Too skinny?

[EmilyP.]

• Your Chameleon - female Veiled not more than 5 or 6 months old
• Handling - I try to handle at least once a week
• Feeding - I feed a variety of Dubia roaches, mealworms, crickets and Waxworms that I breed myself.
• Supplements - I use calcium+vitamins from zoomed every few feedings
• Watering - a drip system as well as periodic misting
• Fecal Description - Normal feces, not liquid or chalky
• History - It was fairly small when I bought it about 2 months ago

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - fully screen cage that is 16×16x30
• Lighting - dual dome lamp with UVB and Heat
• Temperature - daytime Temp gradient of mid/low 70s- mid 90s
• Humidity - Humidity is around 60s usually
• Plants - one large benjamin ficus and a small plastic plant
• Placement - The cage is in my room which has little to no traffic during the day.
• Location- Southern california

Current Problem - I feel she may be too skinny even though I feed her every other day and she seems healthy and growing nicely.

 

[EmilyP.]

I've updated with correct question asking format

 

[MeruJack]

"Current Problem - I feel she may be too skinny even though I feed her every other day and she seems healthy and growing nicely."

Here is some info I copied from the Veiled Care Sheet:
Feeding:
Juveniles 3-6 months of age: 10-12 small crickets daily
Juveniles 6-12 months of age: 10-12 medium crickets every other day

Temperature:Baby/juvenile (<9 months): ambient 72-80F (22-26C), basking 85F (29C)

At 5-6 months of age, your little girl may still need daily feedings rather than every other day especially since you are concerned that she might be too skinny. You may try tempting her with a silkworm or horn worm treat to entice her to eat more. Also, you might consider lowering the basking temp a bit for the next 4-5 months.

Good luck! Keep us posted!

 

[EmilyP.]

I have trimmed her plant slightly so that her basking place is lower in respect to the light and around more in the 80s and fed her today again.
I know babies can look skinny, is there any way to gauge if they are too skinny? Like if there are certain places you should never see bone?

 

[KLowery88]

@Carlton gave a great reply in another thread asking about skinny young chameleons:

Seeing ribs is deceiving in young chams. I find looking at the base of the tail works better. Imagine the base of his tail in cross section. It should be smoothly oval from top to bottom. If you can clearly see the musculature of the tail he's a bit on the lean side. But when they are growing fast its somewhat harder to fatten them up.

 

[EmilyP.]

Thanks for the help guys, her rear end isn't showing bones so I think she is alright. I am changing to daily feedings until the end of the month (or maybe a little longer depending on how big she gets by then) and I also put an egg box for her since I believe she is somewhere around the 6 month range.