Is my Melleri growing too fast? - eating too much?
- Thread starter Myerz77
- Start date
Chameleons Northwest
Avid Member
I have not raised any baby Meller's yet. But I do know that in order for weight data to be relevant, you need to include age and size and also any growth increases.
Myerz77
New Member
Ok thank you, i don't know the age, cept guessing, and the length is about 16in total length, i will include the length on my weekly chart from now on. I am guessing 9 months old but no way of knowing. I was just thinking 17 grams in a week is quite a bit, but it may just be normal, i am trying to head off all problems as soon as i can to avoid health problems down the road.
Chameleons Northwest
Avid Member
Was there an increase in size during this period?
luevelvet
Avid Member
We've noticed similar results as you and I too am thinking ours is a little on the pudgy side. Since Jan 30th he has put on 124g. He started at 26g and just yesterday he weighed in at 150. We guess him to around 11 months old by now.
In the past 4 months we've noticed growth spurts in some weeks and slow downs in others. Also, his bowel movements have changed dramatically since living in a free range setup(2 months now?). He used to go everyday and now it's three to four droppings once a week. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the lack of the misting system, 3x's a day (we currently hand mist twice a day) so we're in the process of arranging the environment to accommodate the mister again and not do any damage to the room itself.
If s/he has extra skin hanging from the neck or his/her belly seems bloated, stop feeding for a day or two. It may not be a bad thing to "cleanse" the system with multiple mistings per day during the fast. The more water the better IMO.
Luis
In the past 4 months we've noticed growth spurts in some weeks and slow downs in others. Also, his bowel movements have changed dramatically since living in a free range setup(2 months now?). He used to go everyday and now it's three to four droppings once a week. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the lack of the misting system, 3x's a day (we currently hand mist twice a day) so we're in the process of arranging the environment to accommodate the mister again and not do any damage to the room itself.
If s/he has extra skin hanging from the neck or his/her belly seems bloated, stop feeding for a day or two. It may not be a bad thing to "cleanse" the system with multiple mistings per day during the fast. The more water the better IMO.
Luis
summoner12
Avid Member
I think you are doing OK on the weight. I think chameleons in general go through little spurts of growth.
Pat seemed kinda fat by looking at his belly... but looking at how 'baggy' his pants are and his fat pads on his head he seems to be ok. I don't feed him that much or on a regular basis and he is 170 some odd grams. (I haven't put him on the scale lately.
Pat seemed kinda fat by looking at his belly... but looking at how 'baggy' his pants are and his fat pads on his head he seems to be ok. I don't feed him that much or on a regular basis and he is 170 some odd grams. (I haven't put him on the scale lately.
summoner12
Avid Member
I know nothing about mellers, but if it is indeed growing too fast, wouldn't bone development be an issue here, and could there potentially be MBD later on?
Just a question.
If he were growing too fast and not having his supplements provided as his body needed it, yes MBD would be an issue.
Myerz77
New Member
That is exactly what i've noticed, neck skin hangin after being outdoors for an hour, two nights in a row. Thank you Other than that his rear legs are gettin really chubby all a sudden, and he gained 17 grams in one week, i'm gonna make him earn his food instead of letting him eat crickets out of my fingers. It seems to be a very delicate balance, and i'm learning alot. Thanks again,
Chris and Cindy
Other than that his rear legs are gettin really chubby all a sudden, and he gained 17 grams in one week, i'm gonna make him earn his food instead of letting him eat crickets out of my fingers. It seems to be a very delicate balance, and i'm learning alot. Thanks again,Chris and Cindy
summoner12
Avid Member
That is exactly what i've noticed, neck skin hangin after being outdoors for an hour, two nights in a row. Thank you
Chris and Cindy
How much are you feeding him?
Pat gets supers and HWs kinda on and off... one day he'll get two supers and a HW and the next just a HW then the next day he might get a super and then the next day he gets a HW and a Dubia and a couple of supers....
you don't want the 'pants' to get tight. spandex is bad....
