Wants to eat everything

[Arpretty]

Hi! So, to my knowledge, Spyro had never been out of his enclosure until I got him. Most days, I set up some vines that lead up to my hibiscus and he LOVES coming out and climbing around. But.... I’ve noticed he tries to eat just about anything. Yesterday he almost ate a rock (now I cover the rocks up), nibbles on the hibiscus leaves, and today he ate a small piece of napkin..... is this typical?

 

[Brodybreaux25]

It is typical of chameleons who are not getting the nutrients they need through their diet. What and how much do you feed him? What supplements do you use and how often?

 

[JacksJill]

Nibbling hibiscus leaves is typical behavior for a veiled. Most of the time that they eat leaves it is for the moisture. The other items are odd. sometimes shiny rocks look like bugs and are a mistake. It would be nice to know his feeding and supplement routine to see if something is missing in his diet.

 

[Arpretty]

That’s kind of what I figured. I’ve had him for a month, and he came to me severely malnourished and underfed (was fed 5 crickets every 3 days)
When I first got him, I had been feeding him about 5 crickets twice a day along with 3 superworms dusted with calcium each feeding. He’s gotten a bit of a belly now, so this week I’ve paired down to 5 crickets and 2 superworms daily dusted with calcium. However, he gobbles up his feeders within a minute and did so in the beginning as well. He’ll be getting a multivitamin once a month, I just dusted his feeders with it this past Sunday. Throughout the month, I’ve also given him occasional hornworms and Dubia Roaches I got as samples. I just ordered a bulk supply of both which should be arriving soon.

I’ve definitely struggled with knowing exactly how to go about feeding him properly given the condition he came to me in.

 

[JacksJill]

If he is a veiled like your avatar I would give multivitamin every two weeks and calcium with D3 every two on the alternate weeks.
Like this "Feeder insects should be lightly dusted with powdered supplement before being fed to your chameleon. Many keepers successfully use calcium (without D3 or phosphorus) at nearly every feeding, multivitamin once every 2 weeks, and calcium with D3 once every 2 weeks."
Since you are feeding all those crickets to make up for what he didn't get before you got him you have the opportunity to gut load them and improve his health. Look under gut load on this page https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/ for a list of good ingredients.

 

[Arpretty]

Yep, he’s a veiled. Okay, I’ll increase the multivitamin and did order some calcium with D3, so I’ll use that like you said too. Lately he’s had calcium without d3.

I’ve definitely been gutloading my feeders like crazy. It’s actually kind of fun lol.

At this point in time....maybe he’s still recovering from nutritional deficiencies from his prior situation?

What would you recommend I feed him as far as quantity with the insects I have/will have?

 

[JacksJill]

I will have to let some one that knows more about veiled answer that one for sure.
How old do you think he is now? if 6-12 mos you are feeding him the right amount. You would just sub in the same volume of your other feeders for the crickets.
The dubia can be the bulk of their diet like crickets 40-80%. Hornworms can be ~20%.

 

[Arpretty]

Okay, thanks. The previous owners said he was 2 years old.

 

[JacksJill]

In that case expect to see his appetite slow down to half once he catches up.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Okay, thanks. The previous owners said he was 2 years old.

If he is two years old and all caught up on his nutrition I’d say you can stay at 5 crickets and 1-2 supers at each feeding but instead of feeding him daily, move to feeding 1 time every other day.

 

[Arpretty]

Okay, thanks everyone for your input! I think I’ll continue 5 crickets and 2 supers daily for a little while longer since he’s been trying to eat strange things lol.

Just for fun - posted some pics from the first week (1st 2 pics) to now (last 2 pics), a month later

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Okay, thanks everyone for your input! I think I’ll continue 5 crickets and 2 supers daily for a little while longer since he’s been trying to eat strange things lol.

Just for fun - posted some pics from the first week (1st 2 pics) to now (last 2 pics), a month later

Big improvement!