Am I overfeeding my cham?

[alexyboo909]

Hello everyone just wanted to ask some questions. My cham Po has quite the appetite which I know is normal. But what I'm not sure of is when to stop giving her food in the day. In the morning I give her 6 meal worms, that are reaaally small and 2 wax worms. she eats all of those up seriously within 10 minutes. So I refill with 6 or 10 more little meal worms and 2 more wax worms. I usually do this three times a day... is that too much? My Po is still young and I know they've got veracious appetites but is that too much? haha don't be worried when I say 6 or 10 meal worms, I promise they're really really teeny like less then a half inch.

 

[jannb]

It depends mainly on her age and then size. Babies can pretty much eat all that they want but I would highly recommend adding other feeders besides just worms.

 

[alexyboo909]

I was giving her little cricket for a while but I live in a dorm and really it's just not ideal for my situation. So when I finally got her to eat worms I was happy. to make up for the fact that she doesn't get crickets I feed her a variety of worms every week. People on here said my Po looks like she's 5 months I've had her for a month and she's already grown so much.

 

[alexyboo909]

Oh but also should I continue feeding her this much or slow it down?

 

[CamiGirl89]

I would try ordering her something with a higher calcium content, like small butterworms or waxworms. Those are very good for a growing cham. With crickets, they are a great staple food to keep in their diet. Maybe get a separate feeding bin to put her in while she eats them so none get loose in the dorm?

 

[alexyboo909]

that could be a good idea. But I'd still have to them into it and then get her into it without the getting loose. I stopped feeding her crickets about two weeks ago and 3 days I go I found a cricket just hangin out in my room haha.
I make sure I dust her worms with a multivitamin and calcium every feeding.

 

[kinyonga]

Its fine to feed them well while they are little but if you overfeed her once she is sexually mature she could lay large clutches, have difficulty laying them, suffer from constipation as well as end possibly end up with MBD and prolapsing...
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

 

[sandrachameleon]

What you are offering is nutritionally low with high fat. Yes that is too much, but only in terms of fat. 10-15 small feeders is okay for a small and growing chameleon.

But mealworms and waxworms will NOT provide the nutrition your animal needs. You must expand the prey choices, and include prey that can be gutloaded. Crickets and roaches are easily gutloaded, that is one reaso why they are a popular feeder choice. Even if you cant offer crickets very often, perhaps you could at least do so on the weekend after gutloading over night. If you bowl feed, the crickets wont be able to escape. You can also remove one or both of the hing jumping legs to cripple the crickets ability to go far. And you can cut off the wings of the crickets when you start using larger crickets, if the noise is too much. Add in gutloaded silkworms, some butterworms, and some terrestrial isopods. And make sure you are gutloadig the mealworms as much as possible and using a calcium supplement.

here is some additional info for you:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...s-day-required-maintain-chameleon-weight.html
http://www.chameleonnews.com/02SepDonoghue.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html

 

[alexyboo909]

alright cool that's a good idea. I have to make another run into town tomorrow to get her more buggies. I think I'll get a few crickets maybe give her one a day this week and a few different kinds of worms.

 

[TyggyToo]

Alex, I've started my veiled on Phoenix worms, supplemented with dubias and crickets. The Phoenix worms are particularly nice because they're Ca balanced and don't need to be fed, bred or dusted. Sounds like a pretty good idea for a college dorm situation.

I don't want my baby to grow too quickly, so I'm not free feeding. Shayna's getting about 10 Phoenix worms a day and about the same in crickets. If there is food left over at the end of the day, I may cut back the next. If the food is gone by evening I may give her a few worms as a snack. I take every opportunity she gives me to weigh her, and as long as all systems look good (slow weight gain;neurologic stability;nice droppings;good activity) I think I'm okay.

I really don't like the idea of 'feed her all she can eat'. It isn't right some how. I haven't heard a compelling reason to speed breeding age in any species.

Submitted for your approval,
Tyg

 

[alexyboo909]

alright those phoenix worms sound good. I'll give the crickets another try probably next week since I have to move out by friday for winter break. Thanks for the info though!

 

[sandrachameleon]

soldier fly maggots (pheonix worms) do not need to be calcium dusted, but they dont offer a lot in terms of vitamins - especially if you dont feed them.

 

[sdheli420]

soldier fly maggots (pheonix worms) do not need to be calcium dusted, but they dont offer a lot in terms of vitamins - especially if you dont feed them.

one thing to note...they dont smell like maggots in a garbage can... and they wiggle like crazy, chams love that..

 

[TyggyToo]

soldier fly maggots (pheonix worms) do not need to be calcium dusted, but they dont offer a lot in terms of vitamins - especially if you dont feed them.

Nope, they're not fed, but they have the nutrition wrapped up anyway. I dust every other week or so with multivitamin, and she has other things for snacks and change. But they ARE a nonmobile primary staple food for chams according to more people that I've contacted too.