How and what do you gutload? What kind of supplements
Myerz77
New Member
Thx Summoner12, i am worried about supplements too, i am worried about the whole 3 month chameleon thing, and i wanna prove them wrong, i have supplements ordered and crickets and just spent alot on building a cage and lights and all that, he is doing really well, i was shocked by the weight gain, but i realize he was skinny legged and prolly hungry when i got him, and he goes outside with me everynight at 6 and basks then climbs down to the grass for a bit, so he can have an outting to look forward too, like the wild he was used to, all in all he's doing great, I just want to keep it that way Thanks again for the info.
Thanks again for the info.
Myerz77
New Member
Kristinas gutload from the Melleri Discovery, exactly, with crickets from ghanns and he had his first supers today, because i'm waiting on crickets that are late to get here. I removed the carrots because i was worried about the whole beta- carotein, gular edima fat throat thing. I ordered from LLLreptile all the supplements i need, been using rep-cal w/out D-3 so far.
summoner12
Avid Member
Go easy on supplements. Don't dust too much.
Crickets are good when gut loaded right but its also good to mix things up for him. Getting butters, super, HWs, silks and Dubia mixed through is a good thing. Dubia are easy to keep and your melleri will prolly like them if he is a WC.
How large is your Melleri? snout to vent and overall length? I didn't realize he was WC at first, maybe I missed that.
When I got Lenny from LLL (she is WC) she was SOO light... Very thin. She gained a lot of weight for me in the first month. Part of her weight gain in the course of her time with me came from the eggs she was growing. She was 230g (8-18-08) when I got her. full of eggs she was 479g (3-20-09). More recently she is in the 390g range (5-2-09).
If making the gutload becomes a pain you can buy Steve Sims' Cricket Crack, GREAT stuff.
I was expecting a powerpoint presentation. Couldn't you have just copied and pasted it like this.
Chameleon weight data:
1: 4/28/2009, 87.88 grams 3.1 ounces
2: 5/05/2009, 99.22 grams 3.5 ounces, gained 11.34 grams
3: 5/12/2009, 110.56 grams 3.9 ounces, gained 11.34 grams
4: 5/19/2009, 127.57 grams 4.5 ounces, gained 17.01 grams
Now, I have to go into my mac hd and delete it. thanks...
Chameleon weight data:
1: 4/28/2009, 87.88 grams 3.1 ounces
2: 5/05/2009, 99.22 grams 3.5 ounces, gained 11.34 grams
3: 5/12/2009, 110.56 grams 3.9 ounces, gained 11.34 grams
4: 5/19/2009, 127.57 grams 4.5 ounces, gained 17.01 grams
Now, I have to go into my mac hd and delete it. thanks...
summoner12
Avid Member
luevelvet
Avid Member
I would start noting how often he defecates. You may notice that he doesn't go as often and is holding more in towards the end of the cycle. Like I mentioned before, ours only goes once a week and boy does he drop some bombs. Nothing smelly or unhealthy looking, just 3-4 droppings once a week. I noticed that he looks surprisingly skinnier after the event. We've actually started to cut back the feeding and increased misting every day just to be sure it's not causing a problem. He gets a variety (wax worms, crix, dubia, butterworms etc) of food items to choose from and eats about 2-4 food items a day.
Also, make sure you're not over supplementing or gutloading too much protein into the food items. I used keep a small amount of prepared dubia food (in addition to the main gutload of fresh vegies and fruits) in the dubia tank but I've since seperated the feeders from the breeders to ensure their not passing on too much protein. So far it's seemed to make a difference in his goiter.
But I have to admit, the extra neck skin comes in handy when trying to intimidate...
Luis
Also, make sure you're not over supplementing or gutloading too much protein into the food items. I used keep a small amount of prepared dubia food (in addition to the main gutload of fresh vegies and fruits) in the dubia tank but I've since seperated the feeders from the breeders to ensure their not passing on too much protein. So far it's seemed to make a difference in his goiter.
But I have to admit, the extra neck skin comes in handy when trying to intimidate...
Luis
