food question

[Aj1988]

i was wondering if anyone can tell me how many bugs my veiled chameleon should eat a week ???the person who had her was only feeding her 25 crickets once a week ??? but that doesnt seem like enough to me.... but i could be wrong thanks for the help

 

[camimom]

How old is she? the age will help determine how much to feed.

 

[summoner12]

yeah, if she is an adult female, 25 seems about right.

 

[Aj1988]

shes a year and a half . shes really skinny i brought her to the vet and they said because she doesnt get enough food in one week ?? so any suggestions on what i should be feeding her. per week.

 

[Chris Jury]

It depends on cricket size, for sure. For a healthy adult female (say 1+ yrs) on the order of 25 adult crickets over a week (e.g., 5 crickets/day x 5 days/week) sounds about right, but it really depends. This is one of those many areas where observation is critical: if the animal is thin (underweight) it needs more food, and if overweight likely needs less.

Since this animal is underweight, I'd feed as much as she'll eat every day, making sure to provide adequately high basking temps (95-105 F) along with appropriate ambient temps (say 75-80 F in the coolest places) so that she can maintain appropriate body temperature, digest the food, and put on weight in a healthy manner. Once she reaches a healthy body weight, you can probably end up cutting back the food availability.

cj

 

[Trace]

I disagree. I think a slow increase in weight is better longterm than letting her gorge on insects to fill her out quickly. If I'm not mistaken the chance of liver problems increases dramatically when they are power fed. I feed my female chameleons 5 or 6 bugs every day to every other day and they gain and/or maintain a good weight.

To rule out any internal parasites - which may be the cause of her slender look - next time she has a poop bring it to your vet (as soon as you can after she goes) and they can run a simple test to check for any worms and microorganisms.

Gatineau eh? We are practically neighbours. Welcome aboard.

 

[sandrachameleon]

does she only get crickets?
25 a week seems entirely adequate to me.
I agree with the hired goon (Trace) - slow increase is best, if increase is required.
can you measure her snout to vent, and weight her? provide picture?

 

[Aj1988]

she had only eaten crickets, her whole life, she has no parasites the vets already checked, i have decided to mix up her food a little add some worms to it and hopefully she will slowly fill out

 

[jojackson]

I think a slow increase in weight is better longterm than letting her gorge on insects to fill her out quickly. If I'm not mistaken the chance of liver problems increases dramatically when they are power fed.

Sound info Trace. I recommend regular (monthly) weighings to monitor your animals weight.

 

[ghettomike]

It depends on cricket size, for sure. For a healthy adult female (say 1+ yrs) on the order of 25 adult crickets over a week (e.g., 5 crickets/day x 5 days/week) sounds about right, but it really depends. This is one of those many areas where observation is critical: if the animal is thin (underweight) it needs more food, and if overweight likely needs less.

Since this animal is underweight, I'd feed as much as she'll eat every day, making sure to provide adequately high basking temps (95-105 F) along with appropriate ambient temps (say 75-80 F in the coolest places) so that she can maintain appropriate body temperature, digest the food, and put on weight in a healthy manner. Once she reaches a healthy body weight, you can probably end up cutting back the food availability.

cj

95 to 105 degrees will cook your veiled, for an adult f veiled try to keep basking temp around 82.