Chameleons are known to eat vegetables and fruits, yet some fruits and vegetable are harmful to them, what about oranges? Oranges are amongst the most famous types of fruits. Originating from the citrus family, oranges are best known for their high content of vitamin C.
However, do chameleons eat oranges? Are oranges safe for chameleons to consume?
Chameleons can and do eat oranges. Against popular belief that citrus is harmful to chameleons, they actually do feed on oranges. Nevertheless, certain precautions will need to be taken before serving oranges to your pet chameleon.
Oranges or orange juice is recommended by many health professionals for humans to consume daily. The main reason for this is the ability of oranges to increase the strength of a human’s immune system.
This is also somewhat true for chameleons, although there are parts of the orange fruit that can cause harm to the health of your chameleon.
We are well aware that oranges contain a high percentage of vitamin C, but what are the other vitamins and minerals found in oranges, and how does it affect your chameleon?
Nutrients Found In Oranges That Will Benefit Chameleons
Generally, fruits contain a relatively high amount of nutrients that would aid the development and improves the wellbeing of chameleons.
Oranges do so too, as it is abundantly rich with several vitamins and minerals. To provide the best diet for chameleons, a mix of fruit and vegetable with insects are required.
Oranges play a positive part in providing the chameleon with nutrients that would enhance their health.
Vitamin A
Beta-carotene is another common term used for vitamin A. The benefits of including vitamin A in your chameleon’s diet include healthy eyes, strong gums, and teeth.
Moreover, it also increases muscle strength. Some species, like humans, can produce vitamin A through their body by consuming pro-vitamin A in their diet.
However, this is not applicable for chameleons. Chameleons’ body does not have what it takes to produce vitamin A by simply consuming pro-vitamin A.
Hence, it is best advised to feed chameleons meals that are rich in vitamin A. Fortunately, the orange fruit ticks this box. When your chameleon lacks vitamin A in their diet, it could lead to health complications.
The most obvious sign of vitamin A deficiencies found in chameleons is swollen eyes. There had also been incidents of female chameleons giving birth to or laying eggs with poor hatchling health that relates to the lack of vitamin A in the chameleon’s diet.
Therefore, the importance of vitamin A in the diet of your pet chameleon cannot be overlooked.
Vitamin B-6
Another vitamin that is essential to the health of your chameleon found in oranges is vitamin B6. Another term used for vitamin B6 is pyridoxine.
Pyridoxine is very important in the formation of new red blood cells for chameleons. Furthermore, pyridoxine also functions as a neurotransmitter.
It is vital to include vitamin B6 in your chameleon’s diet as it is not readily present in their body. Likewise, a chameleon’s body cannot produce its own vitamin B6.
The formation of new red blood cells will rejuvenate the cells in your chameleon’s body. In addition to that, the formation of new blood cells will also promote a healthier heart for your chameleon.
Moreover, vitamin B6 will also enhance your chameleon’s skin condition and build a stronger immune system for it. As chameleon pet owners, we are all aware of the importance of eyesight for chameleons.
Therefore, it is crucial for us to always ensure our chameleon’s eyesight is healthy. Even when it comes to the food we serve, the chameleon wouldn’t eat it unless it can first scan through the food with its eyes.
Having a lack of vitamin B6 in your chameleon’s diet will be detrimental to their eye health. Vitamin B6 deficiency would also affect the condition of your chameleon’s heart.
Thus, by including oranges in your chameleon’s diet, you will ensure that your pet chameleon receives its required dose of vitamin B6.
Vitamin C
Oranges are extremely rich in vitamin C. it is estimated that each slice of orange contains approximately 88% of vitamin C.
It is also commonly known that oranges are the best fruit to consume for their high volume of vitamin C. Vitamin C is generally known as ascorbic acid.
The importance of vitamin C in a chameleon’s diet cannot be underestimated. Vitamin C is necessary for both juvenile chameleons and also fully grown chameleons as it’s crucial for healthy growth and development in chameleons.
