Joyce still pigging out

[wendysjungle]

I've been reading through past posts and the "Kitty the veiled" website, and am not sure on one diet question. Joyce is estimated to be 5-6 months old right now, and since I moved her to her new cage a week ago she has been eating at least twice as much as she was before. I want to make sure I am not overfeeding her, as it says chams will slow down their eating at around 5 or 6 months old (guess Joyce forgot to read that part!), but I also know that everybody says young chams should eat all they want. Since I'm not 100% sure of her age, do I just keep letting her eat whatever she wants for now?

She's presently eating crickets (anywhere from 8-12 a day) and superworms (2-4 a day). I let her try earthworms yesterday that the pet store happened to have in stock, and she downed 3 HUGE ones in about 5 seconds. I've ordered her some silkworms and some phoenix worms to add more variety, they should be here next week. She doesn't look at all overweight at this point, so do I just keep letting her chow as much as she wants and trust that she will limit herself at some point?

 

[dodolah]

Mine also used to be like yours during that age.
I gave mine about the same amount.
Some chameleons have higher metabolic rate than others.

But, just as a precaution, you can take his fresh fecal sample in the morning and have it tested for parasite.

 

[wendysjungle]

Good idea, and it will be easy to get one, as she keeps pooping in her nesting box!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

No No No !!!

The girls do not know when to stop!
At 5 to 6 months old she is able to cycle eggs and an abundance of food will send her there.
Read the keeping a female article on the Kitty site again.
7 crickets (or the equivalent) every OTHER day.
She will become overweight which can cause a multitude of problems including problems with cycling and laying eggs properly.
Also earthworms are (in my opinion) a risky choice to feed due to the parasites they are probably carrying.

-Brad

 

[wendysjungle]

Thanks Brad, okay, Chameleon Weight Watchers it is! I had seen a couple of pics on here of chunky chams, and didn't want her to go that route. Yes, I read the Kitty site info, it just didn't get very specific as to exactly what age they should be when you go from eat-like-a-pig-is-fine to not-so-much-food, and if they start to self-limit at the appropriate time.

I had looked up earthworms here, and thought people said they were okay as long as you got them at a petstore instead of digging them up yourself. If she shouldn't have them, I can just leave them on my deck for the wild bird family that lives out there. They have a nest of babies again and I'm sure they will be thrilled!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

The "self limit" really only applies to the boys.
Girls will eat and eat and eat!

Now is the time to cut her back (maybe gradually) try 3 or 4 crickets a day, everyday, for awhile then skip a day and give her 7 or 8 the following day and continue with every other day.
I have gone back to daily feeding again with Agnes because she is pregnant. Those feeders get super coated with calcium too!
After she lays and has a decent period of time to recover we will return to every other day.
The birds out back are perfect to take care of your earthworm surplus!

-Brad

 

[wendysjungle]

Great, the new feeding schedule will start tomorrow! I like the idea of cutting gradually, Joyce will hopefully be less pissed off at me, and I won't have to deal with her gazing pointedly into her empty feeding cup and then giving me the "Well???" look quite so frequently.

The birds on my deck (which I discovered today are Violet Green Swallows) dove on those worms and had them gone in less than a minute!