only two pinheads a day?!

[aksdgff]

i have a 2 month old female veiled cham. i've noticed that she's only eating maybe 2 crickets a day. i put 17 crickets in her bowl 2 days ago, and there are still 12-13 left. and one escaped. she's very good about climbing up on the rim of her bowl and get the crickets from there. i'm feeding her pinheads because she's so tiny, and im afraid to let them loose in the cage because they might be able to escape and i wont be able to keep track of how many she's eating.

 

[carol5208]

something is not right I hate to say. She should be eating a ton of crickets a day. It is nothing for them to eat 25 a day or more. Is she drinking?

 

[aksdgff]

she spent quite a few minutes drinking a day ago.

 

[Eltortu]

I agree with Carol. Good idea to use a bowl for her feeders to keep track of how many she eats. What is your set up like?

 

[aksdgff]

of course, as soon as i post this.. i go in to check on her and she only has three left in the bowl and then eats two in front of me.

 

[carol5208]

well that is great news!!!! but why is she eating at 10 or 11 at night? Don't you turn her lights off?

 

[laurie]

I would try moving up to 1/8" crickets. Pinheads are awfully small for a 2 month old. i have a 2 month old quad and he gets 1/4". He weights 3 grams so he is tiny. They can get frustrated if their prey is to small.

 

[aksdgff]

I woke her up when I checked on her

And 2 months is a guess. She might weigh 1 gram. She's pretty tiny. =\ I'd rather feed 1/8 crickets. Then they couldn't slip through the cage as easily. I can post pictures to help judge?

 

[laurie]

Sure you can just put her on your finger or something to show size. Sit her on a ruler, a pencil , even next to a quarter.

 

[mcbdz]

Also eating at night isn't good for her. She needs 4-6 hours of warmth to help digest her food. I would remove her uneaten food every night before lights out. You need to put fresh gut loaded and dusted food in in the morning. By night it isn't nutritious anymore and needs to be reloaded. At that size really monitor daily feedings. Missing a day seems like a big deal when so small. I could be wrong.

 

[aksdgff]

i can post better pictures of her around lunch time.

thank you all for the advice! i didn't know the supplements didn't last through feedings.

also, does she look healthy? dehydrated? im not sure what sunken in eyes look like and her poop is not extremely white. =/

 

[aksdgff]

i've been told not to provide her a basking light and to keep the cage in the 70s =/ how do i provide warmth for her to digest? does the uvb light?

 

[slinko9]

Ya here the store i get my crickets at call 1/8s pinheads,,,,and the next size is 1/4,,,,
Anyways my 8 week old is eating about 15 -20 1/4s a day!!!! So maybe,,,,if you fill out the https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ form we may see something that is causing the lack of appetite!!!!!

 

[slinko9]

Mine is the same size,,,,,gotta love them baby ones,,,so damn cute!!!!!
I have a 25 watt basking light on one side of my cage,,,,up on a stand about 16 inches above the cage beaming in,,,,,and my canopy has 2 reptiglo 5.0 UVB tube lights,,,,thinkin I might change one over to a plant grow light,,,,,but as of right now everything seems fine,,,,and it also has a 15 watt Halogen bulb to add some UVA and basking warmth,,,,,
You do need to keep the cage around 70ish to 80 ish,,,,,constantly at this age,,,,basking temps get hotter with age!!!!

 

[reptoman]

i've been told not to provide her a basking light and to keep the cage in the 70s =/ how do i provide warmth for her to digest? does the uvb light?

The bottom of the cage should be in the low to mid 70s but even at 2-2.5 months they need a basking spot at the top of the cage to be in the low 80s. You can use a regular 6" clamp light with a low wattage bulb like 25W. Raise and lower the light to acheive the correct temp using a digital thermometer with a proble. I usually tie the probe to the branch at the basking spot so I know what the temp there all the time. Hope this helps.

 

[laurie]

Your cham looks to be about the same size as mine. i will try to get him on my finger, but my computer is pictured challenged at the moment. From what I can see your baby looks healthy, legs are nice and straight, not skinny, and as far as I can tell, eyes do not look sunk in. i am amazed to see such a chubby healthy baby if that is all the food you are getting down daily.

 

[aksdgff]

Slinko is right about my pet store too. They are selling 1/8ths and calling them pinheads. Silly pet stores. I'll be ordering my crickets from joshsfrogs.

 

[Trillian]

Slinko is right about my pet store too. They are selling 1/8ths and calling them pinheads. Silly pet stores. I'll be ordering my crickets from joshsfrogs.

Try lllreptile, they do free next-day delivery.

 

[BocaJan]

That baby is 2 months old. I have 30 of them from a clutch that hatched that long ago and they are all that size. They are eating 1/4-1/2. They are voracious eaters and will spit out anything too big, however I don't find any dead crickets in the bottom of the cage, so I know they are eating everything. My thought with veileds is "more meat". There is not much of anything in a hideai fly. Mine aren't even tempted by those little things. They seem to like the big stuff better. I have even given them small silkies. They flock to anything that wiggles - it is funny to watch them.

 

[aksdgff]

she just ate 4 tiny little mealworms in front of me