Am I feeding too little or too much?? Also other questions

[Alize_725]

So I adopted my chameleon from petco because I saw the horrible condition she was in the lady told me someone put 3 high voltage bulbs on her cage and she got badly burned so I had to take her. At the time I was told she was an albino male panther 5 months go by I posted pics on here found out it’s a regular female panther.

When we first got her they were feeding her only 2 crickets a day and 3 meal worms I’ve done a lot of research due to me never owning a chameleon found out meal worms are a treat so I started her on super worms and crickets cause she was soo skinny so I would put 10 baby crickets in her cage and leave 2 super worms roaming around to see if she would go for them and she did all of them I looked up over feeding and it said to give her 15 medium I felt that was a bit much so I kept her going with 10 crickets 2 medium and 8 small and occasionally as a snack some superworms no more then 4 a day she’s getting older and she’s about to turn 8 months on the 19th. I still want to make sure if I’m feeding her correctly I still do 10 crickets a day 5 small 5 medium but recently I’ve notice she’ll eat 2 or 3 and leave the rest in there. So I did a test where I gave her 5 one day and 5 another day and she’ll still just eat 2-3 so do I continue to feed her daily or every other day? Also what are some good big plants to put in her cage I want to I corporate live plants into her habitat I had the normal 16*16*36 cage but I’m going to upgrade it in February to a way bigger one. Also she likes being handeled only when she’s not shedding when she’s shedding she doesn’t mind it too much but ik that she gets upset so I don’t really bother her too much. Also I’ve realized when she sheds there’s pieces that get stuck in her nose and ik for bearded dragons ur supposed to help them take it out but her nose hold are so small I darn wanna take chances in hurting her and does anyone have tips for the drip system she uses it only when I let the water go down at full speed she doesn’t like the drips and I don’t know y I up the tube above a leaf so she doesn’t see it

 

[nightanole]

You cant really over feed a chameleon. Till they are adults its kind of a race to get enough food in them to keep up with the growth. It may require 2-3 cup feedings a day. Once they are adults the same thing applies, but you will only need to feed them every other or every 3rd day. Always offer enough food that there are a few left overs. That being said you may end up with a problem child like one of mine, were too many feeders as an adult caused some puking later on during the day. So i had to space out his feedings during the day, instead of one big one.

 

[Alize_725]

You cant really over feed a chameleon. Till they are adults its kind of a race to get enough food in them to keep up with the growth. It may require 2-3 cup feedings a day. Once they are adults the same thing applies, but you will only need to feed them every other or every 3rd day. Always offer enough food that there are a few left overs. That being said you may end up with a problem child like one of mine, were too many feeders as an adult caused some puking later on during the day. So i had to space out his feedings during the day, instead of one big one.

The spacing out of the feeding makes sence so I guess I’m stead of throwing in 10 when I get home from school I’ll put 5 crickets in the am 5 in the afternoon and 5 at night depending on how much is still left over every time I check

 

[nightanole]

During his final growth spurt, he was packing away 2 dozen crickets a feeding daily. Once he was an adult he was down to maybe 4-5 crickets every other day.

 

[salty dog]

I would feed every other day in the morning, overfeeding causes health problems. She needs a laybin, do you notice her going to the bottom of the cage? She also needs a 5.0 linear t-5 or t-8 uv ligh. How often do you water? She needs running water everyday with a good misting for at least 90 seconds for hygene

 

[Alize_725]

I would feed every other day in the morning, overfeeding causes health problems. She needs a laybin, do you notice her going to the bottom of the cage? She also needs a 5.0 linear t-5 or t-8 uv ligh. How often do you water? She needs running water everyday with a good misting for at least 90 seconds for hygene

I most frequently when I’m not home and I’m at school for 3 hours I leave the dropper on the setting she likes the most and then when I get home I make sure she’s drinking water just to be sure I mist for 1-2 minutes every 30 minutes to an hour I have a mini garbage pail at the bottom of the cage as her layingnh bin for right now causes I can’t find a giant Flower pot to save my life all the ones at Home Depot were too big for her cage so the pain is temporary she doesn’t really go to the bottom unless she wants to come out and explore I put one of the branches through the dirt I made sure it’s moist enough to dig also and the bulb I have is a 50w and a UCB light I believe I can’t find the box right now

 

[pmdaggett79]

At 7 months my guy will eat like a pig if I let him. Just an hour ago he polished off 10 large crickets and 4 superworms. Yesterday he had 6 medium dubia roaches, 6 superworms, and 6 crickets. In my experiences I’ve concluded that they should be offered a lot of food until they reach adulthood. They will let you know when they’ve had enough.

It’s also important to note that there are other things to ensure they are healthy. First is supplemented calcium and vitamins powdered lightly before offered. They need to be gutloaded with plenty of nutrition as well. Secondly and more important than the first is lighting. UVB lighting is critical In order for them to digest food properly and absorb the calcium given.

 

[Alize_725]

Yea I dust them twice a week with calcium and I’m in the process of owning a cricket farm so I can gut load them my self it’s pretty fun I started with 25 and I now have 60

 

[pmdaggett79]

Yea I dust them twice a week with calcium and I’m in the process of owning a cricket farm so I can gut load them my self it’s pretty fun I started with 25 and I now have 60

I have to make a correction to my earlier reply. You should dust calcium with vitamin d3 before every feeding and at the most only once a week with multivitamin. Once every other week is good if you gutload with a good product

 

[Thehippie]

no I have to make a correction here, you should be dusting calcium without d3 every feeding with multivitamin twice a month and calcium with d3 twice a month

 

[Thehippie]

now for a lay bin you don't need a flower pot, it wont be big enough, get a tub that is 12x12x12 at the least and fill it with organic soil and play sand, at that age she looks able to lay.

do not feed mealworms, those are very bad for chameleons and can cause impaction

misting sessions need to be at least 2 mins long I recommend a 5 min session every day to make sure your cham can clean her eyes and drink, they can drink for a very long time.

do not help a chameleon shed unless it is stuck to a toe or the bottom of their tail, you could damage scales that haven't formed yet

also superworms are a treat, they are high in fat and can cause obesity, try silk worms BSFL, BSF, BBF, roaches (dubias, orange, ivory) and mantids for starters on a good diet.

good treats can be hornworms, wax worm mothes, superworms and butterworms

she also needs a linear uvb bulb 5.0 if you do not have one, this will help her process the calcium

I hope you find this helpful!

 

[milliemayooo]

I would say with the dripper if she doesn't like it maybe try a mister that does it it's self or keep the dripper a u do it by hand I guess that's what u have been doing tho sorry if this don't help