, ensure to only place appropriate amounts of blueberry on your chameleon’s bowl for its consumption.
Gut Loading
There is always a chance that your chameleon will not have a liking for blueberries. Even if you had tried both the other ways to feed blueberry to your chameleon, there are no guarantees that it will enjoy the fruit.
Hence, if you would still like for your chameleon to absorb the nutrients found in blueberry, there’s just 1 other way left. This way has been commonly used by many pet owners to feed chameleons food they dislike.
The method of feeding your chameleon through gut loading is widely practiced by many different pet owners, not just chameleon owners. Gut loading is fundamentally feeding your chameleon fruits and vegetables through insects.
By feeding the blueberry first to the insect, and then feeding the insect to your chameleon, you will be indirectly loading your chameleon’s guts with all the nutrients found in the blueberry. By doing this, your chameleon gets tricked into consuming the blueberry it dislikes.
How Often to Feed Chameleons Blueberry?
Like any other fruit or vegetable, chameleons shouldn’t be fed the same meal frequently. It is advised to include fruits like blueberries in your chameleon’s diet, however with the condition of alternating with several different fruits.
Blueberry is recommended to be fed only once every alternating week to your chameleon. The nutrients found in blueberries would make your chameleon healthy, but overloading your chameleon with too many of the same vitamins and minerals would be toxic to it.
Furthermore, there are other vitamins and minerals that are required by your chameleon that may not be available in blueberries. Thus, by rotating blueberries with other fruits as snacks, you will be able to include the nutrients not found in blueberries in your chameleon’s diet as well.
What Happens If You Feed Chameleon Blueberry Too Often?
Blueberry is a healthy fruit for your chameleon. However, if blueberries are overly fed to your chameleon frequently, it could be detrimental to its health. On top of that, you would also risk making your chameleon get bored of it.
Unlike many animals, chameleons take days to get the food in their stomach digested. Hence, if blueberry is fed on a daily basis, you also risk overloading your chameleon’s digestive system with blueberries.
This would not just lead to complications in your chameleon’s kidneys and livers, but also to its digestive system. Moreover, in the long term, it would lead to a shorter life span for your chameleon.
Therefore, do not feed your chameleons with blueberries too frequently. It is best to follow the try and tested suggestion of feeding your chameleon blueberries once every alternating week.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, chameleons can eat blueberries. Blueberries are also rich in minerals and vitamins and would make a good addition to your chameleon’s dietary intake.
However, there are some precautions that need to be carefully taken to ensure that your chameleon is not accidentally fed blueberries wrongly. The most dangerous part of blueberries is that it could still have some residue pesticide if not properly cleaned, and this may lead to poisoning.
Nevertheless, your chameleon cannot be fed blueberries too frequently as it could be harmful. Blueberries are best served once every alternating week for your chameleon to get the most out of it.
They are a fantastic snack for your chameleon, as long you remember to clean it up properly and serve it in appropriate amounts and size.
