How much food?
- Thread starter BigTex
- Start date
Dankmeleon
New Member
unforunetly chams are like dogs, and sometimes they'll eat way more than they can, other times they'll eat because they are use to no crix being in the cage, and if they are there this is a stress and they feel they have to eat them, I'd say for a small guy like that 5 crix is an okay number and if he does well with that give him 8 and if he does well with that give him 10, I'm talking about really small crix
but if you see him struggling to poop don't give him quite as many, all chams have different rates of metabolism based on your care for them and how much sun basting they do
i know people who give there chams as much as they can eat and it hasn't been a huge problem yet, but I'd be cautious about that because I hear about a lot of chams that stop eating because they are constipated and having trouble passing a bowel movement
some folks may say 5 is not enough, but its better than none...also make sure you are gut loading your crix to the max so your chams can get the most out of the least number of crix.....if you just feed them straight crix right from where you buy them, its not the worst but a lot of that cricket exo skeleton gets passed, its the guts that does all the nutrition
but if you see him struggling to poop don't give him quite as many, all chams have different rates of metabolism based on your care for them and how much sun basting they do
i know people who give there chams as much as they can eat and it hasn't been a huge problem yet, but I'd be cautious about that because I hear about a lot of chams that stop eating because they are constipated and having trouble passing a bowel movement
some folks may say 5 is not enough, but its better than none...also make sure you are gut loading your crix to the max so your chams can get the most out of the least number of crix.....if you just feed them straight crix right from where you buy them, its not the worst but a lot of that cricket exo skeleton gets passed, its the guts that does all the nutrition
Dankmeleon
New Member
for a 2 month old if you give him 5 and he hasn't that big of an appetite yet, its not a big deal because he'll eat them later, and if he is a diesel 2 monther, pretty soon 10 won't be out of the question...just try to stay away from the handfuls and unlimited feeding
John33871
New Member
he should be eating up to 20 a day. i remember when my guy was that old and he ate like a starving kid. how long have you had yours for? if you have gotten him recently then im sure he is ok, and will start eating more and more. where did you get him from? post pictures too, everyone im sure would love to see him
BigTex
New Member
i have had him for about two weeks and as far as i can tell he is a happy little guy. he is fat, active, has great color and active eyes. i have experience with veilds but this is the first i have had in a few years so im trying to remember all that i have forgot. i will try to get some pictures of Romeo up soon. thanks for the help
ChameleonsTree
New Member
During growing periods they need as many as 20 a day...just make sure hes getting them dusted with calcium
koabich
New Member
How many crickets he eats a day depends on numerous factors:
1) Size of crickets
2) Time of day offered
3) General activity of the cham
4) Cham disposition - some chams just eat more than others
I typically offer my cham food that is on the larger size. Whether you buy 1000 1/4" crickets or 1000 1/2" crickets, the cost is the same. But offering the larger crickets allows for more guttloading as larger crickets eat more along with the crickets lasting longer as he eats less of them at one sitting. Just make sure the crickets are not too large that he is struggling to get them down.
Also, don't feed him early in the morning. Give him several hours to get up to temperature so his metabolism is going strong. If the lights go on at 8am and you feed him at 8:30am, he may still eat but he won't eat as much if you had offered him the food later in the day. Just make sure you feed him and still allow for several hours under the lights to help him digest.
Also, some chams just eat more than others. Even brothers from the same clutch could eat different amounts. Just because my cham eats 12 3/4" crickets a day, doesn't mean that yours will do the same. Every cham is different. Experiment, try offering different variety. When my cham is sick of a food, he will still eat it, but he will not eat as much of it.
Another thing to remember, there is a lot of good advice on these forums. A lot of good general guidlines to follow. Buts that's all they are really...general guidlines or recommendations to follow. What works for my cham might not work for yours...there are just too many variations (housing, feeding, supplementation, climate, location, lighting, husbandry, just to name a few).
One thing I think most on these forums would agree too is that chams like a schedule or standardization (excluding food items offered). They like the lights on and off at the smae time every day. They like to be fed at the same time every day. They like to be misted at the same time every day, etc. Stick with a sytem and don't contastly change things. If you do make a change, make it a gradual one.
1) Size of crickets
2) Time of day offered
3) General activity of the cham
4) Cham disposition - some chams just eat more than others
I typically offer my cham food that is on the larger size. Whether you buy 1000 1/4" crickets or 1000 1/2" crickets, the cost is the same. But offering the larger crickets allows for more guttloading as larger crickets eat more along with the crickets lasting longer as he eats less of them at one sitting. Just make sure the crickets are not too large that he is struggling to get them down.
Also, don't feed him early in the morning. Give him several hours to get up to temperature so his metabolism is going strong. If the lights go on at 8am and you feed him at 8:30am, he may still eat but he won't eat as much if you had offered him the food later in the day. Just make sure you feed him and still allow for several hours under the lights to help him digest.
Also, some chams just eat more than others. Even brothers from the same clutch could eat different amounts. Just because my cham eats 12 3/4" crickets a day, doesn't mean that yours will do the same. Every cham is different. Experiment, try offering different variety. When my cham is sick of a food, he will still eat it, but he will not eat as much of it.
Another thing to remember, there is a lot of good advice on these forums. A lot of good general guidlines to follow. Buts that's all they are really...general guidlines or recommendations to follow. What works for my cham might not work for yours...there are just too many variations (housing, feeding, supplementation, climate, location, lighting, husbandry, just to name a few).
One thing I think most on these forums would agree too is that chams like a schedule or standardization (excluding food items offered). They like the lights on and off at the smae time every day. They like to be fed at the same time every day. They like to be misted at the same time every day, etc. Stick with a sytem and don't contastly change things. If you do make a change, make it a gradual one.
Dankmeleon
New Member
I have chams that will eat a rediculous number of crickets, but I still don't feed them as much as they can eat...also just as a rule of thumb, I never give my smaller chams all medium size crix only one or two with the 1/4 inchers
in my small crix shipments that i get, there are a good variety of sizes so there are a few bigger ones
the most important thing to consider is def not overfeeding them, I guess a lot of people like to watch there chams grow fast, but honestly whats the rush...they are fast growing anyway, you don't need to over feed them
and over feeding is probably one of the biggest nutrition errors of beginners as well as dusting schedule....everyone loves to show off those tounge strikes to friends!
in some cases, over feeding will make your cham grow slower because his digestion won't absorb all the good nutes, he'll just pass them which looks pretty hard, I don't like watching my chams struggle to poop huge turds...its an eye sore
in my small crix shipments that i get, there are a good variety of sizes so there are a few bigger ones
the most important thing to consider is def not overfeeding them, I guess a lot of people like to watch there chams grow fast, but honestly whats the rush...they are fast growing anyway, you don't need to over feed them
and over feeding is probably one of the biggest nutrition errors of beginners as well as dusting schedule....everyone loves to show off those tounge strikes to friends!
in some cases, over feeding will make your cham grow slower because his digestion won't absorb all the good nutes, he'll just pass them which looks pretty hard, I don't like watching my chams struggle to poop huge turds...its an eye sore
