Eating Too Much?

[JamesD]

Hi guys,

I've had my pair of pygmy chams (R. uluguruensis) for a little over 2 weeks now, and I have a question about their feeding. Just about every caresheet I've read says that they will eat 2 or 3 crickets every other day each. However, I'm feeding mine every day and the male eats around 4 or so and the female normally has 8-10! If I miss a days feed, the next time I feed her, she'll happilly eat around 20 or so.
The crickets aren't too small (1st/2nd instar.....same as the width between the chams eyes). Both are CB, the male being 9 months old, the female 8 months.
Basically, I want to know if I'm feeding them too much or whether I should just continue feeding them as I am?

 

[BocaJan]

My females are 10 months and they get fed either 3/day or 6 every other day. In the morning they are always perched in front of the door waiting for their crickets or supers and when I don't have anything for them they are sad. LOL They always get misted though and then they are back on their branch, waiting, waiting, waiting.

 

[JamesD]

Mine are exactly the same, always sitting on the branches above where I normally feed them! I'm starting to think that maybe I should just reduce the amount of food I'm offering them....
I forgot to mention in my first post, I cup feed them so I know the crickets are being eaten and not just hiding...

 

[BocaJan]

Ahhh, I reread your post and see you are talking aboug piggies. They may be different then my veileds. My male will only eat every other day no matter what I do, so it is tough to over feed him. Ladies are PIGS! Will eat and eat. I have even seen them shoot, crunch and spit. They are too full to swallow, but that doesn't stop them from shooting at food. GEESH

 

[JamesD]

Lol. Thanks for the reply anyway!

Ladies are PIGS! Will eat and eat. I have even seen them shoot, crunch and spit. They are too full to swallow, but that doesn't stop them from shooting at food. GEESH

I know! When I first got mine, I had a load of woodlice (pillbugs) in there as custodians to eat the waste they produce. Within 2 days, there were was only one left.....I picked it up to see if it had any obvious signs of disease but it seemed perfectly healthy. When I put it back, the female came darting down from the top of the viv, zapped it, then went back up to the top! I'm just glad I put a load of springtails in there as well.....it seems they're too small for her to bother trying to catch!!!

 

[jukeboxpunk]

My cham

My veiled is between 2 - 3 months old and his care sheet informs me that he eats a lot being a juvenile. It also recommends feeding him 20 - 30 crickets each day. I probably only feed him about 20 though. Now I do not doubt the care sheet at all, its from a reputable breeder. My question is as he gets older will he reduce the amount of feed he consumes? or will it increase?

 

[JamesD]

My question is as he gets older will he reduce the amount of feed he consumes? or will it increase?

Normally, the no. of appropriately sized insects per feeding decreases (along with the frequency of feedings) as the animal matures as the energy required for maintainance is less than that required for growth. The exception to this being gravid/pregnant females...