pamnsam94
Established Member
Most of us not only realize that different species of chameleons grow at different rates, but that growth rates can also vary greatly even within the same species, even among siblings from the same clutch. Often, and rightly so, these differences are often attributed to genetics because even when siblings are kept under the care of the same keeper, receiving the same husbandry, growth rates will vary depending on the individual. Other times, we want to focus on what things we might do differently to see faster growth. Although faster growth doesn't always equate with better growth, I want to highlight some things that most of us who have raised baby chameleons are well aware of but we often don't put into practice. Sharing an experience I've had might serve to bring these husbandry methods to light and help those of you, including myself, who might want faster growth. I include myself because, although I am very familiar with the methods involved, some things are driven home when you see results, or lack of, using a particular set of methods over another. I'm planning on taking some of the things I've learned to heart, and I'm in the process of implementing them. So far, I'm convinced I'm seeing improved growth. After this long intro, here's my experience.
At the end of April 2012, I had 14 Triceros quadricornis eggs hatch out of a clutch of 16. At first, I fed them primarily fruit flies (both melanogaster and hydei), and a little later I added bean beetles. I used other feeders as well, including praying mantids and house flies, but the greatest quantity of foods they consumed were the fruit flies and the bean beetles. I won't go into supplementation, but I was very satisfied with their growth while I was primarily using these feeders. Later, I started feeding a lot of Dubia roaches in addition to black soldier fly larvae (Phoenix worms). Sometime after I incorporated a lot of those into the neonates' diets, their growth rate seemed to slow (they weren't shedding as frequently, etc.). Around this time, I started to notice greater differences in size between various individuals. Unfortunately, I also started losing some of them at this point. First I lost the runt. Although he ate very well, my expectations were not that high with him. I doubted whether he would ever reach adult size. Next, one of the babies escaped so I tore the place apart multiple times in a vain effort to find him but with no luck.
I believe he made it outside (probably on a trash bag) partly because I have no other explanation. After that, I started losing more babies one by one (approximately around the 5-6 month mark). I don't think it was a coincidence that the ones I lost were the smallest ones. These were not runts, but they were smaller than the others, even though they seemed to be eating well. Finally, I ended up with only 7 left, the ten month olds I still have, and they are doing well, especially after I started making changes. I just wish I would have started changing things sooner.
With that backstory, here are the things that I believe would have made a difference. I believe there is a minimum growth rate that a growing chameleon must maintain, particularly ones as young as mine were, in order to survive, let alone, thrive. When I changed feeders is when I noticed slowed growth. The obvious things that people look at are what feeders and what supplements and frequencies are used. Although the supplementation remained the same (I'll share that if anyone is curious), two things clearly changed. Not only were the feeders changed but the method of how I fed the babies changed.
I went from free-ranging insects to primarily cup feeding throughout different areas of the enclosue. I had to cup feed with Dubias and Phoenix worms for obvious reasons. The chameleons would run to the cups to eat their fill, or so I thought. After they ate, they would sometimes just stare at the remaining insects in the cup. Then, I saw a pic on the forums and read an account or two of how someone's quad was a particular weight, a weight greater than any of mine, and I first thought maybe I was being too conservative with supplements, not giving enough. Soon after, I started putting into practice what I was already quite aware of.
All of us know that chameleons need to be stimulated to feed. In the wild, they eat a huge variety of insects that are separated, both in time (they feed throughout the day) and space (insects are usually not congregated in once place).
In captivity, we often witness chameleons being more stimulated to feed when offered different insects (they become bored with certain feeders), but maybe just as important, we notice that chameleons are sometimes quicker to strike a free-ranging insect. After all, that's how chameleons eat in the wild.
After the babies stopped eating out of the cup, it became obvious that they could be eating more. If I picked up a roach, separating it from the other roaches, I noticed most of the babies would jump at the chance to shoot it out of my fingers, even though there were still more moving roaches in the cup and even though I only make it a practice to hand-feed the adults. Although the babies were comfortable in my presence, they were not used to hand-feeding. The early foods I fed the babies were all free-ranged (fruit flies, bean beetles, mantids, etc.)
