Diet for Weight Loss?

[JillEBean]

Current Problem: Nagano appears to have a weight problem. He hasn't had any noticeable issues, but he has pouches at his jawline (first-time chameleon keeper here - please look at attached pictures and make sure I'm judging correctly!). Should he lose weight? What is a healthy diet for weight loss, and how long should I expect it to take for him to get back to his ideal weight? What is a healthy diet for weight maintenance once he's back where he should be?

Your Chameleon - male veiled chameleon, 1.5 years old
Handling - he has to walk on my hand to get superworms, 3-4 times/week
Feeding - 2-3 homegrown superworms, 3-4 times/week; 3-15 homegrown crickets of various sizes (equivalent to 3-5 adults) after each superworm meal. Supers eat wheat bran and various veggies; crickets eat a homemade mash (dandelion, collard, carrot, celery, oats, kale, parsley, nutritional yeast, coconut oil, calcium + D3) and various veggies
Supplements - Stickytongue Farms Miner-all dusted lightly on supers once/week; very little calcium + D3 supplement (for humans) mixed into cricket food
Watering - spray by hand twice a day, ~3 minutes and 8 oz per spray, plus 6 oz yogurt-cup-with-pinhole-in-the-bottom drip during the day. He drinks during 90% of sprayings and sometimes shoots his tongue at water droplets!
Fecal Description - usually 2 droppings every 3 days, always solid. Urates are white and solid. Never been tested for parasites.
History - been with me since age two weeks; reportedly the sole survivor in a batch of eggs that overheated
Cage Type - screen cage, 2 X 2 X 3 ft
Lighting - Dome light with plain 100W incandescent bulb over basking spot, 18" ReptiSun 5.0 strip across top, 6" from basking spot - both on 12 hrs, off 12 hrs. Dome light with plain 60W red incandescent bulb over favorite sleeping spot, only on when it's cold
Temperature - daytime 70-90 F, measured with cheap thermometer/hygrometer on floor (air temp) and IR thermometer (surface temps) everywhere else. Nighttime normally 65-70, can get down to 55-75 (with red light on) on very cold winter nights.
Humidity - 50-90% depending on time of day, measured with cheap thermometer/hygrometer. Maintained with manual spraying, yogurt-cup drip, live plants.
Plants - Majesty palm, dracaena, and pothos. Majesty palm recently replaced with a second dracaena.
Placement - On top of what was once an entertainment stand and is now a bustling cricket metropolis, in front of a well-insulated window with black curtains. Curtains opened to a 6" gap during daytime, remaining lace curtain allows light in but obscures view outside. Top of cage is 12" from ceiling. Ceiling fan always going in the room, 4' away. Cage is in view of fish and turtles 8-10' away, not a high-traffic area.
Location - Buffalo, New York vicinity

 

[Carlton]

Current Problem: Nagano appears to have a weight problem. He hasn't had any noticeable issues, but he has pouches at his jawline (first-time chameleon keeper here - please look at attached pictures and make sure I'm judging correctly!). Should he lose weight? What is a healthy diet for weight loss, and how long should I expect it to take for him to get back to his ideal weight? What is a healthy diet for weight maintenance once he's back where he should be?

