# Panther ate some bark!



## Kimmi67 (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi, new to the forum so hope I'm doing it right!
I got my 1st Panther yesterday, private sale, complete setup. Victor, a blue bar Panther chameleon is just 1 year old.
He's seems to be doing great, not stressed from the move or anything. 
The lady I got him from had some sort of bark chippings in the bottom which I thought shouldn't be used, but as he's so healthy & that's what he's used to, I left the setup as it was. The problem is when he caught a locust this morning he got a bit of the chippings as well & swallowed the whole lot down! I'm worried now in case this does him harm! Any advice would be very grateful, I'm going to be worrying til I know!!


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## CloudForest (Nov 27, 2013)

very unlikely it will cause any problem at all, don't worry; reptiles eat bits of substrate all the time, both in the wild and in captivity, and as long as they have correct husbandry then it wont be an issue


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## Kimmi67 (Jul 14, 2015)

Thanks for that Cloudforest. After no one replied on here I trawled the Internet & after reading all the horrendous "impacted" stories I was just about to put the vet on high alert & make camp outside his viv for a 24/7 watch! I will still replace the substrate though & keep a close eye on him. Thanks again for replying


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## CloudForest (Nov 27, 2013)

bark is a great substrate, holds humidity well, without holding to much bactiria/mold/fungi - no need to replace it


any substrate is dangerous if the temps/humidity/diet/lighting is incorrect, people blame the substrate because they don't like to be told that the problem was actually their husbandry - that is the only thing you need to be concerned about (with the exception of cedar/pine substrates which of course should never be used for reptiels)


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

Keep an eye on him but unlikely to cause much problem. I use soil with my panthers since I have bioactive/live plants in the enclosures. Perhaps newspaper is the safest substrate around but it sure as hell isn't very natural, needs changing a lot and doesn't hold the humidity well. Picking a substrate is a delicate balance between the risks of impaction and creating the right home for him rather than a sterile box.


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## Kimmi67 (Jul 14, 2015)

I've been looking on the Internet at reptile substrate & it looks like beech chippings. What about the viv mats/ carpets? Are these any good?


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## GavinMc (Jan 9, 2013)

The beech chips are going to be the same as the bark. I would keep the bark but just pop a nice layer of leaf litter over it.



Gavin.


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## Kimmi67 (Jul 14, 2015)

No, I meant it was beach chippings that he ate. I didn't know what it was till I looked it up. The previous owner said he always used to eat chunks out of his wooden branches so she changed them. 
I'd rather have something that he's not gonna eat cos I'll be worried to death all the time!


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## GavinMc (Jan 9, 2013)

Sorry, I read it as you searching the internet and then deciding beech chips would be a good choice to replace orchid bark. I was hoping nobody was that silly. 

Many chameleon keepers don't bother with a substrate. I don't keep cham's but I would use a soil based substrate with a layer of leaf litter over it. If this was ingested then it would simple pass through the body without any problems as long as your temperatures and humidity, among other things, are correct. 

Natural is certainly the best way to do things, in my opinion, but vinyl and these carpets will do. 



Gavin.


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## Kimmi67 (Jul 14, 2015)

Athravan said:


> Keep an eye on him but unlikely to cause much problem. I use soil with my panthers since I have bioactive/live plants in the enclosures. Perhaps newspaper is the safest substrate around but it sure as hell isn't very natural, needs changing a lot and doesn't hold the humidity well. Picking a substrate is a delicate balance between the risks of impaction and creating the right home for him rather than a sterile box.


Yeah that's the way I think I'll go. I want some nice live plants instead of everything plastic. The guy in my local reptile place said that the plantation tropical soil would be ok. Think it's coconut husk based. What do you use?


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## Kimmi67 (Jul 14, 2015)

gavgav04 said:


> Sorry, I read it as you searching the internet and then deciding beech chips would be a good choice to replace orchid bark. I was hoping nobody was that silly.
> 
> Many chameleon keepers don't bother with a substrate. I don't keep cham's but I would use a soil based substrate with a layer of leaf litter over it. If this was ingested then it would simple pass through the body without any problems as long as your temperatures and humidity, among other things, are correct.
> 
> ...


No, I'm not that silly lol. Gonna head away from anything that could harm him if swallowed!


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## CloudForest (Nov 27, 2013)

if you want plants, which is a good idea not just for aesthetics, then you want a bioactive substrate, a mix of graded top soil and coir will do fine (60/40) - get some tropical woodlice and springtails in there aswell, and combined with the plants, they will cleanup after your chameleon nicely  aswell as helping to maintain a nice stable humidity level, and with virtually zero risk of impaction (as long as your husbandry is correct, as I said, the substrate is not the risk, its bad temps/humidity & lighting, and feeders that arnt gutloaded properly that is the problem)


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