Finally, of course we've heard it repeated a thousand times, but trying our best not to have a "staple" is really important, even though I think many keepers, if not most of them, use primarily crickets and/or roaches, with occasional silkworms, hornworms, or superworms thrown in for variety. Again chameleons can get bored. Most of us know that. In my case, just dropping a single cricket into a cup with roaches and Phoenix worms really drove home that point. Dropping a cricket, a hornworm or anything different into a cup immediately elicits a feeding response, even though the chameleon might be sitting on the edge of the cup, appearing to be satisfied, just having eaten quite a number of roaches and/or Phoenix worms.
I had been avoiding crickets altogether, primarily because I was tired of dealing with them for multiple reasons, but also because I had concern about what the suppliers were feeding their crickets (chows that contain D3 and preformed vitamin A). Also, no one seems to know how long a cricket can store those two vitamins in their tissues. That is why I took to breeding my own roaches. I know what goes into them, what they're gutloaded with. My attempts at breeding crickets didn't go well.
However, since I thought it would be best to offer more feeders, besides roaches, Phoenix worms, hornworms, silkworms, etc., I figured that I could probably safely use crickets with quads as long as I waited a week or two after I received them. That certainly gives more than enough time for the crickets to empty their guts, but hopefully, their tissues won't hold much D3 or preformed A beyond a week or two.
I've also noticed that when I put a group of mostly dark (black) Phoenix worms in a feeding cup, the babies will mostly target the light ones. In the same manner, if I put in mostly light colored larvae, the babies will primarily go for the dark ones.
Crickets are probably the easiest insects to free-range, at least for chameleons large enough to need a more substantial meal than fruit flies, bean beetles or houseflies (although I can only use houseflies when I cut off a wing due to the open front design of my cages).
Bottom line, of course there are a multitude of variables that determine how fast a chameleon will grow, including supplementation, gutloading feeders, etc., but if you free-range your feeders as much as possible, taking precautions that your chameleons do not consume things they shouldn't, your chameleons just might eat more, resulting in faster growth. Also, variety, variety, variety is a major key to growth, not just in terms of the overall greater quantity of food they'll consume, but in terms of quality too. Chameleons do get bored, even though they may continue eating the feeders you are offering. If I only offered my kids sardines and crackers every day, I'm sure they would eat them to stay alive, but they wouldn't thrive and their growth would suffer for it.
Perry
At the end of April 2012, I had 14 Triceros quadricornis eggs hatch out of a clutch of 16. At first, I fed them primarily fruit flies (both melanogaster and hydei), and a little later I added bean beetles. I used other feeders as well, including praying mantids and house flies, but the greatest quantity of foods they consumed were the fruit flies and the bean beetles. I won't go into supplementation, but I was very satisfied with their growth while I was primarily using these feeders. Later, I started feeding a lot of Dubia roaches in addition to black soldier fly larvae (Phoenix worms). Sometime after I incorporated a lot of those into the neonates' diets, their growth rate seemed to slow (they weren't shedding as frequently, etc.). Around this time, I started to notice greater differences in size between various individuals. Unfortunately, I also started losing some of them at this point. First I lost the runt. Although he ate very well, my expectations were not that high with him. I doubted whether he would ever reach adult size. Next, one of the babies escaped so I tore the place apart multiple times in a vain effort to find him but with no luck.
I believe he made it outside (probably on a trash bag) partly because I have no other explanation. After that, I started losing more babies one by one (approximately around the 5-6 month mark). I don't think it was a coincidence that the ones I lost were the smallest ones. These were not runts, but they were smaller than the others, even though they seemed to be eating well. Finally, I ended up with only 7 left, the ten month olds I still have, and they are doing well, especially after I started making changes. I just wish I would have started changing things sooner.With that backstory, here are the things that I believe would have made a difference. I believe there is a minimum growth rate that a growing chameleon must maintain, particularly ones as young as mine were, in order to survive, let alone, thrive. When I changed feeders is when I noticed slowed growth. The obvious things that people look at are what feeders and what supplements and frequencies are used. Although the supplementation remained the same (I'll share that if anyone is curious), two things clearly changed. Not only were the feeders changed but the method of how I fed the babies changed.
