Slowly Eating Less and Less

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PetrietheVeiled

New Member
I know that eventually veiled chameleons eat about 7 crickets every other day. Petrie is slowly eating less and less, just a week or so ago he could eat twenty crickets a day in two sittings if I gave them to him. I know I haven't really given you much info about him, but I assure you he is healthy. My question is simply about what age should I begin feeding him every other day? thank you
 
your over feeding. 20 crickets in one day is waaaaaaaaay too much. theyre kinda like us..theyll keep eating if you give it to them. you only want to give them about 5-6 appropriately sized crickets per day. crickets should be no larger than the distance between their eyes
 
steppedinds said:
your over feeding. 20 crickets in one day is waaaaaaaaay too much. theyre kinda like us..theyll keep eating if you give it to them. you only want to give them about 5-6 appropriately sized crickets per day. crickets should be no larger than the distance between their eyes
Click to expand...

That's not true.
If hes a younger veiled, 20 crickets is totally normal.

And not all chams continually eat.

Ive had all my chams stop eating when they got full, even when there was 5+ bugs left.
 
camimom said:
That's not true.
If hes a younger veiled, 20 crickets is totally normal.

And not all chams continually eat.

Ive had all my chams stop eating when they got full, even when there was 5+ bugs left.
Click to expand...

My Female Jackson doesn't eat when she is full but she has only been at my house for 3 days so that could still be stress. When she was at my GF's dad's place she would stop eating as well even if there was still food.
 
Your cham may have eaten something difficult to digest. Such as vermiculite or perlite from the plant soil, which would cause an impaction in the intestines...

Or it could likely just be stress.

Offer some wax or horn worms if you can.
The fat content will make sure that she has enough calories and carbs to not feel hungry.

If your cham is still producing its normal looking feces, then I would not worry.

Wax and horn worms have a very high fat content. Fat is great for getting your cham to poop, assuming impaction and resulting constipation is the cause of the anorexia.

To answer your specific question:
There is not a specific or general age of which your cham should start to eat every other day. Eating habits change at roughly 9-14months based on the size of the feeders you use.
The research I have done on this site is specific to jacksons chams.
I have not researched veiled chams to this extent but I have reason to believe that veileds eating habbits depend on the same variables, such as the particular stage of growth and climate...

The size of the feeders is what determines how many you should allow into the enclosure.

Your cham will decide when he wants to start eating more or less, unless you have to intervene in the even of obesity. Which is surprisingly uncommon...

My educated guess of a cause is an impaction as you did not mention the age of your cham. Some sort of internal or external stimulus is responsible for the anorexic behavior.

Growth changes are possible but anorexia is the specific name of the symptom you described.
Anorexia is a very general symptom to research, as it can be attributed to a number of different stimuli. Some common causes are; parasites, impactions, temperature changes, rate of growth and other stresses. Everything is technically a form of stress so I would recommend that you try to focus in on the specific changes you can see... The closer you observe the better we can answer your question.

I wish you the best of luck and hope your cham feels better soon!
 
There could be a few things going on.

I've read that after about 1 year of age, their appetite decreases, and you could start feeding them every other day. I'm sure it varies with each cham, so you should judge by your cham's appetite..

Another thing it could be is he's being picky or spoiled. Have you given him treats like meal/butter worms as of late? Perhaps he's holding out on the crickets because he wants dessert.

Another thing could be that he's getting tired of crickets. Have you been switching up his diet? Dubia roaches, pheonix worms, grasshoppers, flies, moths, small mantis? That could be something to consider, variety to peak their interest and also to improve their health

Just so you know, my guy is sorta going through the same thing, so you're not alone. I'll throw some dubias and/or crickets in there, and he'll just stare at them. Other times, I'll catch him eating a dubia here and there. Basically I keep it available, and it's up to him to eat.. One things for sure, if I put a meal worm in my hand and offer it to him, he NEVER resists no matter what time of the day it is.. So i know he's sort of spoiled.

Actually, that gives me an idea, if you truly concerned with your chamn not eating, offer it a treat like a meal or wax worm.. However he's comfortable, whether that be hand feeding, cup feeding, etc.. Try that and see if he goes for it
 
Didn't you just move 3 hours with him to a new home? He's probably just settling in still, and nothing more serious than that. A drastic change like that is always going to make some chameleons nervous a few days.

Because if he went from eating well last week, you moved on Monday, and two days later he's still not eating much it just sounds like stress from the move. Not a slow decrease in appetite.
 
Olimpia said:
Didn't you just move 3 hours with him to a new home? He's probably just settling in still, and nothing more serious than that. A drastic change like that is always going to make some chameleons nervous a few days.

Because if he went from eating well last week, you moved on Monday, and two days later he's still not eating much it just sounds like stress from the move. Not a slow decrease in appetite.
Click to expand...

Bingo! My money is on that
 
camimom said:
That's not true.
If hes a younger veiled, 20 crickets is totally normal.

And not all chams continually eat.

Ive had all my chams stop eating when they got full, even when there was 5+ bugs left.
Click to expand...

Exactly, i swear i can't think of something we haven't disagreed too. It's alway's something a jr member post. No offense, if you don't know exactly what the right answer is dont just guess because then people get misinformed.
 
steppedinds said:
your over feeding. 20 crickets in one day is waaaaaaaaay too much. theyre kinda like us..theyll keep eating if you give it to them. you only want to give them about 5-6 appropriately sized crickets per day. crickets should be no larger than the distance between their eyes
Click to expand...

Not true. Young chams need the food while they grow. They should be fed liberally.

And as for size, its the width thats the issue. Not the, length.
 
chameleonowner32 said:
Exactly, i swear i can't think of something we haven't disagreed too. It's alway's something a jr member post. No offense, if you don't know exactly what the right answer is dont just guess because then people get misinformed.
Click to expand...

Sticktongue said:
Not true. Young chams need the food while they grow. They should be fed liberally.

And as for size, its the width thats the issue. Not the, length.
Click to expand...

Thank you both for supporting my point.

It is the junior members who are doing this and its starting to be a bit of an issue.

I understand some junior members may have been a cham keeper for 10+ years and just joined.. but this was a rookie mistake.

Anyone whose owned a cham under 6 months old, knows they can eat like fat pigs.

:D
 
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