Feeding veiled chams pinky mice and other feeders

[Alexander1]

I want to start by saying I'm only interested in making my chameleon happy and healthy
I just seen a couple YouTube videos of chameleons feeding on pinky mice and small lizards. Honestly, the chams seemed to really enjoy them. Is this a safe practice, any benefit? (vitamin A, calcium, protein,etc)
It would make sense for chams in the wild to eat small pray, my Cham is exseptionally finicky about eating the same prey so expanding my choices is a priority of mine, any other ideas are also welcomed.
Currently feeding, crickets, hornworms, silkworms,super worms. No longer eating dubias or crickets.

 

[Andee]

Chameleons are meant to be insectivores and the occasional plant snacker. However when given to much animal protein they can get gout, maybe once a year it would be possible to give them one but there is really no nutritional benefit to either small lizards or pinkies besides higher protein content.

Pinkies do not contain that much calcium, their bones are just cartilege and they are actually extremely fatty. Small lizards such as anoles are often filled with parasites and can possibly injure your chams tongue. Plus the actual eating of these animals is a very messy affair. I personally would never do it because of it. I don't even feed pinkies to my Blue Tongue, instead I feed him organ meats and such.

There are tons of other insects and fruit and vegetables you can feed your veiled to change up his diet. Moths and dull colored butterflies are always a possibility, mantids, stick insects, flies.

It sounds like your chameleon is starting to cherry pick his favorite feeders however and only eating worms. Which is not good because he won't get enough of his exo-skeleton needs since you are feeding a lot of soft-bodied insects too.

I would stop the worms all together and only offer roaches or crickets for a few days. Make him get back into the routine of eating them. Sometimes you can offer different feeders to make your cham want to go back to eating other feeders. But you are offering enough on a regular basis that I think he is just being stubborn and you have to be stubborn right back.

 

[Alexander1]

Whoa! Thanks for your time and effort into your response!
I appreciate all the knowledge people as yourself take time to share, Im definitely a sucker when it comes to giving in during a food strike, I'll be sure to return to his Roach and cricket diet, plus stick and mantids sound like a treat, I'm going to look for them online. Thanks again!

 

[JoeVet]

There are documented cases of chameleons eating other lizards in the wild. The larger species are known to eat small mammals and birds. Pinkie mice are not a great source of calcium as most believe but they are a great source of preformed vitamin A and are the likely source of vitamin A in the wild. They are also high protein which may be detrimental. Giving a pinkie mouse 1-2 times a year will add protein and vitamin A. As previous mentioned, any more than this can lead to gout.

 

[guanagator]

My panthers are outside much of the year and I've seen them eat small anoles that wonder into the enclosures. First time it freaked me out but not really anything I can do about it with how many anoles are around. Just do regular parasite checks and they seem fine. Maybe just individual variation but the one male that I've seen eat a few of them seems to enjoy it, he also knows which ones are too big as he headbobs and fires up on adults but eats the babies.

 

[Dro B]

I almost Wanna say you should use pinkie loaded praying mantises. It's kinda hard to feed live baby mice because you can hear them squeaking in the stomach of the animal that ate it. This would give you the option of using frozen thawed. Even better, give him a praying mantis thats holding/eating a f/t pinkie!If your cham eats out of your hand hell likely take frozen thawed as well, or you could use some string to make it look alive. Just my personal opinion. I don't beleive lizards or birds are a good option in most cases due to parasites.

 

[Alexander1]

Koo, what about other slices of meats or shrimp? I read on another thread that a member fed raw shrimp and the chameleon had a very long healthy life ..

 

[JaxyGirl]

Koo, what about other slices of meats or shrimp? I read on another thread that a member fed raw shrimp and the chameleon had a very long healthy life ..

I feed my chams little pieces of raw shrimp about once a week. Both my male and female panthers love it. I slice small pieces about the size of a super worm and they will eat it off tweezers if I wiggle it around in front of them. They will eat about 3/4 of a medium size shrimp between them. I also feed them occasional pieces of raw salmon or chicken depending on what I'm cooking for dinner. My male Jacksons lived for almost 8 healthy years so I figure it would also be bennificial for my panthers.

 

[colesmom4611]

I feed my chams little pieces of raw shrimp about once a week. Both my male and female panthers love it. I slice small pieces about the size of a super worm and they will eat it off tweezers if I wiggle it around in front of them. They will eat about 3/4 of a medium size shrimp between them. I also feed them occasional pieces of raw salmon or chicken depending on what I'm cooking for dinner. My male Jacksons lived for almost 8 healthy years so I figure it would also be bennificial for my panthers.

Idk if ur still around given how old this post is but here goes... I have a panther and a veiled. Thinking of giving raw shrimp like u mentioned and also was considering some smoked salmon. I know the salt content is high... Not sure if you've ever tried that?