Weird Body Movements After Eating

[aguilar325]

Hey guys, this is my first chameleon, a Yemen, so I don't know if this is normal behavior. What I am concerned about is that after he eats a cricket, he coils his body and stretches his neck. It kind of reminds me when I used to keep snakes and how they twist their body to make the food go down, but I don't it this applies to chams. He still continues to eat though, he's about 5 months old under a 5.0 uvb light and a 26w light bulb. Dusting with calcium without D3 6x a day, and with reptivie, and cal with D3 every other sunday.

 

[camimom]

hes probably just swallowing.
but your supplement schedule is very wrong.

calcium WITHOUT d3 for EVERY feeding,.
calcium WITH d3 2 times a month.
multivitamin 2 times a month.

 

[aguilar325]

Ahh okay thank you! I will switch his feeding schedule as soon as possible.

Edit: doesn't the feeding schedule I have right now work though? He is getting calcium without D3 every feeding (6 days a week) except on sundays where I switch off from multivitamin and calcium with D3.

Mon-Sat = calcium without D3
Sunday = multi
Mon-Sat = calcium without D3
Sunday = calcium WITH D3
Mon-Sat = calcium without D3
Sunday = multi
Mon - Sat = calcium without D3
Sunday - calcium WITH D3

 

[carol5208]

Ahh okay thank you! I will switch his feeding schedule as soon as possible.

Edit: doesn't the feeding schedule I have right now work though? He is getting calcium without D3 every feeding (6 days a week) except on sundays where I switch off from multivitamin and calcium with D3.

Mon-Sat = calcium without D3
Sunday = multi
Mon-Sat = calcium without D3
Sunday = calcium WITH D3
Mon-Sat = calcium without D3
Sunday = multi
Mon - Sat = calcium without D3
Sunday - calcium WITH D3

you said 6X a day!!!! I know what you meant though!!!! I figured it was 6 times a week. That is good!

 

[aguilar325]

Ohh hahaha sorry. I meant 6x a week. Thank you though!!

 

[MamaD]

I wouldn't worry about the weird movements. What size crickets are you feeding him? I've had babies do the same thing and i switched back to a smaller cricket for a while till they put on a little size then switched back to larger ones. Try 1/4" for a while. The size of the space between their eyes is the size of food they can eat. Also, I use a 60w bulb for my babies and young ones. I keep them at 82-85 degrees at the highest basking point. Best of luck.

 

[MamaD]

Oh, and also, carol5208's supplement suggestion is exactly how I do it too.

 

[aguilar325]

The crux are roughly a 1/4''. There are mixed sizes, some bigger, some smaller but he doesn't seem to mind. I tried feeding him a waxworm with tongs but he got freaked out. My guess is from the tongs. Any ideas on how to break his fear of the tongs? Would it be advisable to leave the tongs in his cage to get him used to them?