In addition to that, vitamin C is also vital for the recovery and repairing of body tissues. If your chameleon had been injured or wounded, it must absorb vitamin C in its diet to further enhance the healing of its wounds.
If you look back at your childhood days, you would recall that at every visit to the doctors’, you will be afforded a chewable vitamin C. The vitamin C was given to us, kids then to improve the strength of our immune system against viruses and flu.
Likewise, even for chameleons vitamin C helps in strengthening their immune system against unwanted viruses and flu. Furthermore, with a sufficient dose of vitamin C in your chameleon’s diet, their ability to absorb iron from other meals will also be enhanced.
Vitamin C is also important in maintaining the strength of your chameleon’s teeth, cartilages, and also their bone structure. If your chameleon were to lack vitamin C from their diet, it would eventually affect their entire body system and health.
Nevertheless, vitamin C is commonly found in most food that is present in a chameleon’s diet, anything from insects to fruits and vegetables. Yet, it is in oranges that vitamin C content is found to be the highest.
Calcium
As it’s commonly known, calcium is always promoted to be very important for the strength and formation of bones and teeth in us humans. The same also applies to chameleons.
Calcium is the main mineral required by your pet chameleon to keep their bone structure including their teeth strong and healthy. Oranges contain a sufficient amount of calcium to ensure your chameleon would receive its required amount of daily calcium dosage.
Lack of calcium in chameleons relates to a very bad condition and your chameleon’s bones will begin to become brittle. This is especially unhealthy as brittle bones could easily break and it will also affect the chameleon’s movement as the bones may not be strong enough to support their weight.
The scariest part of your chameleon lacking calcium is it makes them prone to contracting metabolic bone disease (MBD), which could be fatal to chameleons.
On the other hand, chameleons cannot overdose on calcium. If you have fed your chameleon too many different meals with high calcium content, your chameleon would just excrete the excess calcium through its feces.
Carbohydrates
Almost all living organisms require carbohydrates in their diet and chameleons are no different. The main advantage of having carbohydrates in your chameleon’s diet is to provide them with energy throughout the day.
Although we have come to commonly acknowledge carbohydrates to be present in dishes like rice, noodle, and wheat, let it be known that carbohydrate is also present in fruits and vegetables.
In this case, oranges also contain carbohydrates. When your chameleon consumes oranges, it will also be absorbing the carbohydrates in the oranges.
A lack of carbohydrates in your chameleon’s diet would make it react less energetically. It would seem your chameleon is being lazy, however, it is just the effects of not having sufficient energy due to the lack of carbohydrates in its system.
Magnesium
Similar to the above-mentioned vitamins and minerals, magnesium is also important to be included in a chameleon’s diet. In addition to the vitamin B6 present in oranges, magnesium also enhances the blood circulation system in the body of the chameleon.
This automatically improves the heart health of your chameleon. Magnesium works alongside vitamin B6 to regulate the flow of red blood cells. On top of that, magnesium also supports the absorption of calcium in the body of your chameleon.
Fiber
Yet again, when we recall our childhood, most of us would remember how much we disliked vegetables. Yet as we grew, we realized the importance of having fiber in our daily diet.
Similarly, it is also important to include fiber in your chameleon’s diet. The main function of fiber is to assist in breaking down food in the stomach to help out in the body’s digestive system.
Thus, fiber helps in preventing constipation in your pet chameleon. Furthermore, fiber also plays a crucial role in preventing impaction in chameleons.
Impaction is a condition that all chameleon pet owners will try their best to avoid. Chameleons will have impaction when the food eaten by the chameleon gets caught or stuck in their digestive tracts.
In the worst-case scenario, impaction can lead to death for your chameleon. Therefore, it is important to ensure that there is fiber included in your chameleon’s diet often.
Oranges are fruits that contain fiber, it is estimated that an orange fruit contains about nine percent worth of fiber.
Protein
Protein is a very important nutrient that is required in the diet of almost all animals, and this includes chameleons. It is important in terms of developing the body of a chameleon and also assisting in healing wounded tissues.
