Feedings

[hollycham]

Ok guys, I have read a ton of different information on this site and tons of different threads and so on about what and how much you guys feed your chams. I ve gotten anything from 1-2 crickets every other day to throw in as many as they will eat within 30 mins ( which is alot ). I can throw 15 large crickets in my chams cages and they will eat them all within 15 mins....so am I over feeding or are others under feeding? Any constructive comments welcomed to help me please. Thank you

 

[deadhd5]

Please provide the age/sex/species of cham.

An adult needs to have feedings reduced when they reach maturity. This goes double for females, as overfeeding a sexually mature female will result in increase infertile egg production and a decrease to lifespan.

 

[hollycham]

I have a 2.5 yr old female and 1.5 year old male approx in age. I had neither from birth and owners did not know exact age. They will also eat 2 superworms each when i skip a cricket feeding and replace it with superworms. They are both Veiled Chams.

 

[deadhd5]

Yeah, I would say give them 3-5 adult size crickets every other day, or equivalent in other insects. However, make sure those feeders are as healthy and nutrient rich as can be by properly gutloading and supplementing them.

Its a good thing that your chams have such a voracious appetite at that age, but overfeeding will shorten their lifespans, so you will need to control their diet.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Here is a great basic caresheet for Veileds which gives reasonable feeding schedules on page 2 - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html
My male eats quite a bit less, but he is fine. My female would happily eat a lot more, but I give her smaller insects.......

 

[Ashleigh]

I have a male panther and he eats two days on, one day off. On those days if he's having crickets he'll have 5-6 medium to large crickets. If it's hornworms he'll have 2-3 large worms. if it's butterworms or silkworms he'll have 4-5. I'm not sure about the females though, I've only had my one male so far

 

[hollycham]

Thanks guys
I will have to cut down their feedings a bit then. It sounds like inbetween right in the middle of what I ve been reading about it about perfect. I was just telling my husband....I'm afraid to cut them down to much cause what is the borderline of starving them? It's not like I know how many insects these guys would eat in the wild on a daily/weekly feeding schedule for themselves. So I think I will cut them in half. It ll cut my expense down by half too

They are my most expensive and most up keep out of all of my animals lol but they are worth it!!

 

[DavidBuchan]

Thanks guys
.........I'm afraid to cut them down to much cause what is the borderline of starving them?......

You've never had to deal with a Veiled hunger strike? Lucky you My guy went nearly 3 weeks eating only one medium locust when he was just 10 months old or so.....
Once they are fully grown, being ectothermic (cold-blooded) they don't need to eat for warmth or to grow, so they can manage on surprisingly little.

 

[hollycham]

My male did go on one hunger strike for about two weeks shortly after i got him but i chopped that up to being in a new place and environment. Other than that both of them will hand feed from us or free range eat. Up until a few months ago my male would only eat from my hand and that was it. He started getting to lazy though so i forced him to start free range feeding also. My female will eat anything!! My dog can stick her head in the cage with her and she will shoot her tounge and smack her in the face with it or even mine if my head is in her cage lol. She is very friendly. When she free range eats my lab and my cats will sit right at her cage and watch her hunt the crickets at bottom of cage. She pays no attention to them at all. she will even be right at edge of screen looking right at them. It is actually pretty cool

 

[pssh]

Yeah, they can eat very little and still be just fine as long as they have water, heat, and warmth. With your female, be sure to also reduce her basking temps to the low 80s to help prevent egg laying.

A good way to determine if the 3-5 every other day is enough, is to weigh them weekly and make sure they are not loosing huge amounts of weight. You want them to keep their weight from dropping or rising dramatically. Also keep in mind that a weight gain in the female could be an indicator of eggs.

 

[hollycham]

Yeah I keep an eye on her. She laid a clutch of 32 eggs that are due to hatch in May/June. She did really well with laying and so forth. So I been keeping eye on her for needing to lay another.

 

[pssh]

Oh, she hasnt laid any clutches since then? Thats good, if she isnt showing signs of being gravid again, and if you reduce the food/temps right now, she might not lay another. The small clutch size is also really good. It means you havent been feeding her excessive amounts of food.

 

[hollycham]

Sometimes I wonder about their temps cause at night it gets down into the mid sixties about 64 but they seem to do ok. HOw would I tell if it is hurting them?

 

[sandrachameleon]

Ok guys, I have read a ton of different information on this site and tons of different threads and so on about what and how much you guys feed your chams. I ve gotten anything from 1-2 crickets every other day to throw in as many as they will eat within 30 mins ( which is alot ). I can throw 15 large crickets in my chams cages and they will eat them all within 15 mins....so am I over feeding or are others under feeding? Any constructive comments welcomed to help me please. Thank you

opinions vary for sure

What I suggest is this:

for chameleons under 6 months, provide as much as they are able to catch and eat within 5 minutes, three times daily.

For chameleons 6 - 13 months, provide as much as they are able to catch and eat within about 5 minutes, once or twice daily. Adjust according to how active the chameleon is, how its body appears (tail /head) and its weight. It should be growing still during this time, especially at the beginning.

For adult chameleons, 1-3 bugs per day or equivalent. Fine to skip a few days. Most chameleons will reduce their intake according to their need. Females who you plan to breed will be treated and fed differently from those you wish to delay egg production in.

You can see examples of EXACTLY what my panther chameleons (very similar to veileds) eat here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/food-diary/
(you'll have to go back a ways to older entries for examples that include babies and juvy age chams as I dont breed anymore)

termperature info:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/662-temperature.html

 

[pssh]

Sometimes I wonder about their temps cause at night it gets down into the mid sixties about 64 but they seem to do ok. HOw would I tell if it is hurting them?

A night time drop is prefered and good for them. Veileds are able to withstand temps below freezing in the wild as long as they can bask and warm up during the day. I would only supplement night time heat if it got below 50 degrees for adults.

 

[hollycham]

opinions vary for sure

What I suggest is this:

for chameleons under 6 months, provide as much as they are able to catch and eat within 5 minutes, three times daily.

For chameleons 6 - 13 months, provide as much as they are able to catch and eat within about 5 minutes, once or twice daily. Adjust according to how active the chameleon is, how its body appears (tail /head) and its weight. It should be growing still during this time, especially at the beginning.

For adult chameleons, 1-3 bugs per day or equivalent. Fine to skip a few days. Most chameleons will reduce their intake according to their need. Females who you plan to breed will be treated and fed differently from those you wish to delay egg production in.

You can see examples of EXACTLY what my panther chameleons (very similar to veileds) eat here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/food-diary/
(you'll have to go back a ways to older entries for examples that include babies and juvy age chams as I dont breed anymore)

termperature info:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/662-temperature.html

Thank you so much very helpful info for me!!

 

[hollycham]

A night time drop is prefered and good for them. Veileds are able to withstand temps below freezing in the wild as long as they can bask and warm up during the day. I would only supplement night time heat if it got below 50 degrees for adults.

Thanks, I was actually kind of worried about the temp drop but actually they both are their prettiest and most vibrate colors while they sleep through the night. I love looking at them and they always sleep in the exact same spot!