How much to feed a cham

[Quantum Mark]

Hello,

I've a question regarding quantity of feeders.

I understand that different bugs have different nutritional values so quantities vary.

However I found a post here where one person is feeding 15 crickets daily and one here where another person is feeding 2 to 5 bugs a day which seems like a huge discrepancy.

Am I missing something here (perhaps the ages of the chams involved?) that's a reason there is such a big gap. Does anyone know a good resource for guideline quantities for chams from three to twelve months or so?

Thanks.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Variances in amounts can be a result of:
-Type of chameleon
-Gendre of chameleon
-Age of chameleon
-Type of feeder (3 of one bug can be equivalent to 1 other bug)
-Frequency of feeding (some feed three times every day, some once a day, some every other day, some every third day)
-Owner preference (some people think more is better, when really less is probably better if you want the animal to live a long time)

You have used my food diary log as one of your examples. I raise Panther chameleons. Most food diary entries are for adult males, over a year in age and kept in 2x2x4 enclosures where there is no competition and the temps etc are correct, thus not in need of a great deal of food energy.

Really young chameleons I feed twice or more times a day, as much as they can eat in about 5 minutes (which can be a lot)
At six months, I start reducing down to only a few bugs each meal.
At one year, they are down to what you read in the diary.

Keep attentive to the health of your chameleon, its size, its fat pads, its skin, the roundness of its tail. That should help you determine whether you are feeding too little or too much.

 

[Quantum Mark]

Thank a lot for the comprehensive reply, Sandra. Much appreciated.

Out of interest, what sort of age have you kept panthers to on that kind of diet?

 

[Miss Lily]

This info is really useful for me too. Amy is between 4 and 5 months old now and was still hoovering up the crix like you wouldn't believe! I moved her on to the next size up and has been on mediums since the weekend. She seems happier with these and is eating a lot less now compared to last week. She now has to chew her food rather than just hoover it up, lol! She's also had a growth spurt over the last week and is noticibly weightier than she was. I wasn't able to feel her on my hand before as she was so light, so now it's lovely to feel how big she's getting!

 

[sandrachameleon]

Thank a lot for the comprehensive reply, Sandra. Much appreciated. Out of interest, what sort of age have you kept panthers to on that kind of diet?

You're welcome. I feel sure how much you feed, what you feed, what you gutload with, temperature and many other factors all contribute to the health and longevity of chameleons, in addition to the genetic defaults of the animal itself.
But I hope others reply also, to give you a better rounded answer rather than just my opinion. I dont think my feeding schedule is entirely typical of what most on this forum report doing.

My oldest male, Simon, lived to be over seven years. He was my first chameleon, and he's the only male that I've lost so far. However I have since learned this is somewhat unusual and that a shorter life, like 5 years, is more typical. My next oldest male (one of Simon's offspring) is only 3 years and some months, and while I hope he lives as long as his father, I suspect he will not.
My female panthers have only lived about 4 years average.

Veileds can live longer than panthers, it seems. For example, Kinyonga's veiled females live to be something like 7 and the males even older. Brock had a female veiled that lived 8 years.

 

[xanthoman]

there are so many variables and not enough info, it would help to know age (size) type and personality (how active or aggressive) of the chams in question , the type of feeders (and which ones are your staples ) you are talking about, what they are gut loaded with, and what you are trying to accomplish ( just daily feeding , some sort of rehab, like trying to fatten up a previously under fed cham ) any given adult active healthy cham would probably eat less in an undersize cage than it would in a larger cage. most chams like dubia, so if cost is the issue, then i would start wth a self perpetuating dubia colony and work from there. also some chams have very irregular feeding schedules , eat like pigs for days or weeks and then not eat for several days , which could partially due to over feeding ,the best thing to do is find a happy medium, although most chams are not over eaters , i personally dont feel it is good to just give a cham endless feeders just because it will take them,

 

[Quantum Mark]

Thanks J walker.

I'm picking up my first cham in two weeks time, so it was just a general enquiry really. I haven't found much on the subject of quantity so was keen to get an idea of how much others where feeding their chams.

I've been looking into keeping Dubai roach colonies and think it's something I'll take on as I've found a good supplier in the UK

 

[kinyonga]

Not to do with feeding...but some good sites you might like to read...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://adcham.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...ut.Basics.html
http://chameleonnews.com/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Feeding too much can be just as bad as not feeding enough.

Just like in people.

With babies, I feed them heavily once a day or even every two days depending
how much they eat. This is for all babies of all species of lizards I keep.

For adults, I generally feed them once a day or once every two days. I try
to eyeball the amount of food, and put as many feeders in their dish as
could fill up 1/4 to 1/2 of their abdomen area.

Some individuals will overeat no matter what, but some are smarter and will
just eat their fill and then eat again when they need to. For these animals
I generally keep 3-5 feeders in their dish at all times, for them to eat at their
own leisure.

The basilisk on my face in my avatar has eaten so much sometimes that he
pukes, this was when he was younger. Now that he is older, he usually
eats about 5-8 roaches or worms every two days, and won't touch anything
until he's digested it all lol.

A good thing to keep an eye on is the base of their tail. If their hip bones
are protruding (think of a sick/skinny cow), then they need to be fed more.

 

[Quantum Mark]

Thanks all, feeling more comfortable with the quantity issue now.

And thanks for the links, Kinyonga. I'd read most of them but there's some useful info on Adcham and I hadn't seen the website before

 

[Powers]

Some individuals will overeat no matter what, but some are smarter and will
just eat their fill and then eat again when they need to. For these animals
I generally keep 3-5 feeders in their dish at all times, for them to eat at their
own leisure.

Yep. Lucky for me Napoleon has proven he can ration himself. Makes feeding much easier for me.