Moreover, proteins have been classified by experts to be essential in helping chameleons shed their skin better. The best source of protein for your chameleon would be from their diet of dry food, most notably insects.
However, there is also approximately 1% worth of protein found in oranges. It might not be much but it makes for a good additional amount of protein to be included in the diet of your pet chameleon.
Potassium
Potassium is another mineral that is vastly found in oranges and it works as both a mineral and an electrolyte for your chameleon.
The most important role of potassium in the diet of your chameleon is for muscle work. Among the muscles that benefit from potassium absorption by your chameleon’s body is the heart muscles.
Similar to calcium, potassium also assists in controlling the heartbeat of your chameleon through its muscles. Thus, potassium indirectly plays a part in regulating your chameleon’s breathing as well.
There is no need to worry about overloading your chameleon with potassium. Your chameleon’s body will absorb the required potassium and any excessive amount of potassium will be removed through its kidneys.
If your chameleon is lacking from potassium intake, you would notice them to be weak and inactive. Therefore, it is always recommended to include potassium in your chameleon’s daily food intake.
Oranges contain a good 5% of potassium per serving and would be a good option to include for your chameleon to absorb potassium from.
Precautions When Feeding Oranges to Chameleons
Just like any other meal served to chameleons, precautions have to be taken for oranges too. If the orange fruit is wrongly served to your chameleon, it could lead to health complications.
There are parts of the oranges that are not healthy for your chameleon. Furthermore, there is certain nutrition in oranges that could cause disturbance to your chameleon’s health if not properly administered.
Oranges Are Highly Acidic
As commonly known, oranges are from the citrus family. Hence, the content of acidity in oranges is much higher in comparison to other fruits and vegetables.
Chameleons generally dislike foods that are highly acidic or bitter. Due to their highly acidic nature, oranges if overly fed to chameleons, could also hurt their stomach linings.
Chameleon stomach linings are very thin and susceptible to damages caused by highly acidic food. Moreover, chameleons are also known to be repulsive to citrus fruits with high acidic value.
Therefore, for your chameleon to obtain all the minerals and vitamins in oranges yet not have their stomach linings hurt in the process, it’s best to only feed oranges occasionally.
Excessive Vitamin C
As previously mentioned, oranges are very highly concentrated with vitamin C. Although vitamin C is important and useful for chameleons, too much vitamin C is harmful to them.
With excess vitamin C in their system, it may cause your chameleon to experience diarrhea or nausea. Vitamin C is not readily available in chameleons, but it is readily present in almost all the food a chameleon does consume.
When different types of food are served to your chameleon, there is a chance for it to have obtained too much vitamin C from its meals.
As there are no proper ways to excrete the excess vitamin C from your chameleon’s body, it would then tend to remove the extra vitamin C by attempting to spit it out or through its feces.
However, as it is an involuntary action, this would lead to the chameleon experiencing vomiting or diarrhea.
Orange Seeds
Fruit seeds to chameleons are like kryptonite to Superman. All fruit seeds are dangerous to chameleons. The danger comes from the inability of your chameleon’s digestive system to break down the seeds.
This causes the seeds to be lodged in your chameleon’s stomach and could lead to impaction or constipation. Fortunately, orange seeds are big and could be removed before serving the orange to your chameleon.
However, if you had accidentally forgotten to remove the seeds before feeding them to your chameleon, take it to a vet to have the vet assist it in removing the lodged seeds.
Although it doesn’t sound like a critical issue, in the long run, the lodged seeds in your chameleon’s stomach would be unhealthy.
Orange Core
Orange core, like most other fruit cores, are thicker than the other parts of the fruit. Although we can eat them, chameleons are not meant to eat the core of fruits.
Due to the thickness of the core, it becomes difficult for chameleons to chew on it and swallow in small sizes. With that said, the chances of the core of oranges being lodged in your chameleon’s stomach are high.
