I'm a relatively new male and female chameleon owner and brand new to this forum. They are caged seperately in repitariums. I have researched them extensively and feel like their living conditions are perfect. My male is about 8 to 10 inches in length from head to tip of tail. My female is only 3 inches from head to tail. I'm concerned because I never see my male eat. I do see him drink water however. When I hold him, he feels like his stomach is hollow and full of air. Is this normal? He also can make himself pencil thin which concerns me. I have had this particular male for about a month and have never ever seen him eat his crickets or his mealworms. I have tried crickets and mealworms in all sizes to see if that makes a difference. The female eats very well and will go after the crickets as soon as I put them in but the male seems more shy and alarmed when I am in the room. He tends to want to keep an eye on me. I have even tried to sit quietly across the room and observe but no luck in seeing him eat. He might eat when I'm not around but I'm not sure. Does anyone know what he should weigh? I don't want to wait until it's too late to know if he's too skinny. I would feel much better if I knew he was eating. Please advise!!!
How can you tell if your chameleon is too skinny?
- Thread starter Chammie
- Start date
I'm a relatively new male and female chameleon owner and brand new to this forum. They are caged seperately in repitariums. I have researched them extensively and feel like their living conditions are perfect. My male is about 8 to 10 inches in length from head to tip of tail. My female is only 3 inches from head to tail. I'm concerned because I never see my male eat. I do see him drink water however. When I hold him, he feels like his stomach is hollow and full of air. Is this normal? He also can make himself pencil thin which concerns me. I have had this particular male for about a month and have never ever seen him eat his crickets or his mealworms. I have tried crickets and mealworms in all sizes to see if that makes a difference. The female eats very well and will go after the crickets as soon as I put them in but the male seems more shy and alarmed when I am in the room. He tends to want to keep an eye on me. I have even tried to sit quietly across the room and observe but no luck in seeing him eat. He might eat when I'm not around but I'm not sure. Does anyone know what he should weigh? I don't want to wait until it's too late to know if he's too skinny. I would feel much better if I knew he was eating. Please advise!!!
laurie
Retired Moderator
Hello Chammie and welcome to the forum, we are happy to have you. First what kind of chams do you have? It sounds like you are describing a male veiled actions. Thay alway look skinny and can look really skinny at the drop of a hat. They can hide behind a branch and be hard to locate in the cage. Could you post pictures of your chams? that will help a lot. Also there is a help form at the top of the page go to forums, then health forum then to "how to ask for help." If you take the time and fill this out we can give you a thought or two on your set up and chams. Again if you are talking male veiled you may not have a problem but the proof is in the picture.
laurie
Retired Moderator
I would say you have a very normal juvenile male veiled! He feels like he is full of air when you hold him because he is. He puffs his stomache to seem bigger because you are a threat to him. I almost never see my male veiled eat. But the crickets do go somewhere and heaven knows he poops a lot. How do you feed? There is cup feeding, hand feeding or the toss in the crickets(my type of feeding). Can you tell if the crickets are going away? Does he poop and how does it look? Also mealworms are not all that good for chams, superworms or roaches are better. Also silkworms and hornorms are great if you can get and afford them. I now raise roachs for my chams. UGH, i hate the idea but they don't stink, they don't make noise and the multiply like crazy.
are better. Also silkworms and hornorms are great if you can get and afford them. I now raise roachs for my chams. UGH, i hate the idea but they don't stink, they don't make noise and the multiply like crazy.
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You are making me feel better about his behavior. I just throw in a dozen crickets every other day. I do find quite a few dead when I clean his cage every week or occasionally two weeks. I do see feces too but not as much as I think I should. But truely, I'm not sure what to expect. What color should he be? What shows a healthy, happy juvenile cham? I comparing him to my young veiled female and she's not shy or timid a bit.
Dunnigan
New Member
The female should be fed as much as she will eat, and to avoid over feeding what you are feeding the male (12 crickts everyother day) is good.
My female, when she was little, would eat 20 crickets a day somtimes. IN 2 or three months cut back on the females feeding to half a dozen crickets everyother day that way she isnt overfed and lays a large clutch.
My female, when she was little, would eat 20 crickets a day somtimes. IN 2 or three months cut back on the females feeding to half a dozen crickets everyother day that way she isnt overfed and lays a large clutch.
beeze
Avid Member
Welcome to the Chameleon Forms. Below is a link to a blog with some great info on Veiled chameleons.
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
