How can i get my Veiled Cham to eat fruits and/or veggies

J

Jameso2001

Member
Ive been very interested in trying to get my almost one year old chameleon to eat something other than live food. She has a great feeding response and will redily shoot my hand if i put it near her and try to eat it Should i trick her into shooting a slice of fruit or?
 
@Jameso2001 said. "I do load my mealworms and dubia with carrots but thats about it"... That's not a good enough gutload IMHO. If you want a healthy chameleon you need to feed it healthy well fed/gutloaded insects.

Re getting it to eat greens, veggies and a little bit of fruit...try slipping a sliver of Apple between its teeth while it's mouth is ooening and shutting whike its eating an insect.
 
kinyonga said:
@Jameso2001 said. "I do load my mealworms and dubia with carrots but thats about it"... That's not a good enough gutload IMHO. If you want a healthy chameleon you need to feed it healthy well fed/gutloaded insects.

Re getting it to eat greens, veggies and a little bit of fruit...try slipping a sliver of Apple between its teeth while it's mouth is ooening and shutting whike its eating an insect.
Click to expand...
I dont want to force feed it! Im pretty sure i could get her to just shoot something out of my hand. What should i feed her though? I know i could just look it up but i like hearing peoples input.
 
I'm not saying force her to eat it. Force feeding is holding the chameleon and forcing it's mouth open and putting food in it. I'm saying while she's chewing on an insect and her mouth is opening and shutting anyway, slip the tip of a thin slice of apple in between her teeth so she bites a bit off...that way she gets to taste it. Once they say"mmm...that tasted good" they will usually start to eat those things.
 
kinyonga said:
I'm not saying force her to eat it. Force feeding is holding the chameleon and forcing it's mouth open and putting food in it. I'm saying while she's chewing on an insect and her mouth is opening and shutting anyway, slip the tip of a thin slice of apple in between her teeth so she bites a bit off...that way she gets to taste it. Once they say"mmm...that tasted good" they will usually start to eat those things.
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Ahh i see, that sounds good. So are fruits and veggies a must? That may be a dumb question and dont get me wrong, i care for lots of lizards and i love them and have done hours of research but i never saw anything about it being necessary to feed fruits and veggies. (And i dont only load my dubia and worms with roaches, i feel them a gutload food meant for roaches btw) I forgot to mention that earlier
 
Misunderstood when you said force it...I don't want you to make her eat it either...I just wanted her to try it and then she can make her own choice after that.

Not a dumb question. Fruits and veggies for veileds are not a must. Some like it and others don't. Some eat the leaves of the plants in their cages too so I recommend that all plants are be real and non toxic and well washed both sides of the leaves for veileds in particular.

Some, particularly female veileds eat the substrates too and try to eat stones and bark and can end up impacted...just to let you know. This is why I recommend not using people's that could possibly be swallowed and not to use any barks or substrates that could lead to impaction since impaction is a death sentence.

Regardless of what you feed the roaches, crickets and superworms, I still recommend feeding them with an assortment of greens (dandelions, endive, escarole, kale, etc,) and veggies (carrots, squash, zucchini, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, etc) and a bit of fruit (berries, pears, apples, melon, etc) all of these can be offered to your female too.

What other lizards/reptiles do you keep?
 
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kinyonga said:
Misunderstood when you said force it...I don't want you to make her eat it either...I just wanted her to try it and then she can make her own choice after that.

Not a dumb question. Fruits and veggies for veileds are not a must. Some like it and others don't. Some eat the leaves of the plants in their cages too so I recommend that all plants are be real and non toxic and well washed both sides of the leaves for veileds in particular. Some, particularly female veileds eat the substrates too and try to eat stones and bark and can end up impacted...just to let you know.

Regardless of what you feed the roaches, crickets and superworms, I still recommend feeding them with an assortment of greens (dandelions, endive, escarole, kale, etc,) and veggies (carrots, squash, zucchini, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, etc) and a bit of fruit (berries, pears, apples, melon, etc) all of these can be offered to your female too.
Click to expand...
Wow, im not sure i can keep up with your feeding game! But all i have is a small braided money tree in there in a small pot with exposed coco coir. Ive never had an issue with her eating the sub (im almost positive she doesnt) plus ive only been hand feeding her and feeding her out of a dish. The most dangerous thing she does is shoot my hand and draw it in and bite me on accident. Back to the subject, i will try and get her to eat some fruits and pehaps veggies but probably only banana.
 
It's no game...but you know that.
It only takes once for her to ingest the substrate. They don't just do it accidentally...they can do it on purpose when they feel like it.
Banana is not a good choice.

Since your veiled female is about a year old, do you have a proper egglaying container IN her cage because they can produce eggs even when not mated and can die eggbound if there is no suitable place to lay them?

What other reptiles do you keep?
 
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kinyonga said:
It's no game...but you know that.
It only takes once for her to ingest the substrate. They don't just do it accidentally...they can do it on purpose when they feel like it.
Banana is not a good choice.

Since your veiled female is about a year old, do you have a proper egglaying container IN her cage because they can produce eggs even when not mated and can die eggbound if there is no suitable place to lay them?

What other reptiles do you keep?
Click to expand...
Oh my goodness i thought it would be like some of the other lizards ive kept, in the sense that they would just drop infertile eggs wherever. In all the care sheets and such that i have read about veileds i never have seen anything about egg laying containers unless of course you are breeding
 
Just leave a live (safe) plant in their enclosure with easy access. My veileds have tended to love jade plants, and take bites out of them every now and then! Watermelon and strawberries also work great, try holding a tiny bite right against their mouth to get them to try it. Usually they will take it and eat it from your hand or a dish after theyve had it once.
 
One of the biggest reasons veiled chameleon females die is reproductive issues. If the quality of food, proper supplements, appropriate basking temperature, proper amount of food, proper site to lay the eggs in, etc isn't all done right they can produce large clutches that deplete their nutrients and they can end up eggbound, impacted, and with MBD. Females are a challenge.
 
K_Wolf said:
Just leave a live (safe) plant in their enclosure with easy access. My veileds have tended to love jade plants, and take bites out of them every now and then! Watermelon and strawberries also work great, try holding a tiny bite right against their mouth to get them to try it. Usually they will take it and eat it from your hand or a dish after theyve had it once.
Click to expand...
Ill definately try that! And all the fruits we buy are organic with no pesticides and all that bad stuff
 
kinyonga said:
One of the biggest reasons veiled chameleon females die is reproductive issues. If the quality of food, proper supplements, appropriate basking temperature, proper amount of food, proper site to lay the eggs in, etc isn't all done right they can produce large clutches that deplete their nutrients and they can end up eggbound, impacted, and with MBD. Females are a challenge.
Click to expand...
Wow sounds like a challenge, ive got most of that locked down but what should i put in there for a place to lay eggs? Like a deep dish of sphag moss?
 
You said..."what should i put in there for a place to lay eggs? Like a deep dish of sphag moss?"....to need an opaque container at least 12" deep x 12" x 8" filled with washed playsand that is moist enough to hold a tunnel. Bigger is better.

So you know about controlling the females diet, temperature, etc once she reaches sexual maturity to stop her from producing large clutches? You know how to tell when she's sexually mature?
 
Alright she just ate a bunch of small slices of banana off of my finger after once biting me! At first she shot the banana but after that she came up really close and started like lapping it up with her tongue. It was very cool
 
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