How much are you feeding your chameleons?

Rocky

Rocky

Established Member
Lately I've been noticing a lot of people that seem to be over feeding their chameleons. Browsing the forums you get to watch a lot of babies grow up and some seem to grow at a steady slow pace and some seem to grow FAST.

I am thinking that a lot of this is due to over feeding. Some people seem to offer their chameleons 10-15 crickets (or something equal to that value) a day. Our adults get about 8-10 crickets (or something equal to that value aka butter worms / super worms / phoenix worms / hornworms ) every other day. The younger ones get about 4-6 a day.

I'm thinking a lot of issues such as prolapses and (maybe some mbd) are related to overfeeding.

I know for a fact that we are feeding them a lot more than they would generally eat in the wild and most chameleons will eat as much as they can get their tongues on.

Any thoughts on this? Do you think it is healthy to have an overweight chameleons?
 
I've noticed some of that myself. I read somewhere on here that chameleons only have so much digestive juice in them at a given time. We all know young ones are pigs and will pretty much eat as much as you can give them. Doesn't mean you should. Could lead to some of the things you mentioned, Rocky.

I think part of the allure especially for new keepers is that feeding time is probably the most exciting - they move around a lot and you get to see the cool tongue thing - but the point is to raise heathy animals.

I feed young ones 10-15 small food items a day, cut it down to 8 or so at 6 months, and 10-12 every other day for adults.
 
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From what I have read/heard/seen, constant overfeeding can lead to prolapses, MBD and egglaying problems....and likely more problems.
 
I have 2 adult veileds......one male and one female. I feed them 3 days a week on Mon, Wed & Friday 6 to 8 feeders depending on the size.
 
I think captive chameleons should be feed with the motto used to feed fish..."just a pinch will do". Its easy to see how it can be hard for some people to gauge the proper amount of bugs to be fed. My montane chameleons eat about 2-4 feeders a day (depending on the size).

Rocky said:
I know for a fact that we are feeding them a lot more than they would generally eat in the wild and most chameleons will eat as much as they can get their tongues on.
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Do you have any sources for your claim that we feed them a lot more in captive care then in the wild? I have had difficulty finding reports from books/websites/etc. on how frequently chameleons eat in the wild.
 
Sorry Cush I said that with a little bias. I havent read about chameleons specifically but in my Conservation of Wildlife and Natural Recources class last semester I did read in my book that animals kept in captivity suchs as parrots, iguanas, snakes, and even some species of deer are fed more than an animal in the wild would be eating and it causes a shorter life span on them. I took that assumption due to the fact that CB Chameleons are always fatter than the images we see of chameleons in the wild.
 
Rocky said:
Sorry Cush I said that with a little bias. I havent read about chameleons specifically but in my Conservation of Wildlife and Natural Recources class last semester I did read in my book that animals kept in captivity suchs as parrots, iguanas, snakes, and even some species of deer are fed more than an animal in the wild would be eating and it causes a shorter life span on them. I took that assumption due to the fact that CB Chameleons are always fatter than the images we see of chameleons in the wild.
Click to expand...

I agree with your assumption. I was just wondering wether or not you actually hand any links/books on hand, that covered this topic.
 
also over feeding makes them uninterested in their feeders, then they go on hunger strikes. Hunger strikes are a pain, because they get spoiled on crickets and are tired of them.
 
concerned

after reading, I am concerned that I just gave my 4 month old Panther Chameleon too many crickets.

I decided to feed him large ones mixed with smaller crickets. I pulled the tube out of my cricket bin and popped it in the Chameleon cage and about 20 came out. Should I take some out of the cage? Should I count the crickets before I release from the tube. I really don't like touching the crickets. I hate when they escape and I have to try and catch the little hoppers...lol

I go home for lunch and feed him, and this bunch was the most I have released....Now that I am back at work. Reading this thread freaked me out. with the problems...and all.
 
I feed 4-6 XL locust a day and dont feed on a sunday. Im sure my Cham would eat twice this if i let him, he normaly takes around 2 mins max to finish all his food! would you say this isnt enough?
 
Vic said:
I feed 4-6 XL locust a day and dont feed on a sunday. Im sure my Cham would eat twice this if i let him, he normaly takes around 2 mins max to finish all his food! would you say this isnt enough?
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No, I would say that is too much. If the locusts are smaller than a large coin then you might be overfeeding just a touch. Otherwise, feed them every other day the amount you feed them everday. Give him less on Saturday and none on Sunday like you already do.
 
Mine eat 10-15, sometimes 20 every other day. The only time they get 20, though, is if they didn't eat much the previous feeding.
(These aren't full sized crickets, however, just a bit smaller than the full sizers).
 
CHAMaDdIcT said:
so do you think feeding a 3 week old cham 9 crickets a day is too much? :(
Click to expand...

No, that's fine. Baby chameleons should eat a little more than adults, to facilitiate growing. You still dont want to overfeed, grow to quickly.

Do you offer anything besides crickets? Variety, in my opinion, is important.
 
Help

CRAP!! I think I need some help here. My baby veileds, I am talking newborn to a month, simply get all they want to eat. I feed them 1/16 crickets and friut fly larve. I keep 10 babies in each 10 gal aquriam. I mist them 4 times a day and feed them 3 times a day. There is always food available to them. I worry that someone won't get to eat. That means I am WAY over feeding. There is no way to count fruit fly's or crickets that size, and with that many babies per tank what should I do?:confused:
 
Ever start a reply and think "I am going to get hammered hard for saying this!"?

Well, here goes..........:D
Benny (eisentranti) in a previous thread said that Chameleons in the wild will naturally have periods of times when food is scarce, perhaps weeks at a [/I]time.
That statement really made me evaluate my feeding parameters, and realized that I had faced hunger strikes by most of my Chams, and that to me, this was a sure sign of over feeding. I was aware that chams have a drop in activity in the cooler winter months, but I also noticed some chams became lethargic, even in the summer months.
So, I have been changing my feeding regime in the following ways;
1) At times I feed daily, at times I skip one to several days. Juvies get shorter times of no food than adults.
2) When I go on a trip, I don't fill up the food bowls up like I used to, my goal is not to have feeders left, but that they are all eaten. And if they are out when I return, I don't dump a bunch in to "make up" for what they "missed."
3) I am feeding more variety in my farm raised insects.
4) I am feeding more "wild-caught" insects; butterflies, grasshoppers, moths, and dragon flies.

Nick
 
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