With the core stuck in your chameleon’s stomach, it could harm the health of your chameleon. This could also lead to impaction or constipation for your chameleon.
Furthermore, given the core of the orange is thick and rough, it could also get stuck in your chameleon’s throat as it attempts to swallow it.
This could lead to your chameleon getting choked. Thus, just like orange seeds, it’s also crucial to remove the core of the orange fruit before serving it to your chameleon.
Orange Rind (Skin)
The orange rind or orange zest is the colored outer skin of the fruit. Very much similar to the seeds and core of the orange fruit, it is also harmful to chameleons to consume the orange skin.
Like the core, orange peel is also much tougher and thicker than the fruit itself. Other than causing constipation or impaction, orange rind being the outer part of the fruit, makes it susceptible to have toxic pesticides on the surface.
Given the number of harmful chemicals in industrial pesticides, it’s obvious to never feed your pet chameleon orange rinds.
Even after carefully washing the orange, there will still be a residue of pesticide on the skin of the fruit. It’s best to just entirely avoid feeding any parts of orange peel to your chameleon.
Fruit Size
Orange fruit, after removing the seed, core and skin are very much full of juice and easy to chew on. However, to assist with your chameleon’s digestion, it’s recommended to feed them the orange fruit in small slices.
If the fruit portion is too large for the chameleon to chew on, there is a high possibility that your chameleon would attempt to swallow it whole. This leads to a big portion of the orange getting stuck in the throat of your chameleon and causing it to choke.
Even if your chameleon were to have successfully swallowed the big portion of orange, it could lead to indigestion in its stomach. This would then lead to impaction inside the chameleon’s stomach and could also cause your chameleon to constipate.
In addition to that, when your chameleon attempts to chew on a big portion of orange it may also lead to the juice from the fruit accidentally flowing into your chameleon’s lungs. This would also cause your pet chameleon to choke on the orange juice.
Due to the entrance of chameleon’s trachea placed at the bottom of their mouth, this becomes possible. Although the trachea opening usually stays shut when the throat is open, when your chameleon is taking too long to chew on the large portion of orange, it may open the trachea to breathe.
This is when the juice from the orange can accidentally flow into the lungs and cause your chameleon to choke. Hence the importance of making sure the orange is cut to small portions that can easily fit into your chameleon’s mouth before serving it to them.
How to Feed Oranges to Chameleons?
Several methods can be employed to feed your chameleon oranges. Chameleons naturally are repulsive towards citrus fruits. However, the benefits of the vitamins and minerals contained in oranges are of great help to the health of chameleons.
Thus, it’s essential to practice the right method of feeding to introduce oranges into your chameleon’s diet. Furthermore, it is important to clean the fruit and remove any underlying dirt before serving it to your chameleon.
In addition to that, be sure to have removed all seeds, the orange core, and the orange fruit skin as well. Besides, don’t forget to make sure that the orange is served in small portions to help your chameleon digest it easier and also to avoid it getting harmed.
Feed By Hand
Chameleons are very intelligent yet cautious animals. It is not easy for a chameleon to trust anything immediately and that includes a new type of food being served to them.
However, as they are mindful of their pet owners, it’s good practice to use the trust they have placed on us to slowly introduce oranges to them. Even though it’s a new snack being served to them, they would at least attempt it when fed through their pet owners’ hands.
This is a tested method that many chameleon owners have used to introduce new foods to their chameleons. Once this method has been successfully tried, you can slowly start utilizing the next method to feed oranges to your chameleon.
Feed Through Food Bowl
The common convenient way to feed your chameleon is by using a food bowl. On a normal day, your chameleon should be used to consuming their food through the food bowl.
Yet when it’s a new dish being served, there’s a high chance of your chameleon avoiding or rejecting the food. In such a case, it’s better to start by feeding with your hands.
When utilizing the food bowl to serve chameleons orange at the beginning, serve the oranges with some insects as well. This will serve to attract the chameleon’s attention towards the food bowl.
