Feeding Questions for Panther Cham

[RobertsKitty]

I am doing research for when I eventually (probably not till near Christmas) get my Panther Chameleon. I was wondering in regards to feeders. I simply cannot use crickets. What other options are available to me?

Also, I am planning on getting a younger chameleon (the youngest that I can get them is 3.5 months I believe) how many of the bugs should I be expecting to feed daily?

Thanks!

 

[Solid Snake]

Hello!

You could use roaches and silkworms as staple feeders instead of crickets.
At 3months they can eat 15-20 tiny feeders a day.

 

[SonTigerPantherCham]

Hi!
great question
I too got tired of crix, so did my chams
but they are an easy, accessible, cheap feeder. and work well as a nutrient vehicle if gutloaded properly.

Other than that
Dubia's (they are creepy to me, but Suzi gives them to me and my chams like them)
Silks-good staple
rotate in:
hornworms
butterworms
phoenix worms(great calcium)
supers (lightly)
for a baby that age, I always fed for good health, smaller size feeders, and about 12-15 crix everyday, and I mixed in a different "treat" worm everyday as well.

I am happy to say, so far I haven't had any health issues, but I won't count my eggs, so to speak

 

[RobertsKitty]

I was doing research while waiting for replies and read that I should look at more like 3-5 feeders a day. Where does the disconnect come from?

 

[Solid Snake]

I was doing research while waiting for replies and read that I should look at more like 3-5 feeders a day. Where does the disconnect come from?

Hard to be sure.
I assure you, we are poviding you acurate hands on information from experience

An adult may eat as little as 3-5 feeders a day, but that depends on the species as well.

 

[RobertsKitty]

Sounds good. The info I read said something about offering less feeders as they grow to prevent them from growing too quickly and getting MBD.

I am so used to my bearded dragon who could power through 50-60 feeders a day, its amazing to think they eat so much less!

Are super worms ok for use or are they too big/too much 'shell'?

 

[Solid Snake]

The amount of food intake does not effect MBD, unless that intake is to low to none I guess.

MBD is caused by the calcium not getting into the animals system.
This is not nessesarily caused by lack of calcium intake, but more so of lack of D3.
D3 transfers the calcium from the blood stream, to usable parts of the body(like bones).

MBD involves the body breaking down bones to use them as calcium reserves, and turning them brittle and useless.
Its been a bit since Ive read on it, but I believe thats correct.

Anyway,
50-60 is a lot!

Eff-that!

Well, if its for one animal.

Super worms are high in fat as well as having the hard chiton shell.
Chameleons will become addicted to them as well, and will refuse to eat anything but the superworm. They are ok as treats.
The most I feed them, is once or twice a month, but I usually feed them only every few months or so. They can be gutloaded as well, and made a bit more nutritious.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Sounds good. The info I read said something about offering less feeders as they grow to prevent them from growing too quickly and getting MBD.

I am so used to my bearded dragon who could power through 50-60 feeders a day, its amazing to think they eat so much less!

Are super worms ok for use or are they too big/too much 'shell'?

Offering less food only causes malnutrition and stunting. MBD is caused by lack of calcium or UVB. You want to cut down the amount that they're eating between 9-12 months of age depending on growth rate. Usually around a year of age they start being fed only every other day. When they are 3 months old they can eat as much as they want. Around 6 months old you can stick to 10-15/day.

Superworms are okay when chams are older, and only sparingly. Mealworms are a poor feeder option.

 

[RobertsKitty]

I read on two different websites, that if you feed them too much they wouldn't get a good amount of calcium and grow too quickly and get MBD. It seemed fishy to me which is why I asked since I didn't think MBD could be caused by rapid growth (if so my bearded dragon should have gotten it when he went from 80 grams to 400 grams in 6 months!).

And yes the 50-60 was for one animal. He was a pig. I am looking at probably roaches and silkworms as a feeder.

I have a lot of time till I get my Cham. Probably not until around Christmas like I said so I am sure I will have plenty more questions to ask!

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

MBD is caused by the calcium not getting into the animals system.
This is not nessesarily caused by lack of calcium intake, but more so of lack of D3.
D3 transfers the calcium from the blood stream, to usable parts of the body(like bones).

It's usually the lack of calcium intake. D3 is usually present in normal amounts, but has no calcium to move. Lack of UVB will make them D3 deficient so calcium can't be moved, but in general people who don't have UVB are not gutloading so they work in combination with the biggest culprit being lack of calcium.

I read on two different websites, that if you feed them too much they wouldn't get a good amount of calcium and grow too quickly and get MBD. It seemed fishy to me which is why I asked.

That is solved by providing correct gutloading and daily calcium supplementation!

 

[Solid Snake]

Just like to say...


I recommend dubia roaches highly.
They are super easy to keep, breed on their own, easy to control, and provide good nutrition.

 

[RobertsKitty]

When I had my dragon I almost had a colony going, but the woman I was buying from suddenly stopped sending roaches and I had to feed out my whole colony just to get by

So can I get an idea of how many of a feeder I am looking at each week? 100-150 or so?

 

[Solid Snake]

Depending on the animal, Id say thats a good bet.
I want to say my panther was going through 75-100 a week, but it depends on the feeder size too.

 

[froggielog]

I second Soildsnake about the roaches. They don't make much noise, don't smell as nearly as bad as crickets do and they're actually kind of interesting. Plus you don't have to worry about them jumping away when you're feeding!