How much to give to a young veiled?

[Xepera]

I have a 5-month-old veiled chameleon, been with me for a week now. I've tried to do my research on everything beforehand, but there are a lot of different opinions about certain things, and I dont know who to believe.

Some people say that f.ex. 5 medium crickets + mixed salad is enough for a 5-12-month old, but others give like 5 crickets, 4 small dubias and a couple of mealworm-sized supers + the salad per day. Some say, that I should feed as much as he is willing to eat.

Mine eats bugs couple of times a day, for example 4-5 small dubias in the morning and 4 crickets in the early evening. I alternate between dubias, crickets, superworms and mealies, and the salad contains different veggies every time. He eats eagerly. Am I overfeeding? I really dont want to make my cham sick by making him grow too fast.

I also think that my usual calsium powder doesnt stick to the insects very well. Is it ok that there is only a little on each one?

 

[jannb]

At 5 months I'd feed him all that he wants which should be about what you are feeding him. I'd go easy on the mealworms they are not the best feeders and hard for them to digest. What kind of supplements are you dusting his feeders with? What kind of UVB light are you using? Below is a blog to help you out with your new cham. Welcome to the forums. Jann

http://raisingkittytheveiledchamele...-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=11

 

[Xepera]

Thanks, kittytheveiled is read through four times already and I've learned a great amount of things from there. I've researched chameleon husbandry for nearly two years now, so I'm quite confident about other things apart from the amount of insects per day.

I use plain calsium carbonate without d3 every day, on sundays Nutrobal and 1-2 times a month multivitamin (cant remember the brand).

I have two ReptiSun 5.0 tubes (big enclosure...), a normal basking lamp and a flower tube, which was installed yesterday to help the plants on the lower level to grow. The light it gives is quite violet, but I dont think our veiled minds.

Oh, the mealworms still... I dont feed them every day and I always try to pick the white, soft ones.

 

[jannb]

Sounds like you are doing a good job! Keep up the good work.

 

[Xepera]

Thanks! You are the ones that have helped me to get the correct information so that my little treasure is well taken care of.

 

[chameleon884]

me personally, i feed him 5- 15 large crickets a day. mines about 9 months old.