When do stop feeding your chameleon everyday

[Chameleman22]

Hi everyone,

I have a male panther chameleon who is about 7 months old. Super healthy and doing great, however I was wondering when I should start decreasing the amount of days I feed him.

thanks!

 

[absolutbill]

For me I do it between 9 months and a year, depending on how much he is growing. At that point you can decrease a day per week of feeding and then get down to every other day. I have 2 veileds that will be 3 at the end of this month, and a panther who is 1 1/2 years old. All of them are fed Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sat (lighter feeding), and are doing well with that.

 

[Gingero]

Yeah I would give it another month or two. Also depends on what kinds of bugs you're offering -- if they are low or high in fat.

 

[Sullydatechie]

Yeah I would give it another month or two. Also depends on what kinds of bugs you're offering -- if they are low or high in fat.

Gingero, how many BSFL should I feed my 4 month old daily? Also, how often (if I'm feeding daily) should I give him superworms and waxworms?

 

[Gingero]

@Sullydatechie -- At that age I'd offer 10 BSFL, with some healthier feeders with it like crickets or dubias since the BSFLs are so small. And I'd offer the superworms and waxworms maybe 1-2x a week since you're probably feeding daily and see if they will cup feed to work on building trust.

There's not an exact science to it, and feeding a little extra or less here and there won't cause any harm at that age. Babies just eat as much as they can since they are growing.

 

[jannb]

How much does your panther weight? I usually go to every other day when they are heathy and of good weight. Usually that’s around 8 to 10 months for my guys.

 

[Beman]

I reduce feeders to 5 a day by the time they hit 6 months old. Then at 8 months they go to an every other day diet of 5 feeders. By the time they are 9-12 months they are on 3 feeders every other day.

They are still growing but they also start converting excess to fat and getting a cham to lose weight is much harder then monitoring weight gain. I also do weight checks on all of my boys every 2 weeks. This way I know exactly where they are at.

I don't feed more of something just because it is a smaller feeder... It is just adding that much more fat to the diet...

 

[Sullydatechie]

Thank you everyone. This is very helpful. He wouldn't eat anything but crickets. I tried dubias with no success. I offered Superworms but he wouldn't have anything to do with them. I ordered from Josh's Frogs and he ate the supers, BSFL, and waxworms!! Now he comes running to the feeder cup when I am loading it (he usually avoids me).