Baby Veiled Chameleon First Timer

T

Tylerdw1995

New Member
Hello this is my first time on the forum. I am getting my first baby veiled chameleon tomorrow and just needed some suggestions on feeding. I will be keeping him in a 24x24x48 screen enclosure. I just needed to know whether I should cup feed him or just let the crickets loose. I want him to be able to find them and that is my main concern so he doesn't end up starving.
 
Just buy small crickets gut feed them and I just toss all 15 in the tank. They're so small it's not overwhelming and the chameleon will do just fine.
 
I also toss some of the gut load in with them because your chameleon probably will take 2-3 days to eat them all and you want your crickets alive and nourished.
 
24x24x48 is a very large cage for a baby. My suggestion is use a feed cup, gut load them in the container that you keep them in. Dust the ones you are going to feed your chameleon every day with calcium without d3 . You dont want to keep crickets over night in a cage, just in case a cricket climbs on your chameleon. Any ways that large of cage its going to be hard for him to find his food , so a food cup in the best way to go and dont leave crickets over night. Also, a baby will 15 or more crickets a day, depending on size of crickets.
 
I had a cage that size. If their hungry they'll find it; at least in my opinion which isn't extremely experienced.
 
I'm with Chief, definitely cup feed. How old is the baby? 2x2x4' is very large for a little one. He'll never find his food!
 
Dagreek said:
I had a cage that size. If their hungry they'll find it; at least in my opinion which isn't extremely experienced.
Click to expand...

Which is true, they will find it, but Like I said they eat 15 plus a day. In my opinion I would want my baby cham as full and happy as possible. So you can let a couple free range the cage walls to let the little guy get some exercise in , but I would look into cup feeding for the most part. And you dont want the crickets crawling on the chameleons during the night. Crickets can bite and also scare the chameleon, possibly causing him to fall and hurting himself. My routine , is hand feeding around 5-6 crickets and letting the others climb around the cage walls, and then when I get home from work , I give him a couple extra crickets, or a treat if he is good and climbs onto my hand. :p
 
Thanks for the advice guys! He is about 2 months old and I'm getting him from FL Chams. One of the premium ones. I've heard nothing but good things from them so I'm sure he will be healthy.:)
 
Post a pic when you get him if you don't mind. I'd like to see the difference from my store bought veiled.
 
Just do lots of research around the site. Look at the care resources in the little navigation box on the left. It will have a care sheet specifically for veileds and it will tell you everything you need to know. Feel free to ask any more questions you have. There will be someone who has the answer. Just keep researching around on the site and you will have a great time with your lil guy!
 
I've had my male veiled (flcham jethro baby) in a 24x24x48 since he was 2-months old. I started his feeders out in a deeper dish that the crickets couldn't easily get out of. He's about 4-months-old now and I feed him out of a cool whip container. He eats about half out of the dish and free ranges the rest. He's fat and happy :)
 
Hand feeding is also a great way to get your new chameleon use to you and is the best way to keep track of how much they are eating. A methiod I use is a combination of cup and hand feeding. I use a small glass dish (used for measuring out ingridents when baking) and put a few crickets in it, hold the dish up and let him snatch the bugs out of the cup. you can try positioning the cup so they have to crawl on to your hand to get at the bugs.
 
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