Multiple verses single prey items

[andy27012]

I know there are choking hazards involved with single large prey items that have a hard exoskeleton but outside of that are there any advantages/disadvantages to single verses multiple prey items. The reason I ask is because in my years of keeping snakes it was always believed it was healthier for the animal to eat a single large prey item. What is everyones school of thought? I know its a risk but I currently feed my animals a single large prey item, typically dubia with no problems.

 

[facelesdoll]

duba are very hard bodied, if using dubia alone to limit the stomach ache it may leave in the chameleon, try using a few smaller dubia. their shells are tough and are surely hard to digest. just because they do it with no problem doesnt mean you dont go living a normal life after eating a burrito that burns your butt or roughs up your stomach. im on the whole pump up the digestive system kick where i feed a bunch of smaller ones in the morning to juice up the metabolic rates and then later on in the day i feed a nice big dubia within limits. hopefully i raise the metabolic rates to chew right through a larger dubia by feeding smaller ones first. instead of dropping lead in a car at stand still and hope it takes off, i drop nitro in an accelerating race car. after they eat their large dubia they are no longer interested for the rest of the day, and can use that time not to hunt for food but to bask and digest.

 

[laurie]

I think the issue is what kind of food it supplied by only one feeder. Each feeder offers a different mix of vitamins, minerals and other stuff. Also there is the belief that the animal will get tired of one food item - you seem to have that one taken care of.

i know I should not admit this but I have a seven year old panther and in the last three years he has eaten a food item other than superworms maybe twice. And at seven he is still going.

 

[facelesdoll]

superworms get their attention, and force them to eat a lot. superworms are part of a very good diet even though their nutirional value doesnt add up to others. even though some might think differently i find superworms keep a chameleon very active. i do not use them quite as often as id like to im waiting for a buddy of mine to have them available to the public as he is cheap and ships localy they arrive over night when i get mealies and crix from him. i think im going to keep a purely superworm, crix, and dubia diet. as the three of them are all great for their own reasons. hornworms and silkies are just so un-affordable and the market of everything in the universe is going up in cost. crickets really are a big fuss, ive learned this recently, supers and dubia seem like the fortune 500 feeder. though both should be freshly molted if possible ive had no problem feeding well after molted ones(unmolted) to any of my chams.