Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, recently I went on vacation for 3 days in which time my mom was taking care of the chameleon, in which time she had fed him some meal worms, but didn;'t put them on a plate/bowl, last time this happened, I found the dead ones burried in the substrate, she didn't watch him eat, but said she saw him go for one, and he's got a good healthy appetite, should I just get all the substrate out of there and change it? or would this not be necessary? should I just search around the surface of the soil and leave it at that?

I never use a substrate with any of my chameleons.
Substrates can stick to the chameleon's tongue and be ingested
and cause impaction. Some chameleons eat soil/sand even when
they are not accidentally getting it into their mouth when they
are shooting at an insect.

Just my two cents worth.