Otherwise, oranges could also be served separately as a snack. Try to not overload your chameleon’s bowl with oranges. Oranges when placed out on a plate, should not be kept for more than 4 hours as it will start to dry out.
Dried out oranges no longer contain any nutrients and are actually unhealthy. Thus, make sure to place just enough pieces of orange for your chameleon to eat.
Gut Loading
Gut loading is a common practice that has been used by many pet owners. Basically, it is feeding the fruit or vegetable to an insect to consume.
Then, the insect is fed to the chameleon. This way, your chameleon assumes that it’s actually eating the insect, but indirectly, it is also consuming the orange.
This method comes in very handy when your chameleon is against eating oranges and keeps rejecting them but you still want them to get the benefits of oranges.
By gut loading your chameleon, you get to ensure your chameleon is gaining the health benefits of the orange without directly eating the orange.
How Often to Feed Chameleons Oranges
Oranges make up a good snack for your chameleon. Nonetheless, it would be a bad idea to feed them oranges too often. As mentioned earlier, there are reasons why oranges cannot be fed too often for chameleons such as the high content of vitamin C and acidic levels.
Oranges are a delicacy that we all enjoy. As for chameleons, they don’t fancy oranges too much. However, upon eating oranges, chameleons tend to enjoy the taste of it. Still, it is ill-advised to serve your chameleon oranges often.
The suggested period upon which to feed chameleons oranges is once every fortnight.
This is a good practice as it will ensure your chameleon doesn’t absorb excessive amounts of vitamin C. By only serving your chameleon oranges once every 14 days, you also avoid filling their stomach with high levels of acid coming from the orange.
It is also important to note that gut loading insects with oranges before feeding it to your chameleons are considered feeding your chameleon oranges as well. Thus, be cautious not to feed or gut load your chameleon with oranges more than once every fortnight.
What Happens If Chameleon Is Fed Oranges Often?
Oranges are acidic fruit and it’s not endorsed to feed chameleons with highly acidic foods. Although it’s okay to feed your chameleon oranges once a while but feeding them oranges too often can cause problems.
Stomach & Digestion Issues
The first problem when you feed oranges to your chameleon too often is that the acidic level in its stomach would increase. This causes your chameleon’s stomach lining to start thinning due to the acidic levels in their stomach eating it up from the inside.
There are also digestion problems that begin affecting your chameleon due to excessive vitamin C due to the frequent consumption of oranges.
Inferior Calcium Absorption
Furthermore, oranges are also known to contain oxalic acid. Oxalic acid is very harmful to your chameleon’s body if consumed too often.
Unlike ascorbic acid that increases the pH value of your chameleon’s stomach contents, oxalic acid does not disturb its stomach at all. Instead, oxalic acid when absorbed by the body would combine with calcium and react to form crystals.
These crystals would cause your chameleon to have lumps around its body. However, the more critical issue your chameleon would face from consuming oxalic acid often is lack of calcium in their body.
Oxalic acid will block the absorption of calcium by the chameleon’s body by chemically reacting with calcium absorb by your chameleon to form crystals. This would lead to your chameleon having a deficiency in calcium.
As you would be aware by now, a shortage of calcium would cause your chameleon’s bones to become brittle. What’s worst, this may also lead to metabolic bone disease that is known to be fatal for chameleons.
So, even if your chameleon is in love with eating oranges, do avoid feeding it oranges too often.
Conclusion
Ultimately, chameleons can eat oranges and they are indeed a very healthy snack for your chameleon. Oranges are readily rich in vitamins and minerals.
Nevertheless, it may also cause harm to your chameleon if not properly administered. Certain precautions have to be taken before serving oranges to your chameleon.
If your chameleon dislikes oranges then allow them to gain the supplements of oranges through gut loading. However, it’s best to only include oranges in your chameleon’s diet once every fortnight.
The buildup of acid reflux and excessive vitamin C could be dangerous for chameleons. We don’t want to pamper our pet chameleons too much to the extent of harming them, do we?
