but i think my chameleon is losing weight? shes not that much to begin with so im scared it might be dangerous (or more dangerous). shes a baby veiled no bigger than 2 or 3 inches and i brought her home about a week ago. im feeding her 2 to 3 crickets a day (thats the right amount right?) and shes eating all of them. am i doing something wrong or is it from stress or am i imagining it? i dont know
I cant be totally sure
- Thread starter kascaper
- Start date
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
She needs a lot more than you are feeding her if she is young. My adults eat more than two or three insects a day. At her age, she should eat all she wants. Make sure the insects are small enough.
Go to this thread, Message #9, and look at the pictures of this baby on the scale eating a silkworm.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/my-new-gracilior-baby-too-excited.146824/
This is one of the babies I raised. You can see how big that silkworm is. Before he left my house a few days ago, he would eat 5 or 6 that size plus all the crickets he wanted. You can see, he isn't fat.
At some point, you will probably want to cut down on her food intake but not now when she is so small and growing. Make sure you lightly dust all the feeders with powdered calcium without D3 right before you feed them.
Please go to the Health section and fill out a "How to Ask for Help" form because I think you can use some guidance from some experienced keepers..
Go to this thread, Message #9, and look at the pictures of this baby on the scale eating a silkworm.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/my-new-gracilior-baby-too-excited.146824/
This is one of the babies I raised. You can see how big that silkworm is. Before he left my house a few days ago, he would eat 5 or 6 that size plus all the crickets he wanted. You can see, he isn't fat.
At some point, you will probably want to cut down on her food intake but not now when she is so small and growing. Make sure you lightly dust all the feeders with powdered calcium without D3 right before you feed them.
Please go to the Health section and fill out a "How to Ask for Help" form because I think you can use some guidance from some experienced keepers..
thank you for the help. ive heard people say that whoever sells you the reptile is probably misinformed buy that was an understatement! if you could help me once more id really appreciate it. where is the help form you mentioned? i cant seem to find it
jpowell86
Chameleon Enthusiast
Here is the link to the form Janet was talking about.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
The reason to fill it out completely is that it will give a good picture of how you are keeping your chameleon and what needs to be improved. Pictures of the chameleon and the enclosure are really helpful. Lots of people will chime in and give you advice. Some of the advice will be good and some not so good, but it will all be well intentioned. The more experienced people will try to catch some of the misinformation but they might not catch it all.
There is a lot of good information on the web site. Go to the Home page and click on the "Resources" button. That will take you to a lot of information. You should read it all.
The most important thing you can do right now is provide enough hydration by misting the cage and the leaves--they don't drink from standing water in a bowl. They can do without food for a long time, but dehydration can be a big problem. You need to provide food, which I think you aren't giving enough but that's easy to fix. Calcium is really important and so is a good UVB light, but a week or two without calcium or proper lighting isn't the end of the world.
And don't worry.
wow. okay. that makes me feel alot better. im not doing as much harm as i thought. thank you for your input.The reason to fill it out completely is that it will give a good picture of how you are keeping your chameleon and what needs to be improved. Pictures of the chameleon and the enclosure are really helpful. Lots of people will chime in and give you advice. Some of the advice will be good and some not so good, but it will all be well intentioned. The more experienced people will try to catch some of the misinformation but they might not catch it all.
There is a lot of good information on the web site. Go to the Home page and click on the "Resources" button. That will take you to a lot of information. You should read it all.
The most important thing you can do right now is provide enough hydration by misting the cage and the leaves--they don't drink from standing water in a bowl. They can do without food for a long time, but dehydration can be a big problem. You need to provide food, which I think you aren't giving enough but that's easy to fix. Calcium is really important and so is a good UVB light, but a week or two without calcium or proper lighting isn't the end of the world.
And don't worry.