I went from free-ranging insects to primarily cup feeding throughout different areas of the enclosue. I had to cup feed with Dubias and Phoenix worms for obvious reasons. The chameleons would run to the cups to eat their fill, or so I thought. After they ate, they would sometimes just stare at the remaining insects in the cup. Then, I saw a pic on the forums and read an account or two of how someone's quad was a particular weight, a weight greater than any of mine, and I first thought maybe I was being too conservative with supplements, not giving enough. Soon after, I started putting into practice what I was already quite aware of.
All of us know that chameleons need to be stimulated to feed. In the wild, they eat a huge variety of insects that are separated, both in time (they feed throughout the day) and space (insects are usually not congregated in once place).
In captivity, we often witness chameleons being more stimulated to feed when offered different insects (they become bored with certain feeders), but maybe just as important, we notice that chameleons are sometimes quicker to strike a free-ranging insect. After all, that's how chameleons eat in the wild.
After the babies stopped eating out of the cup, it became obvious that they could be eating more. If I picked up a roach, separating it from the other roaches, I noticed most of the babies would jump at the chance to shoot it out of my fingers, even though there were still more moving roaches in the cup and even though I only make it a practice to hand-feed the adults. Although the babies were comfortable in my presence, they were not used to hand-feeding. The early foods I fed the babies were all free-ranged (fruit flies, bean beetles, mantids, etc.)
Finally, of course we've heard it repeated a thousand times, but trying our best not to have a "staple" is really important, even though I think many keepers, if not most of them, use primarily crickets and/or roaches, with occasional silkworms, hornworms, or superworms thrown in for variety. Again chameleons can get bored. Most of us know that. In my case, just dropping a single cricket into a cup with roaches and Phoenix worms really drove home that point. Dropping a cricket, a hornworm or anything different into a cup immediately elicits a feeding response, even though the chameleon might be sitting on the edge of the cup, appearing to be satisfied, just having eaten quite a number of roaches and/or Phoenix worms.
I had been avoiding crickets altogether, primarily because I was tired of dealing with them for multiple reasons, but also because I had concern about what the suppliers were feeding their crickets (chows that contain D3 and preformed vitamin A). Also, no one seems to know how long a cricket can store those two vitamins in their tissues. That is why I took to breeding my own roaches. I know what goes into them, what they're gutloaded with. My attempts at breeding crickets didn't go well.
However, since I thought it would be best to offer more feeders, besides roaches, Phoenix worms, hornworms, silkworms, etc., I figured that I could probably safely use crickets with quads as long as I waited a week or two after I received them. That certainly gives more than enough time for the crickets to empty their guts, but hopefully, their tissues won't hold much D3 or preformed A beyond a week or two.
I've also noticed that when I put a group of mostly dark (black) Phoenix worms in a feeding cup, the babies will mostly target the light ones. In the same manner, if I put in mostly light colored larvae, the babies will primarily go for the dark ones.
Crickets are probably the easiest insects to free-range, at least for chameleons large enough to need a more substantial meal than fruit flies, bean beetles or houseflies (although I can only use houseflies when I cut off a wing due to the open front design of my cages).
Bottom line, of course there are a multitude of variables that determine how fast a chameleon will grow, including supplementation, gutloading feeders, etc., but if you free-range your feeders as much as possible, taking precautions that your chameleons do not consume things they shouldn't, your chameleons just might eat more, resulting in faster growth. Also, variety, variety, variety is a major key to growth, not just in terms of the overall greater quantity of food they'll consume, but in terms of quality too. Chameleons do get bored, even though they may continue eating the feeders you are offering. If I only offered my kids sardines and crackers every day, I'm sure they would eat them to stay alive, but they wouldn't thrive and their growth would suffer for it.
Perry
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