Cricket sizes for adult chams

[Tygerr]

This is more a pre-emptive question than anything else, as my Veiled cham is still a baby...

What I wanted to find out was whether it was necessary to feed adult chams full-size mature crickets, or whether you could just feed them more of the smaller crickets?

The reason I ask is because right now I am enjoying keeping smaller crickets since they don't chirp like the mature ones do. I want to know if it's necessary to keep those noisy adult crickets when my cham gets older?

 

[ChameleonsTree]

No you can feed them smaller ones but it will cost you more because they will eat a lot. Sometimes bigger chameleons get more excited with bigger food because of more movement. My adults will eat any size.

 

[Jordan]

No, you do not have to feed them adult crickets. Crickets, grasshoppers, and locust make that sound when they scrap their back two legs together. If you remove one leg of each cricket they can no longer chirp. Spraying them with water or refriderating for a minute or two will slow them down signifigantly to do so. The only real reason I would suggest adults over the little one is they cost less money. At least in my area they are sold by the number not the size. By removing both legs you could potentially lower the risk of an abcess in the mouth from a scrap. I did go back to smaller ones before my female laid her last clutch as I was scared that they would become stuck or make the eggs stuck. She was rather enourmus. It might add for a little more entertainment if you stay with smaller ones as there will be more food to watch them eat. Either way you go it is not bad.

 

[zinc99]

I buy 3/4 in, they dont make noise and I can have them grow and still not make noise. 500 crickets and 1 cham means I have them for like 2 weeks. By the time I am done with that load they are 1" long and a few are making noise. But it works out, by the time they are that big I have less of them, but they are larger so I dont have to feed as many.

 

[Tygerr]

500 crickets and 1 cham means I have them for like 2 weeks.

500 crickets only lasts you 2 weeks? That's like 35 crickets a day!
My cham is still only a baby, but he's only averaging 10-12 crickets a day. I thought they ate less of them as they get older?

 

[zinc99]

random off the top of my head guess. Your right its more like 4 weeks.