Skipping Days/How Much to Feed

[sarrobi]

What are the benefits of skipping days when feeding chams? Should this be done for all species or just certain species? How often should days be skipped?

I'm also wondering how much a typical adult male Jackson's chameleon should eat. Mine has been eating three to five food items each day (crickets and silkworms. He really loves the silkworms). I'm a new chameleon owner, and have no idea if this is the right amount, or if I'm over or underfeeding him. He pretty much eats anything I offer him (though he wouldn't touch superworms at all). I have been hand-feeding him the last few days since he has shown less interest in stuff placed in his food dish. (Not sure if I should be worried about this).

 

[naich]

skiping gives the digestion system a day off to clear out...and helps in ensuring that the chameleon doesnt get gout, or extra fat.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I rarely skip a day. Instead, I go with the idea of small meals (one or two bugs at a time), more frequently, in keeping with the size of their stomaches. Since my chameleons are living long healthy lives, this suggests to me there is no reason or need to skip a day. But LOTS of people do so.

I have panthers, so things may be different with Jacks.

 

[Crazy Pet Lady]

I was just about to ask the same thing. I got my baby veiled (soooooooo Cute!) yesterday and he's eating! Yay! He's so tiny, I am guessing at the food amount. Last night he ate a couple of small crickets and today, a meal worm and a couple of small crickets. So far. Is this enough? Or too much? I really need to know....Thanx! BTW his name is Igor. LOL

 

[laurie]

I was just about to ask the same thing. I got my baby veiled (soooooooo Cute!) yesterday and he's eating! Yay! He's so tiny, I am guessing at the food amount. Last night he ate a couple of small crickets and today, a meal worm and a couple of small crickets. So far. Is this enough? Or too much? I really need to know....Thanx! BTW his name is Igor. LOL

When you say you got a baby, how old it is? My baby veiled eat lots of cricket every day. I am talking 10 crickets a day.

Sorry I know nothing about Jacksons.

 

[sandrachameleon]

My typical practise with baby panthers (under 6 months) was to feed them pretty much as much as they could eat (which is quite a bit) in a few minutes, several times every day.

 

[mokatoke]

When you say you got a baby, how old it is? My baby veiled eat lots of cricket every day. I am talking 10 crickets a day.

Yea my 3 month old veiled eats about 10 1 week old crickets a day.

 

[hallenhe]

My first cham was a Jackson's; I fed him daily small meals, like sandrachameleon, and that seemed to work fine. My experience has been that chameleons are fairly smart about knowing when they're full and not overeating (unlike, say, goldfish), but that may just be the two chams I've had.

 

[Zen Reptiles]

I skip 1 or 2 days every week for all my animals, including babies,
but babies get fed more when they are fed.

In late spring/early summer I don't skip any feedings for about a month or more,
so they can fatten up for breeding and egg health.

 

[Crazy Pet Lady]

Thanks for the info. Igor is about 2 months old. He's very tiny, about 3 inches nose to tail tip. I will make sure he gets enough, I just didn't want to over do it and have him develop problems. I love him already, he's awesome!

 

[sarrobi]

Yes, thanks for the info.