Calcium is known to the world as the mineral that chameleons need, to be healthy. Many animals, including humans, need calcium as well. So what makes chameleons so special? Do chameleons need calcium in their diet or will they be just fine without it?
Chameleons do need calcium as it is an essential nutrient in their diet. Without calcium, they are very susceptible to bone-related diseases. Chameleons shed almost monthly as well, which removes most of their calcium storage in their bodies.
From when we were young, we have been taught that we need calcium in our bodies to build a stronger one. It is more prominent than ever when it comes to chameleons. Reptiles don’t get enough calcium in their diet even though their live food is rich in it. But why is calcium needed for chameleons?
Why Do Chameleons Need Calcium?
Calcium is one of the essential minerals that should be included in every diet. It is used by the body to keep the bones strong and the neural systems functional. Without calcium, bones will become brittle or even rubbery, unable to hold up the weight of the body.
For Storage
For most living things, calcium is stored in the bones and the teeth. This is why calcium helps to reinforce them as they make up most of the building blocks.
Without calcium, our bones and teeth will be more hollow inside which makes them much more brittle. Chameleons, on the other hand, don’t just store calcium in their bones and teeth.
They also store calcium in their skin, which makes up a very large part of their body. When a chameleon sheds, it loses a very large proportion of its calcium storage.
This is why you will see chameleons eat their shed when they are shedding. It’s only among one of the many reasons, as you can read here in this article, but this is by far the most important reason why.
All animals have the innate ability to realize the nutrient they lack, hence they will try to replenish it by all means possible.
To Prevent Metabolic Bone Disease
Metabolic Bone Disease, or MBD, is a disease where bones start to demineralize. It is one of the most frequently seen diseases to occur to a chameleon due to the lack of calcium in their diet.
You can’t just reinforce bones with non-existent calcium out of thin air. This will cause their bones to bend and their jaws to have a consistency like rubber.
In light cases, chameleons will not be able to eat solid foods nor will they be able to climb as usual. Severe cases will have the chameleon completely incapacitated in many ways.
They completely lose the ability to climb and hunt, leaving them almost useless. Not only that, but their rib cage will be so brittle that it can’t even protect the internal organs anymore.
This will lead them to a long and torturous death, which is why giving them the right amount of calcium is important.
How Do Wild Chameleons Get Calcium?
It is unclear how wild chameleons get calcium. There are several theories suggested by scientists to explain how chameleons get a healthy and balanced calcium intake in the wild, where everything is so random.
It is suggested that since there are so many plants in the wild, the insects that wild chameleons eat are bound to be filled with calcium. There’s also the possibility that wild chameleons might eat dust deposits on the leaves as a source of calcium.
Calcium comes from bones so an occasional vertebrae prey may be enough to provide them with the right amount of calcium as well. Chameleons rarely eat anything but bugs, however, it is still possible since they are omnivores.
How to Provide Captive Chameleons With Calcium?
Calcium can be given in different ways when chameleons are kept captive. This includes changing some things in their diet or supplementing their current diet with calcium sources.
At the end of the day, this will all depend on your preference and convenience. Some are easier to do than others.
Have A Variety of Food
Chameleons can benefit a lot from a simple change in their diet. Try to include as many varieties of live food or dried food as you can.
Not only does it keep them invested in eating the food, but it also supplements them for whatever they are missing. Crickets, roaches, and Superworms are great sources of calcium but your chameleon can’t just be eating these all the time.
As mentioned before, they need a large variety of foods or they will get fed up with eating very soon. You can also include more fruits and vegetables that are rich in calcium in your chameleon’s diet.
Not only does this switch up the diet a little, but it also allows chameleons to absorb vitamins and minerals that they won’t get from meat sources like Vitamin C.
Vegetables like bok choy and soybeans are great choices that won’t harm your chameleon. So are fruits like oranges, which happen to be high in Vitamin C as well.
Calcium Supplements
Just like for humans, there any many calcium supplements out there that you can buy for your chameleon. These come in the form of either supplement dust or a mineral-rich gut load that you add to their current diet.
