How much should female 6 month veiled weigh?

[George Greig]

Hi, how much should a six month old veiled chameleon weigh?
Mine 87g, she looks healthy, not too fat, not too skinny but I’m just wondering if that’s a good weight? I’ve attached a recent photo of her below. Also, how much would you recommend feeding her? For the last few months I’ve been feeding her for about 5 minutes twice a day and some snacks in between.

 

[George Greig]

Hi, how much should a six month old veiled chameleon weigh?
Mine 87g, she looks healthy, not too fat, not too skinny but I’m just wondering if that’s a good weight? I’ve attached a recent photo of her below. Also, how much would you recommend feeding her? For the last few months I’ve been feeding her for about 5 minutes twice a day and some snacks in between.

forgot to mention, I feed her medium crickets, calci worms, wax worms as treats, zucchini and she loves her hibiscus plant.

 

[jannb]

I try to keep my adult female veiled in the very low 80’s to help slow egg production. Wax worms are very fattening. I’ve never used those.

 

[George Greig]

I try to keep my adult female veiled in the very low 80’s to help slow egg production. Wax worms are very fattening. I’ve never used those.

Ok thanks for the advice! so is she actually a little overweight because she’s not fully grown yet? She doesn’t really look it, I guess it’s hard to tell.

 

[jannb]

Ok thanks for the advice! so is she actually a little overweight because she’s not fully grown yet? She doesn’t really look it, I guess it’s hard to tell.

I’d cut out the wax worms and go to feeding every 2 to 3 days. I’d also keep her temps in the low 80’s, 83ish. @Kristen Wilkins is really good at stopping them from laying. @kinyonga stated this method many years ago.

 

[George Greig]

I’d cut out the wax worms and go to feeding every 2 to 3 days. I’d also keep her temps in the low 80’s, 83ish. @Kristen Wilkins is really good at stopping them from laying. @kinyonga stated this method many years ago.

Ok, noted, right now she basks at around 85-87 so I’m guessing that’s too high, what wattage reptile basking bulb should I get to achieve this temp? Right now I have an 85w bulb that I suspend a few inches above her cage.

 

[jannb]

I use a 40 watt household bulb, the old style, not the coil but I keep my house pretty warm.

 

[George Greig]

I use a 40 watt household bulb, the old style, not the coil but I keep my house pretty warm.

Ah ok thanks a lot, one last question though (last one I promise !?) does she not just turn brown all the time because of the low heat? Sorry for all the questions!!

 

[jannb]

No, my girls have beautiful colors. 83 is warm enough for them.

 

[kinyonga]

If you overfeed a veiled female once she is mature she will produce large clutches, most likely develop MBD, may prolapse, will likely become egg bound and live a shorter life than she could.

I keep the basking temperature in the low 80'sF to slow the metabolism a bit. I feed about 3 to 5 crickets every 2 or 3 days once they are mature. Yours is definitely old enough to only be fed every second or third day and to start cutting back the amount of food too.

Make sure you supplement properly and provide the proper UVB light and enough water that her urates are not very orange/almost white.

I've never weighed a chameleon unless it was necessary to put it on antibiotics...so I can't tell you what her weight should be.

 

[MissSkittles]

Your little beauty looks like a healthy weight. My adult females weigh between 85-90gm when not gravid. Of course, like humans each is unique.

 

[George Greig]

If you overfeed a veiled female once she is mature she will produce large clutches, most likely develop MBD, may prolapse, will likely become egg bound and live a shorter life than she could.

I keep the basking temperature in the low 80'sF to slow the metabolism a bit. I feed about 3 to 5 crickets every 2 or 3 days once they are mature. Yours is definitely old enough to only be fed every second or third day and to start cutting back the amount of food too.

Make sure you supplement properly and provide the proper UVB light and enough water that her urates are not very orange/almost white.

I've never weighed a chameleon unless it was necessary to put it on antibiotics...so I can't tell you what her weight should be.

Ok thanks for the info! And yeah she has a HO 5.0 linear UVB light and her Urates are very healthy, I’m going to start feeding her less now (also good because it’ll be much cheaper!).

 

[George Greig]

Your little beauty looks like a healthy weight. My adult females weigh between 85-90gm when not gravid. Of course, like humans each is unique.

Thanks! ?? and yeah I was just wondering because she isn’t fully grown yet....