Feeding my Cham...

[Zleipnir]

Howdy folks!

I just have to ask if im doing right whit feeding my pal. I have 7 months old male veiled. So i have being feeding him every day 3-10 cricets (dipending on size) and 1-3 superworms (depending on crickets amount eaten) and i dust em whit Calsium carbonate 3 times a week, and whit multivitamin every other week. Is that good or should i do some thing different? Thanks for help.

 

[kinyonga]

What source of vitamin A does the vitamin powder contain?
Do you have a UVB tube light on your chameleon's cage? Does it get any sunlight? (Neither should pass through glass or plastic.)
Are the temperatures high enough to allow for proper digestion?
Do you gutload your insects and feed them a nutritious diet?

At that age he could be fed every second day. As long as your chameleon isn't getting fat (or thin) then the amount you are feeding him should be right...to me, that is more important to know than the exact number of insects you are feeding him.

 

[Zleipnir]

Im useing Nutrobal for vitamins. Thats ok or should i get some other? We just have so small variety of vitamins here. I have 5.0 tube for uvb in enclosure. He havent been in direct sun so far, becouse he havent dared to come out yet. But when he comes out and there are proper weather in here i will ofcourse use that oppoturnity. I gutload my cricks and worms whit namiba cricket food and some fresh vegies. My baskin spot has 93-98f, and other (cooler) areas has 71-82. Hes looking just fine atm and has started up really good, dont look skiny or fat.

 

[kinyonga]

I don't know if this it good information or not...but it seems to indicate that Nutrobal may have high vitamin A...and if its preformed, you don't want to overdo it.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan.cann/articles/vitamins.html

If vitamin A comes from a beta carotene source, it won't build up in the system. If its preformed it can. However there is controversy about whether chameleons can convert beta carotene to vitamin A so a little preformed is included in the diet by some people to ensure that the chameleon does get some. Excess preformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD....so its important not to overdo the preformed vitamin A.

Because my chameleons don't get sunlight, I dust twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder. D3 FROM SUPPLEMENTS can build up in the system though, so don't overdo it. If you do provide sunlight for your chameleon (and it and the UVB from the bulbs you use shouldn't pass through glass or plastic) you won't likely need to give extra D3.

Because most of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous, using a phosphorous-free calcium powder helps to make up for this. You might want to check your supplements to see what the phos. to calcium ratio is. I can't find a site that lists the contents of Namiba.

You could also add greens (like dandelion, endive, collards, kale, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) to your crickets' diet. The better you feed the insects, the better for the chameleon.