Calcium supplement dust is very easy to use and only requires you to sprinkle it. Just sprinkle it over their live food and they will absorb it as your chameleon eats.
Some calcium supplements even come with flavor to keep the food interesting as well. You can also try gut loading but it is a little more complex. There are gut loads for chameleons directly but not all chameleons like to eat it.
It will be easier to buy nutritious gut load for their live food instead and fill their live food with nutritious minerals. This will then transfer over to the chameleon when they eat them.
Nutritional Transfer (Gut Loading)
You are what you eat. Whenever live food eats certain foods, whatever they eat will be absorbed. The same happens when a chameleon eats those live foods.
Nutrition from the live food will transfer to the chameleon when eaten. The next time you keep live food, try to feed them nutritious fruits and vegetables.
Whatever nutritional value in those foods will then be transferred to your chameleon. This also prevents you from overloading your chameleon with too much food which causes impaction.
Impaction is very common among reptiles, so you’re going to want to avoid that to your best abilities. There are many foods made specifically for live food as well.
Look around your local pet store on your next visit or just ask. They’ll be more than happy enough to help you.
More UVB
It may sound strange but it’s true. UVB lights are used by the body to create Vitamin D which is then used to synthesize calcium. Most of the time, insufficient calcium may be a result of the body not producing enough D3 to make it active.
Keep the UVB levels in your chameleon’s enclosure right to ensure that they are producing enough Vitamin D to activate calcium. A 5.0 UVB bulb with a 13w output is more than enough for the UVB needs.
Either that, or you can put them outside in the sunlight for them to absorb natural light. This ensures that the passive calcium in their bodies gets activated hence giving them more access to usable calcium.
Don’t worry about your chameleons getting too much UVB because that is not possible. Now that you know how to give your chameleon calcium, you must be wondering how often you should do it.
How Often Should Chameleons Get Calcium?
There isn’t enough research to see just how much calcium chameleons need. With that said, we can kind of guess what is the right amount.
Just dust their food with calcium dust as much as you can every time you feed them. Some live foods have high levels of phosphorous which inhibit calcium absorption when taken in high amounts.
This is why it is important to dust your chameleon’s food in calcium dust as much as possible to balance it out. It is highly unlikely for your chameleon to overdose from calcium.
Instead, a chameleon usually overdoses in Vitamin D and not from too much calcium. Therefore, there isn’t a specific need to pay attention to their calcium intake as long as we give them enough.
What Happens When Chameleons Overdose on Calcium?
As I’ve previously mentioned, it is highly unlikely for you to overdose your chameleon with calcium. With that said, it is still possible though however unlikely.
When a chameleon overdose on calcium, a few health complications will occur. Extra calcium that isn’t absorbed with Vitamin D gets trapped within the arteries in the bloodstream.
When it accumulates, plaques form in the bloodstream will threaten the heart and the brain. Not only that, but calcium is also responsible for kidney stones.
Kidney stones cause a lot of pain to a chameleon as their digestive tract is blocked. Since chameleons don’t pass urates in liquid form, the kidney stone will come out with the stool instead.
This risks internal bleeding as the kidney stone damages the internal organs. It’s even possible to develop impaction as well if the kidney stone is large enough to block their digestive tract.
However, you don’t need to worry too much about that though. As I’ve previously mentioned, it is highly unlikely to overdose your chameleon with calcium. As long as they get the appropriate amount of Vitamin D, the calcium in their bodies will be absorbed for better use.
Conclusion
Calcium is essential for chameleons. They are prone to develop metabolic bone disease which tortures them to death slowly and calcium can prevent that.
Chameleons usually don’t get enough calcium through their diets which is why it is important to switch things up. If you feel that your chameleon still isn’t getting enough calcium, there are many supplements sold in pet stores to fill up the gaps.
Or you can take the more natural way by gut loading their live food with calcium-rich foods to transfer it over. It is highly unlikely to overdose your chameleon with calcium, so no special attention is needed.
As long as they have enough Vitamin D in their bodies, they will be able to absorb all of the calcium in their bodies.
