Baby Veil - Food Choices

[Sara]

I have a baby veil, prob 2-3 months. Right now hes eating crickets and mealworms. I have asked the pet store to place a order for a variety of other stuff but they are supposed to get back to me and see what they can get in. What would you recommend I feed the baby as I have read that some stuff is harder to digest as well as might not be suitable for his young age. Then where can I make a purchase online.

TIA

 

[imcurt]

Crickets are fine. Just mix up how you gutload.Doing this also makes the crickets taste diffrent all the time.I think it help keep the chameleons from getting bored with them.Tonight my crickets got Swiss char topped with Dynofuel. Tomorrow they will get radish tops and carrots.. I keep a dry food similar to cricket crack in with them 24/7 as well.

 

[Sara]

Thats good to know. So far I have been doing a mix but thought I should be doing more. I have my note book out taking notes and writing stuff down since im new, im sure i will easily forget so this way when im at the store i can pull out my list

Thanks!!

 

[CLP]

Mealworms are OK as well. If you can get them, other baby worms would work too. Try silkworms, superworms or hornworms. Baby roaches should also be small enough.

 

[Sara]

Anyone recommend a good place online to order from? My local petstore isnt really able to get anything else in. I just want to make sure I keep my Cham healthy by offering a variety

 

[sandrachameleon]

It is best to feed variety from the start, so its great you are moving in that direction

some options:
small butterworms
small superworms
small silkworms
terrestrial isopod (standard, not the tiny tropical ones)
termites
cockroach nymphs
soldier fly maggots (aka pheonix worms; calci worms)

as for where to buy online, try the site sponsors and there is a list of choices here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/171-where-buy-feeders-online.html

 

[Sara]

Thank you!

What size do you think I should go with? Hes rather small in my opinion. I had someone on here think he was 2-3 months

 

[kplatvoet]

Besides crickets I get the small phoenix worms direct because I found the ones I got from the petstore had been on the shelf too long- staple flies from mantis place - I bought a pod of small silk worms but ended up giving most of them to my bigger panther - I have some eggs on the way - I have a small Jackson who's just turning 5 months and weighed 3 grams about 3 weeks ago when I had him at the vet - he still gets fruit flies too because he seems to like to hunt them and I made a bunch from cultures - I thought I read somewhere that meal worms are hard to digest - I'm hoping I can pick up some other things at a reptile show this weekend -

 

[Sara]

mealworms are harder to digest because of the fat content...thats why i was looking for something besides crickets that were smaller.

Thanks for sharing

 

[easton]

hi,my baby gonna hatch next months,could i feed my hatchlings dubias nymph around 1cm-1.5cm?because here lack of worms supply,only had few eg:big waxworm,dubia and hatchlings dubia,adult cricket and mealworm only.

 

[fluxlizard]

mealworms are harder to digest because of the fat content...thats why i was looking for something besides crickets that were smaller.

I use mealworms day 1 hatchlings sometimes. But the mealworms are also tiny baby mealworms. I've never found that they are difficult to digest unless the lizard is unhealthy in some way otherwise, or unless the lizard cannot achieve it's preferred temperature when basking.

But I use mealworms as only part of a variety of insects.

All of the suggestions you've gotten are good- just about any feeder insect that is also baby sized is also good.

 

[sandrachameleon]

mealworms are harder to digest because of the fat content...thats why i was looking for something besides crickets that were smaller.

actually, its the chinton (in skin) that doesn't digest all that well. Which is okay if you're using them only in moderation. Think of chinton like fibre is for humans.

 

[browncofan]

Online Feeders

I just got an order from lindasgonebuggie.com they have a lot of variety packages and some $5 trials so you can try some different types of worm to see what your chameleon likes. She carries all the worms and crickets too.

It is difficult to find a place that carries every feeder that you want. I did a lot of searching and found two that I can get everything I need from and will alterate my orders from them.