Vaarsuvius is such a pig

[Amagi82]

After worrying about his appetite for the first week we had him, our 4? month old veiled, Vaarsuvius, is showing us how much of a pig he can be. I've been feeding him 10-12 small crickets a day (other critters mixed in here and there for variety), and today I accidentally threw 14 in his dish. Like 15 minutes later, he's sitting on his food cup, looking down, then looking back at us, then looking down, and back, like "what?? that's all I get?" I'm pretty sure if I put 50 of them in there he'd eat them until he literally exploded. He's definitely growing, and looks healthy.

 

[Pure]

Might also be time to use bigger crickets.

 

[Amagi82]

The bigger crickets are still a little too big for him, but soon!

 

[Miss Lily]

I've been having the same issues with my cham! Seems like s/he wants to eat all day, lol! I'm going to buy the next size up feeders tomorrow, so I hope that'll sort things out! Chams can be such greedy little green monsters!

 

[insert name here]

I think in captivity we tend to feed our pets way more than they need. If you look at pictures of chams in the wild they are twice as skinny as anybodys pet cham. So I wouldnt worry about underfeeding him

 

[Syn]

I think they need a size-in-between cricket. Always seems like there's that time where you have to do that when they are small.

 

[Amagi82]

From what I've read, they'll definitely over eat. Supposedly overfeeding them can lead to MBD, so I'm trying to make sure he eats well, but not too much.

 

[Miss Lily]

Overfeeding can lead to bone issues if the chameleon grows too quickly as a baby. Overfeeding is definitely not good for chameleons, females especially, as it can lead to the production of very large clutche sizes. I found this out the hard way with Lily. She lived for 19 months and laid two huge clutches of infertiles - the first at 14 months (104 eggs)and the second at 18 months (102 eggs). My new baby will definitely not be overfed once s/he reaches 6 months.

 

[viaje]

Overfeeding can lead to bone issues if the chameleon grows too quickly as a baby. Overfeeding is definitely not good for chameleons, females especially, as it can lead to the production of very large clutche sizes. I found this out the hard way with Lily. She lived for 19 months and laid two huge clutches of infertiles - the first at 14 months (104 eggs)and the second at 18 months (102 eggs). My new baby will definitely not be overfed once s/he reaches 6 months.

Great point. Overfeeding (along with having too much protein in the diet) not only leads to bones that grow without gaining strength, but it can stress organs that grow slowly in comparison.

 

[summoner12]

young, if you supplement them right you can feed them almost as much as they'll eat. with veileds at least. But yes limiting the intake is OK too. You just need to make sure when they are young and growing you supplement very well. If you don't, the bone issue can show its face. Growing up I gave my guys as much as they would eat and let them decide if they were full. Jake is just right and Fred is a fat ass..... but he almost always has been...

at 4 months if he is a decent size you can give him 4-5 week old crickets (3/4"). as adults... mine eat two or three at a time (when cup feeding).

It is also a good idea to let the crickets roam the cage to give your little dude some practice at hunting.

Check out Brad Ramsey's site

 

[zombiepixel]

It seems like almost anything can cause MBD in the little guys. This stresses me out

 

[summoner12]

It seems like almost anything can cause MBD in the little guys. This stresses me out

When they are young they are at higher risk because they are growing. Once they are older it isn't AS critical but still needs to be monitored.