How much to feed? and how old is he?

Grand

New Member
Have the best new veiled chameleon! Love him to death! How many crickets should we give him a day? All at once or over the course of the day? And how do we tell how old he is? His body is about 4" long, without the tail.
Thank you so very much.
 
I am VERY bad at age-guessing... but he sounds like he's over the 4, maybe even 6 month mark. Yuki is roughly 4", maybe a bit more(I haven't exactly measured her) and likely 6-7 months old. So I'm going to GUESS he's 4-6 months old, as he is male, and they're usually bigger than females. I would seek the opinion of someone more experienced though, as this is completely guesswork and comparison with the only veiled I've ever owned...


Feeding is best done at the first half of the day, ideally shortly after the lights go on to give him enough time to digest his food before sleeping. I leave for work shortly after 7, and the lights go on at 6... so I end up feeding my chams at roughly 7 every other day.

Age is a determining factor in how much you should feed your cham too. Since yours is male, it isn't AS important as if he were a female (less eggs = less feeding) but you obviously don't want him to get fat. If he's around 4 months, 10-15(?) appropriate sized feeders a day would be good, until he's around 6(?) months old. After that, feeding roughly the same amount every other day would give him the food he needs and prevent him from going overweight. Of course, each chameleon is different, so you might have to experiment yourself!

Do you only have crickets for your little friend? If yo, I would recommend getting some more feeders! He will thank you in more ways than one with a varied diet. Some good feeder choices are: Phoenix Worms, Silkworms, Horn worms, grasshoppers/locusts(The former are probably better though, I use these because I can only get 1 out of 3...), roaches and BB Flies. Treats (one every couple of weeks) could be mealworms, superworms, butterworms or waxworms... again, only a couple a month at most, they are more fattening than anything. Some fruits and veggies, if he wants them, are also nice for a fresh variety :) Yuki starts eating er plants if she doesn't get enough fruits/veggies...

Hopefully this helped a BIT. I'm not 100% certain on age-to-feeder ratios, but hopefully it helps a bit! :eek:
 
Thank you so much.
We were feeding 3-4 crickets and 3-4 mealworms so we are on the wrong track!
Will correct that!
He also catches house flies!
He is housed in a big birdcage with pothos, jade & asparagus fern plants. Plus lots of sticks. He had a heat lamp, will get the ubv bulb tonight. We got him Saturday.
Grand
 
Thank you so much.
We were feeding 3-4 crickets and 3-4 mealworms so we are on the wrong track!
Will correct that!
He also catches house flies!
He is housed in a big birdcage with pothos, jade & asparagus fern plants. Plus lots of sticks. He had a heat lamp, will get the ubv bulb tonight. We got him Saturday.
Grand

Well, it's great that you asked sooner, rather than later! Too many meal worms can cause problems :) Snacks, yes - staple, no! I'm sure you will do fine :D I hope someone else will chime in on the amounts however, as I said, I'm not 100% on the values...

You should also post a picture or two or twenty of him when you get the chance. We love seeing all the new chams! :D
 
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