Your Chameleon - male veiled chameleon, 1.5 years old
Handling - he has to walk on my hand to get superworms, 3-4 times/week
Feeding - 2-3 homegrown superworms, 3-4 times/week; 3-15 homegrown crickets of various sizes (equivalent to 3-5 adults) after each superworm meal. Supers eat wheat bran and various veggies; crickets eat a homemade mash (dandelion, collard, carrot, celery, oats, kale, parsley, nutritional yeast, coconut oil, calcium + D3) and various veggies
Supplements - Stickytongue Farms Miner-all dusted lightly on supers once/week; very little calcium + D3 supplement (for humans) mixed into cricket food
Watering - spray by hand twice a day, ~3 minutes and 8 oz per spray, plus 6 oz yogurt-cup-with-pinhole-in-the-bottom drip during the day. He drinks during 90% of sprayings and sometimes shoots his tongue at water droplets!
Fecal Description - usually 2 droppings every 3 days, always solid. Urates are white and solid. Never been tested for parasites.
History - been with me since age two weeks; reportedly the sole survivor in a batch of eggs that overheated
Cage Type - screen cage, 2 X 2 X 3 ft
Lighting - Dome light with plain 100W incandescent bulb over basking spot, 18" ReptiSun 5.0 strip across top, 6" from basking spot - both on 12 hrs, off 12 hrs. Dome light with plain 60W red incandescent bulb over favorite sleeping spot, only on when it's cold
Temperature - daytime 70-90 F, measured with cheap thermometer/hygrometer on floor (air temp) and IR thermometer (surface temps) everywhere else. Nighttime normally 65-70, can get down to 55-75 (with red light on) on very cold winter nights.
Humidity - 50-90% depending on time of day, measured with cheap thermometer/hygrometer. Maintained with manual spraying, yogurt-cup drip, live plants.
Plants - Majesty palm, dracaena, and pothos. Majesty palm recently replaced with a second dracaena.
Placement - On top of what was once an entertainment stand and is now a bustling cricket metropolis, in front of a well-insulated window with black curtains. Curtains opened to a 6" gap during daytime, remaining lace curtain allows light in but obscures view outside. Top of cage is 12" from ceiling. Ceiling fan always going in the room, 4' away. Cage is in view of fish and turtles 8-10' away, not a high-traffic area.
Location - Buffalo, New York vicinity

First, he doesn't look all that bad to me. A good way to judge body condition is to look at the base of the tail. The cross section should be oval from top to bottom. If it is completely round, he's chubby. I'm not all that sure you need to do anything, but the simplest thing is to cut back on the number of feeders. Superworms are more fatty than crickets, moths, houseflies, or roaches so you could start substituting. If he had a larger cage he would get more exercise.

 

[Miss Lily]

He looks ok to me too. I think a lot of adult chams have those 'bumps' on their jawline. You say that you feel he is overweight - have you actually weighed him? Maybe you could start to weigh him regularly and see if he is actually gaining weight.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I think your cham looks just fine! His casque is still nice and thin. I see lots of chams with "meaty jawlines". Mine has 'em:

I weigh all of mine once a month to keep track of any changes or trends.

 

[JillEBean]

Thanks Everyone!

Thanks everyone! The bumps grew slowly over the past few months, and I don't see them often in pictures, so I got worried. The base of his tail is definitely oval, not round, and I'll go get a kitchen scale today. Unfortunately a taller cage isn't a viable option right now. I'm so glad I was wrong! Thanks for stopping me before I changed his diet!

ferretinmyshoes, your panther is beautiful! The picture really helped.

 

[Miss Lily]

Looking at your log of how much food you give him, he probably doesn't need that much food any more. My female naturally stopped eating less when she got to 6 months of age. My old boy Veiled, Tommy, was 4 and he would only eat 1 or 2 xl locusts every 2 or 3 days.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

If you can't get a bigger cage yet you could add some more plants to the one you have.

 

[camimom]

Looking at your log of how much food you give him, he probably doesn't need that much food any more. My female naturally stopped eating less when she got to 6 months of age. My old boy Veiled, Tommy, was 4 and he would only eat 1 or 2 xl locusts every 2 or 3 days.

Would you think it normal for a 10 month old veiled to eat only 5 large crickets every other day to every 2 days (maybe 6) or a hornworm or two every other day? he jsut doesnt seem interested in food.

 

[Miss Lily]

My Tommy was a long chameleon, but not chunky at all. The most he ever weighed was 182g. Obviously they are all different like us and some may weigh more or less than that and still be very healthy. I know of some males that weigh over 200g, but my boy would never eat a lot to gain much weight!