Feeding program

[Shaunny]

So so I know there is going to be a lot of different answers on this but......

I currently put anywhere from 10-15 large crix and a few worms into a 4x3 tub which is hung from a vine in Trevor's cage. I fill as required every morning and re-dust any that is left over then at night I cover the tub with a lid, check for any crix that have escaped etc

My question.....

Is it better to feed at a certain point of the day say first thing before I go to work, leave them in the tub for an hour them take out? I may struggle to do this method in the mornings as I leave early and there isn't much time after lights on to do so. Will it be ok to feed about 5-5:30pm in the same method?

What are your view on this creating a better bond with your Cham as he know that if your entering the cage it might be for food rather than letting him pick and chose when he wants to eat? He is cup trained but am not sure if 5-5:30 is too late. The light go off at 9 so there will still be about 3-3.5 hours to digest

 

[CLP]

To some extent it depends on how long your lights stay on. You want your cham to have a couple of hours of light after the last time he eats to help digest, but I am sure every now and then it won't hurt if that doesn't happen. I highly doubt a cham in the wild turns down a late night snack if it is available to him

However, I am more concerned with the fact that you leave crickets in overnight. They likely do not have any food in their stomachs after 12-24 hours, which severely limits their nutritional value. That is the whole point of gutloading and why a good gutload is so important. If your concern is escapees, put the crickets in a deep enough tub or one of the "bottle" feeders, they should not escape through the day. Offering them first thing in the morning is fine because your cham is likely to eat his fill as soon as he has warmed up, so most of the food the crickets ate will still be in their stomachs.

 

[nightanole]

Digest takes days, its an old myth that they have to stay warm for 5 hours after eating or what ever else some on thought sounded good.

While not apples to oranges, do you think the corn snake guy is worried that his snake he feeds every 2 week cant have a mouse an hour before bed time?

Anyway the feeding schedule is based on the personality of the chameleon. Babies normaly want a bucket of food in the morning and will normaly polish it off in one feeding, and may require additional feedings. Anything over 4 months old should be fed as much as they can eat in a 1 hour sitting. By the time they are adults they will only be eating a few feeders a day or every other day.

If i dont feed my adult within 1 hour of waking up, he will not try to eat again until i get home from work, and he is cup trained too.

So ya if your cham is over 4 months old the 5pm feeding is fine, but i would pop a few feeders in the tub in the morning if its not an adult. Before lights out i would return the feeders to the bins. Left over night the feeders will dehydrate and or die.

 

[Shaunny]

Thanks....

I leave a few pieces of veg in there as it helps massively on keeping them in the tub plus a sprinkle of big burger.

So the light will be on for a minimum of 3 hours if I did it in the afternoon/evening. I was just a bit worried that if I fed say in the morning they will go all day and night without food, is this normal? And do many people do it this way for are you leaving food on the plate all day?

 

[Shaunny]

I would really like him to associate me as a food giver more to build a bond rather than just filling the tub and walking away

 

[Shaunny]

Digest takes days, its an old myth that they have to stay warm for 5 hours after eating or what ever else some on thought sounded good.

While not apples to oranges, do you think the corn snake guy is worried that his snake he feeds every 2 week cant have a mouse an hour before bed time?

Anyway the feeding schedule is based on the personality of the chameleon. Babies normaly want a bucket of food in the morning and will normaly polish it off in one feeding, and may require additional feedings. Anything over 4 months old should be fed as much as they can eat in a 1 hour sitting. By the time they are adults they will only be eating a few feeders a day or every other day.

If i dont feed my adult within 1 hour of waking up, he will not try to eat again until i get home from work, and he is cup trained too.

So ya if your cham is over 4 months old the 5pm feeding is fine, but i would pop a few feeders in the tub in the morning if its not an adult. Before lights out i would return the feeders to the bins. Left over night the feeders will dehydrate and or die.

He is 6 months as of the 3rd of October. So I'll give this a go tomorrow and see how it goes. At his age then I should still leave a few feeders in there first thing?

 

[CLP]

Digest takes days, its an old myth that they have to stay warm for 5 hours after eating or what ever else some on thought sounded good.

While not apples to oranges, do you think the corn snake guy is worried that his snake he feeds every 2 week cant have a mouse an hour before bed time?

No, I don't think the snake guy worries, that is why I said I didn't think feeding them in the evening was not the end of the world, however, you are comparing apples to oranges. I certainly am not an expert, but comparing a reptile that eats once every two weeks to one that eats every other day or so, is kind of pushing the boundaries IMHO.

Thanks....

I leave a few pieces of veg in there as it helps massively on keeping them in the tub plus a sprinkle of big burger.

So the light will be on for a minimum of 3 hours if I did it in the afternoon/evening. I was just a bit worried that if I fed say in the morning they will go all day and night without food, is this normal? And do many people do it this way for are you leaving food on the plate all day?

If you are putting your feeders in in the morning, and there are still some in there when your cham goes to bed, I would say you are overfeeding. In my experience, the only time I have feeders left over, is when they manage to hide before my guys can get to them. There is no need to offer more than your guy can eat in the first hour or so, and if he is eating everything you give him within say, the first 2 hours, then there is no concern about the crickets nutritional value.

 

[CLP]

I would really like him to associate me as a food giver more to build a bond rather than just filling the tub and walking away

The best way to accomplish that is to hand feed. Offer him his worms one at a time by hand.

 

[Shaunny]

Yeah that's what I want to start doing. He will take worms from me but he knows they are more of a treat and if he is fed only the once by hand a day then he should eat more from me should he? I was just a bit worried that nearly 24 hours between feeds would be a problem as he's is nearly 6 months old as I said above.

 

[CLP]

Yeah that's what I want to start doing. He will take worms from me but he knows they are more of a treat and if he is fed only the once by hand a day then he should eat more from me should he? I was just a bit worried that nearly 24 hours between feeds would be a problem as he's is nearly 6 months old as I said above.

I'm a bit confused - not quite sure what you're asking, but let's see if this makes sense: I think if you've got him eating out of your hand without much hesitation, you are doing well. I don't think the quantity of food he eats from your hand is the issue, just that fact that you do it on a regular basis.

As for your concern of him going 24 hours between feedings at his age, I don't think you should be overly concerned about that. But can't you just feed him the crickets in the morning in his tub and hand feed him some worms in the evening? Then you are accomplishing both goals. Hand feeding and not going 24 hours between feedings.

 

[nightanole]

As i said It depends on the cham.

I leave a small snack for mine in the morning before i leave. Some times he eats it some times he doesnt. its optional but at 6 months he is still a heavy feeder.

In the next 90 days he might switch over to feeding every other day, which is more adult like. Mine at 15 months eats about 4-5 days a week, but gets offered food daily.

Like most people said here, put the feeders back in the bin at the end of the day so they can be guttloaded/hidrated for the next feeding. Normally they only get fed as much as they can eat in one sitting when they are your chams age. They are beyond the 2-3 feeding a day baby stage.

 

[Shaunny]

Sorry been a long day lol

I meant he will take worms but not crix from me. I also meant that will he eat more in the form of crix from me if I did just the one feeding? He obviously eats crix during the day but won't take them from me in the evening, only the worm

I only have the option of meal worms or Mario worms in the uk without paying massive prices for them. So are say 3-5 ok daily on top of crixs and locust?

 

[Shaunny]

Thanks for the replies and I'll try both ways and see how it goes