New Baby Veiled?

[ashbryantx]

So, I live in a small town and my science teacher gave me a baby veiled chameleon as a graduation gift because he's been raising reptiles for a while and he told me to feed the chameleon crickets. I just got the chameleon yesterday and I bought a bag of twelve crickets and put a few in there and he hasn't touched them. I'm scared that maybe the crickets are too big for him to eat but I honestly have no idea what to do if they are. My pet store doesn't sell any that are smaller. I asked if they had mealworms, and the only ones they had were giant mealworms. I bought them anyway just in case. But what should I do if my chameleon won't eat them? I'm worried that he might die because the food I can provide for him is too big? He's small enough to sit comfortably on my pointer finger, will he eat eventually if I just leave him alone to do his thing or should I order some smaller crickets online?

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. Contact your teacher and see if they can give you some appropriate size crickets until you can get some on line. You will find that almost everything that you need for chameleons has to be ordered on line. There's many online cricket farms that deliver right to your door. I use Armstrong but there's also Ghanns, Timberland, LLLReptiles, Mulberry Farms and many more. It's way better to have smaller crickets (crickets that are to small) rather than crickets that are to big which they will not eat. You also need the proper lighting and supplements or your chameleon will get MBD (weak bones and broken bone) without proper lighting and proper supplements.
Below is my blog for new keepers.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

Another care sheet for veileds.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[codiwatkins]

You need smaller crickets. You can order them online. Why don't you see if your teacher will give you like 30 or so while you wait for yours to come on the mail.

 

[codiwatkins]

I didn't see Jann post! Everything you need to know about the acre is provided on her post!

 

[oblgobl]

Welcome to the forum Does your baby have a name yet?
Very often the stress of moving will cause a chameleon not to eat for a few days. They also wont eat sometimes if they're not being kept in the right conditions so make sure your husbandry is right.
How big are the crickets?
They shouldn't be longer than the side of his mouth, if they are bigger than that and he were hungry enough he might try and eat them but this can be dangerous it can cause impaction.
I agree that it's a good idea to ask your teacher for some crickets for him, he should have some the right size assuming he hasn't sold the whole clutch and still raising them.
The trouble with bying online is you will be bying them in larger quantities and if the crickets arn't moved to an enclouser and fed (wich they should be anyway regardless of quantity) they might die before you get the chance of feeding them all. Babies can eat up to 20 crickets a day sometimes though so it can be surprising how quickly they'll get through a box of crickets.

 

[ashbryantx]

I graduated from high school so I no longer know how to get ahold of my teacher. He's not at school during the summer and lives about a half hour away. What's a good website to buy small crickets from?

 

[jannb]

I graduated from high school so I no longer know how to get ahold of my teacher. He's not at school during the summer and lives about a half hour away. What's a good website to buy small crickets from?

All the ones in my post above. I personally use http://www.armstrongcrickets.com/

 

[ChameleonRepublic]

How do you have your Cham setup? It will be much easier to figure out the problem if you show us how the little guy is being taken care of.

 

[junglefries]

popular gifts this year

Thats funny. I offered my son's classmates baby veils for graduating fifth grade this year. As a reward for leaving the intermediate school for the middle school. I thought i was possibly in the wrong, or bad ettiquette, but this offers me some reassurance. For those curious, pretty good response from parents. All positive. Would encourage other breeders to try.