Looks like rat to me. Watermelon seeds are too small of an incentive for squirrels. Get a cat or two! They are much better than dogs at deterring rodents because they are proactive. I have 3 of them and they spend 90% of their time napping in my garden: squirrels stay at bay, possums also ( except for one that they tolerate on the fence only - not on the ground-) birds do not pick my fruits or vegetables, no rats, no mice = peace of mind. With nectarines, apricots, grapes, plum, pears, tomatoes, cantaloupes, watermelon etc, in my garden, there would be rodents all over the place if it wasn't for them! If you do not want a cat as a pet, associations are giving "barn cats" they are neutered microchipped and vaccinated, they live in barns/sheds and they do their hunter job. But you need to provide a safe place where they can go when it is too cold or too hot, water, food, vaccines, and vet care. Mine are well fed and are spoiled pets so they don't "over hunt" and sleep on our beds. They run after pests but stop the chase as soon as the critters are out of the garden. Good balance. Squirrels are staying high in the trees ( I like squirrels as long as they don't eat my fruits) I keep a stepladder in between my tomato plants, the cat lays on the upper stair and the birds do not even think about my tomatoes: problem solved.

Roots can stand a lot of jostling. Get a trowel in the pot and loosen the root ball around the edges. If it's not too root bound, you should be able to tease it out. Not critical yet. Hack that towering stem off when you can. It's not critical to do it right now, but it will make re-potting a lot easier. I would treat the spider mites first. You can pull off the webs with a paper towel then apply insecticidal soap. Read the directions and soak the little buggers. Your watering scheme is working - the plant has gotten this far - so keep at it for now. Try to get it more light. Closer to window and lower so all the leaves get some light. Peppers are tough. It will pull through. Dennis

They are from a rainy place.They need drainage , but rain they can do. I use pine bark landscape mulch in the mix along with the cactus soil and perlite. They like to live in trees. The other problem with your plant might be that there are too many individual plants in the pot. People will put multiple cuttings in a pot and then they get way over crowded. I find that they bloom better if the plants have not thaT over population going on. I got one from a swap that the woman was upset over because it never bloomed. There were 15 individual plants in that hanging pot. I got it down to three and it was a blooming fool. I have another E oxipetalum that has had a flush of 50+ flowers at one time. IT is the only plant in a 15 gallons pot. It is BIG.

The plain soil will compact too much in a container so the roots can't penetrate the soil. The worms and bugs create aeration with an in ground garden so dirt/soil is fine. If possible, yank the plants and shake the soil out of the roots and switch to a potting style mix.