What Fruits Can Chameleons Eat

Are you looking for other things to feed your chameleon besides crickets?

Do you want to feed your chameleon some fruit?

Feeding your pet is one of the fun parts of ownership, especially when it comes to reptiles such as the chameleon.

Everyone always talks about the insects they can eat, but what fruits can chameleons eat?

While chameleons are insectivores, some species will also eat fruit if given some. Fruits safe for chameleons include the following:

• Apples
• Peaches
• Blueberries
• Mango
• Melons
• Bananas
• Cantaloupe

For more information on fruits and their place in the chameleon diet, read on.

Will Chameleons Eat Fruit?

Yes and no.

In the wild, chameleons are insectivores, which means insects make up their entire diet.

A few chameleon species will also eat some vegetation if it spends most of its life near the ground on low growing plants.

These chameleons aren’t usually kept as much and make up some of the smallest chameleons in the world.

However, when presented with fruit, some chameleon species will eat it.

For pet species, veiled chameleons are most likely to eat the fruit in addition to the crickets making up their diet.

Don’t present too much fruit to them; they still need to be eating mostly insects for a healthy diet.

Other pet species will be hit or miss on fruit. If you put fruit in front of your pet and it doesn’t respond, it just doesn’t want fruit, so don’t push it on them.

Panther chameleons will rarely even look at fruits or veggies as food, so don’t even bother with them.

Part of this is their larger size; panther chameleons are more of a predator than some other species, and it hasn’t evolved to need such food.

Fruit’s Place In A Chameleon Diet

If some chameleons eat fruit, do they need them?

What place can fruit serve in the chameleon diet?

Fruit is entirely optional for chameleons.

A good combination of crickets and calcium supplements will provide enough for the chameleon to live a long and healthy life.

Read more about how to feed a chameleon.

Fruit makes a good supplement to this insect-based diet.

Fruits often have more nutrients and calcium to help keep the chameleon’s body in balance.

But you shouldn’t push the fruit if the chameleon is uninterested.

We recommend only offering a few pieces of fruit on the days when you don’t feed the chameleon crickets.

Only feed a few slices or pieces of the fruit of your choice.

Place the fruit near their mouth and see if they’re interested and eat it.

Things To Watch For When Feeding A Chameleon Fruit

There are few things to watch out for and consider if you decide to feed your cham fruit.

This section will cover these considerations. 

Fruit Size

The biggest concern is to make sure the fruit is the appropriate size.

The rule for insects will work in this case as well.

All food fed to chameleons should be smaller than the distance between their eyes.

In the case of fruit, this rule is even more important.

Chams don’t chew their food much; they just ingest it. 

If the fruit is too big or too tough, the chameleon may have a problem with digesting the food.

This could cause an impaction, which may have serious health consequences.

What Fruits A Chameleon Can Eat

Not every fruit is a safe fruit for chameleons to eat.

There are many out there which cause problems for one reason or another.

Stick with these fruits and your pet shouldn’t have a problem (as long as you keep the ideas in this section in mind):

• Apples
• Peaches
• Blueberries
• Mango
• Melons
• Bananas
• Cantaloupe

Core And Seeds Should Be Avoided

Even in the cases of the safe fruit from above, you still need to watch out for the cores and seeds of fruits.

Often, the core of fruit is tougher than the other parts (such as with apples).

This tougher fruit may be harder for the cham’s digestive system to handle.

Seeds are another thing to watch out.

Seeds, when ingested by us, don’t normally cause a problem.

Our bodies are designed to handle the fruit, and our systems digest the tougher and more chemical potent seeds.

Chameleons aren’t meant to eat these things at all.

The seeds may, at best, cause impaction or choking.

At worst, the higher content of the seeds could, in some cases, poison the chameleon.

When cutting and feeding fruit, it’s a MUST to cut far away from any core and remove all seeds from the fruit altogether. 

It’s this reason why blueberries are OK, and strawberries aren’t.

Strawberries have all those seeds already inside them, while blueberries don’t.

Strawberries have the next problem as well.

Citrus Is Not Your Friend

Higher citrus and acidic content are repulsive to chameleons.

They won’t even try to eat something with such a high content, so don’t bother.

The higher acid will seriously negatively affect their digestive system.

Feed Separately From Insects

Don’t feed fruit at the same or even day as when you feel insects.

Chams need the protein and insects much more than the fruit.

But if you start with a fruit or use fruit the same day, you may fill them up, so they eat fewer insects.

Over time, this could result in malnutrition leading to serious conditions like metabolic bone disease.

Conclusion

We hope you found this information on what fruit chameleons can eat helpful.

Apples, peaches, blueberries, mango, melons, bananas, and cantaloupe can make a great supplement to your pet’s diet as long as you take care to feed it in the appropriate amount and size.

Also, take care to watch for cues from your chameleon.

Fruits aren’t a natural part of the chameleon’s diets, so if it doesn’t seem interested, don’t push it on them.

But the nutrients in fruit may help your pet live a longer and healthier life.