Help! General questions

[fallenangel]

I have had my chameleon for quite a while now and I've followed alot of research but I need to know a schedule for feeding and how often. This also involves calcium with D3 and calcium without D3 and multivitamin My cham is what I believe almost 5 months old and he's a decent size.

 

[TheMotherChameleon]

How often you feed depends on age if your Cham is about five months then you should feed him everyday about 10-15 bugs. When he gets to 8-9 months start cutting back to every other day 3-4 bugs. Then when he gets to 1 year old feed every 2-3 days 3-4 bugs

 

[TheMotherChameleon]

Also if you are feeding big bugs feed a little less

 

[fallenangel]

How often you feed depends on age if your Cham is about five months then you should feed him everyday about 10-15 bugs. When he gets to 8-9 months start cutting back to every other day 3-4 bugs. Then when he gets to 1 year old feed every 2-3 days 3-4 bugs

Thank you also do u have a older cham if so could u send a picture I'm trying to also reference his size with age or is that even possible

 

[TheMotherChameleon]

I do not have a chameleon yet I am setting up my cage getting ready for one

 

[Beman]

I am going to jump in here... give me a minute

 

[TheMotherChameleon]

Thank you also do u have a older cham if so could u send a picture I'm trying to also reference his size with age or is that even possible

I don’t know if it is possible to find out the age from the size of the cham but I don’t think so

 

[fallenangel]

I am going to jump in here... give me a minute

Alright please give me your thoughts on this

 

[Beman]

I have had my chameleon for quite a while now and I've followed alot of research but I need to know a schedule for feeding and how often. This also involves calcium with D3 and calcium without D3 and multivitamin My cham is what I believe almost 5 months old and he's a decent size.

Ok for a 5 month old chameleon you want to feed every day unlimited. They can easily take down 2 dozen or more insects a day at this age... When you reduce is largely based on if you have a male or a female. So I need a bit more info on that first before I advice you.

Per supplements. Calcium without D3 is used at every feeding lightly dusted on all insects. Then You want to use a multivitamin that has A and D3 in it 2 times a month say the first and the 15th. If you take pics of your supplements labels I can give you info on if you have the correct ones or need to switch anything.

Can you post a few pics of the chameleon as well so I can see overall body size?

 

[fallenangel]

Ok for a 5 month old chameleon you want to feed every day unlimited. They can easily take down 2 dozen or more insects a day at this age... When you reduce is largely based on if you have a male or a female. So I need a bit more info on that first before I advice you.

Per supplements. Calcium without D3 is used at every feeding lightly dusted on all insects. Then You want to use a multivitamin that has A and D3 in it 2 times a month say the first and the 15th. If you take pics of your supplements labels I can give you info on if you have the correct ones or need to switch anything.

Can you post a few pics of the chameleon as well so I can see overall body size?

He is a male and I have been doing that exact scedule and as for everything else I have done heavy research with what's good with D3 and without. If it helps at all I also follow neptune off tiktok for anything I normallycant figure out on here

 

[Beman]

Note Feeding males vs females differs...

This is info specific to females. Panthers and Veileds.

Females

While young feed as much as they want easily 2 dozen insects a day or more. As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6-7 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7-8 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeder amounts so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.


You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces. The hotter the temp the more their metabolism speeds up so we have to keep the temp lower since we are doing lower food intake.

A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/


For males:
Basking 80-85 range. Feed as much as they want easily 2 dozen insects a day or more. Males you will notice a curb down normally around 9-10 months where they do not eat as much daily. This is when you want to take them to every other day feeding of about 12 insects. Then between 9 months and 12 months you want to slowly start reducing your insects say by 1 insect a week. So that when they hit the 1 year mark they are eating 4-5 insects every other day. Keep them on this schedule. If you notice fat pads in the cheeks or casque getting fat then you need to do a further reduction normally feeding every 2-3 days 4-5 insects.
At one year old they have reached pretty much their full growth potential. This is when feeding them too much can cause them to become obese so we just watch their size to make sure it is not an issue.

 

[Beman]

View attachment 352260View attachment 352261
He is a male and I have been doing that exact scedule and as for everything else I have done heavy research with what's good with D3 and without. If it helps at all I also follow neptune off tiktok for anything I normallycant figure out on here

Handsome little man... She is a great resource. We also recommend Chameleon Academy. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

He looks to be right about 5-6 months old. I posted complete details above for feeding.

 

[fallenangel]

How do you know when it's too much by curiosity and then also what does the fat pads or cosque cheeks look like?

 

[TheMotherChameleon]

They start puffing out the casque is where you can really tell if they are getting overweight

 

[elizaann2]

Just want to jump in here and say welcome! @Beman has given you some excellent advice

 

[MissSkittles]

How do you know when it's too much by curiosity and then also what does the fat pads or cosque cheeks look like?

This may help.




Unrelated, I’d like to see some pics of your enclosure, including lights.