Appropriate eating paaterns for veiled?

[Dylan]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, Male. 17 days in my care.
Handling - Only when performing maitenance, twice weekly, briefly.
Feeding - Crickets, mealworms. I put in about 10 crickets daily, eats only about 6-8. Feeding at 8am and 3pm. Apples, mango, sweet potato, and FLUKERS orange cube.
Supplements - Repashy calcium plus, every feeding.
Watering - Drip method. Twice daily misting, 30 seconds each. i witness him drinking occasionally.
Fecal Description - Urate is white, inconsistent with solidarity just recently. Has not been tested for parasites.
History - I was given no history.

Cage Info:
Cage Type -Screen, 2ftx2ftx3ft
Lighting - ReptiSun 5.0 and Zoomed basking spot lamp. 12 hours on/off
Temperature - Floor is 73, basking is 84. overnight at 70, using zoomed analog thermometers.
Humidity - Humidty hovers around 50-55, having difficulty maintaing humidty afer misting. zoomed analog.
Plants - Golden Pothos.
Placement - Away from vents, fans and in very low traffic room. The top is 6ft off the floor.
Location - Outer Banks, North Carolina, USA
CURRENT PROBLEM - I'm concerned my chameleon is eating less than he should be. I'm not sure of his age so I may be feeding incorrect amounts or size and his fecal matter has been inconsistent the past few days. So i would like to know his approximate age and appropiate eating patterns. I am a beginner with chameleons and to this site so please criticize any wrongs in my Info. Thanks.

 

[jannb]

I would recommend that you mist for longer than 30 seconds at least for one of his mistings and set up a dripper for him. I would feed him a larger variety of feeders. Mealworms are not the best feeders for chams. Try some silkworms, hornworms, butter worms, super worms and roaches. You need to spruce up your gut loading too. I'd recommend along with your fruits and veggies a good dry gut load such as Cricket Crack. I'm attaching my blog for new keepers for you below.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[Dylan]

Thanks, I appreciate the reply.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello, welcome to the forum It basically looks all good to me. More foliage would be nice, and as Jann says gutloading and feeder variety. I see you already have the dripper, but longer mistings is a good idea anyway.

Age guessing is always just a guess, but he looks around 3 months. A good rule of thumb for feeder size is no longer than the distance between his eyes. (for worms use length of his head)
Here is a great all-round caresheet for Veileds- https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html
One on different feeders - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
And a gutloading one - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

 

[pssh]

Ince he already has stripes I would say he is at least 4-5 months old. He could be eating more, and he probably will since he is getting past his adjustment period. I would suggest using digital thermometers as the analogs can be off by quite a bit. If he is having runny poops, you should take him to get a fecal at the vet to see if he has parasites. You might just be able to take a fresh poop in so you dont have to pay for the exam.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Yeah, actually in the second pic he's 4 months .

 

[Dylan]

Thanks everybody, I'll make sure to gut load a little differently from now on. I was going to purchase a digital thermometer/hydrogometer but they all had probes and it made me unsure if they wer meant for water temps. Are the probes alright to use just on the screen wall?

 

[Swayne8998]

Thanks everybody, I'll make sure to gut load a little differently from now on. I was going to purchase a digital thermometer/hydrogometer but they all had probes and it made me unsure if they wer meant for water temps. Are the probes alright to use just on the screen wall?

Digital thermometers/hygrometers are no better than regulars. You would be saving money.

You can gutload with collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, kale, romaine lettuce, carrots, sweet potatoes (yams), rolled oats, wheat germ/wheat bran, oat bran, butternut squash, oranges, apples, bananas, and much more--that's just a start. Reliable pre-made gutloads: Repashy Bug Burger, Cricket Crack (you can order at TikiTikiReptiles.com, or from SsimmswisS), and DinoFuel (these are just a few). Do not use Fluker's, their food is C-R-A-P. They really do not have anything nutritious in their gutloads.

 

[pssh]

My digital ones have always been good. Never more than a degree off when I use my IR thermometer.

I would also get him a nice live plant to give more cover. Veileds tend to like to eat foliage too, so make sure it is safe.