How many times do I feed my juvenile cham?

[stalincat]

Hi there,
I got my cham about a week ago. It's my 1st cham, so I'm not very experienced. She is nearly 6 months old, looking quite healthy.
I can't find a solid answer to how often do I feed her? I read somewhere 'as much as she wants', but she wants to eat all the time, it seems. I would put a tray with say 10 mealworms and a few crickets, she would just eat them all in one go. Later on I'd put more, and again she eats them all. And then she does a massive poo ha! Today she is rocking a big belly. Am I making her fat?
I know you ought to give an adult 5 bugs a day, but she's still growing, so I'm a wee bit confused.
Thanks in advance!

 

[carol5208]

Seeing you have a female and she is at the age of egg laying you don't want to overfeed as it can cause egg production. I would not feed her as much as she wants, but maybe more like 10 feeders a day every day. yes, she still is growing so you don't want to starve her, but feed a decent amount of food without over doing it.

 

[chameleonkev]

^^^^ good answer

 

[ZuggieTheCham]

I would add as well you should not reali give your cham 10 mealworms a day either i would not even give that a week they are hard on the belly for them witch will be why her poo was massive they are more treat for them would give more crix as your main feed and would love to see some pictures of her as well if u can get some !!

 

[stalincat]

thanks everyone!
Will switch to crickets, conveniently got them delivered today.
There's a couple of pics of Ripley. Will take better pictures later on. She is quite shy for now and doesn't trust me yet. But she's an adorable wee bugger anyway=)

 

[sandrachameleon]

give her as much as she can eat in about five minutes. That will be about 5 bugs. Use more crickets than mealworms, and please add some other types of feeders to her diet as well.
If her tail is more round than oval, she's probably overweight.

 

[spawn]

give her as much as she can eat in about five minutes. That will be about 5 bugs. Use more crickets than mealworms, and please add some other types of feeders to her diet as well.
If her tail is more round than oval, she's probably overweight.

Is this really a concern for a growing chameleon? I could see being concerned over a fat adult but a still-growing one...?

What is your assessment based on the pictures posted above Sandra?

 

[Lathelia]

Is this really a concern for a growing chameleon? I could see being concerned over a fat adult but a still-growing one...?

What is your assessment based on the pictures posted above Sandra?

Young or adult - it's not healthy for a cham to be overweight. Especially when it comes to females, unless you want her to lay eggs at such a young age. IMO

 

[sandrachameleon]

Is this really a concern for a growing chameleon? I could see being concerned over a fat adult but a still-growing one...?

Is WHAT a concern? I expressed no concerns.
Are you asking if it is possible for a young growing animal to get too fat, or grow to fast? I would say, yes.

An adult needs only 1-5 prey items daily, indeed zero on some days is fine (Mine are fed 5-6 days per week only). A growing chameleon needs more, which is why i suggested "give her as much as she can eat in about five minutes. That will be about 5 bugs."