Am I overfeeding my female panther?

[KellyCotton]

My girl is about 4.5 months old. she has a healthy appetite! In the morning, I hold a cup out and she'll eat about 5 medium sized crickets right there (sometimes she accidentally gets two with one shot!). I normally will dump about 5 more in the bottom and she scarfs them in NO time! She's quite the little hunter.
I feed her about 10 later on in the day but after she's done, she will continue to look for more crickets, even crawling along the bottom of her enclosure!
She was the biggest in her clutch and jr growing quite fast but I am afraid that she is over eating!

Also... I have calcium and a multivitamin that I have been dusting twice a week... calcium one day, multi the next and ten a day of nothing (and so on). Is this ok? Do I need to do it less frequently when she is older?

Any advice would help as this is my first cham and I would like to keep her as healthy as possible!

 

[kinyonga]

It's recommended that the dust at almost every feeding with a phosphorous-free calcium powder to make up for the poor ratio in most feeder insects. I dust all the insects lightly since all the insects would have the same nutritional value. The calcium will automatically be less because youn will be feeding less often.

You can cut her back to feeding every second day soon and eating less insects. Overfeeding constantly once she's sexually mature will make her lay bigger clutches...so it's not good. Do you know that they lay eggs without having been mated and you should have a lay bin in the cage all the time once she's sexually mature.

 

[KellyCotton]

It's recommended that the dust at almost every feeding with a phosphorous-free calcium powder to make up for the poor ratio in most feeder insects. I dust all the insects lightly since all the insects would have the same nutritional value. The calcium will automatically be less because youn will be feeding less often.

You can cut her back to feeding every second day soon and eating less insects. Overfeeding constantly once she's sexually mature will make her lay bigger clutches...so it's not good. Do you know that they lay eggs without having been mated and you should have a lay bin in the cage all the time once she's sexually mature.

Thanks so much!
Okay so given that she’s about five months old... at what point do I start feeding her every second day?

Phosphorus free calcium... noted! I will check and see if mine is..! And yes I do know that they lay eggs regardless.

I should probably put a laying bin in her terrarium soon.. I heard they can lay as early as 5 months, correct?

Thanks for your help!

 

[kinyonga]

They can start laying eggs as early as 5 months.
I can't tell her size so I can't tell you when to cut back to every second day for sure. I do see that she's not fat though so you can wait a bit longer I think....not saying that you want her to get fat...just that she has some time yet before you need to do it.

 

[ChamLB]

They can survive on crickets if they have to but it is better to offer a variety of feeders. Hornworms, silkworms, superworms and dubia are all good additions. They can be ordered on line. Gut loading before feeding crickets and dubia make them better feeders then just feeding them plain.

 

[KellyCotton]

They can survive on crickets if they have to but it is better to offer a variety of feeders. Hornworms, silkworms, superworms and dubia are all good additions. They can be ordered on line. Gut loading before feeding crickets and dubia make them better feeders then just feeding them plain.

Thank you! I’ve heard that the super worms can be dangerous... and I don’t yet feel comfortable punching their heads off do you think there should be a limit to the amount of wax and butter worms I feed her since they are more fatty? I’m actually worried she’s already overweight because she loves to eat!!...

 

[Mai]

No I think it’s the mealworms that aren’t good since they have a hard skeleton and are harder to digest.

Thank you! I’ve heard that the super worms can be dangerous... and I don’t yet feel comfortable punching their heads off do you think there should be a limit to the amount of wax and butter worms I feed her since they are more fatty? I’m actually worried she’s already overweight because she loves to eat!!...

 

[larrodinero]

No I think it’s the mealworms that aren’t good since they have a hard skeleton and are harder to digest.

I agree with the mealworm thing! I will never feed my Cham a meal worm !

 

[jenbun]

You may want to limit the number of waxworms she eats

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/feeding-wax-worms.37888/

 

[Virgil1972]

Thank you! I’ve heard that the super worms can be dangerous... and I don’t yet feel comfortable punching their heads off do you think there should be a limit to the amount of wax and butter worms I feed her since they are more fatty? I’m actually worried she’s already overweight because she loves to eat!!...

I think its unnecessary to take the heads off of super worms. I would also limit the number of wax and butter worms you feed. The more variety you feed the better.

 

[jannb]

Not sure if this was mentioned but she needs calcium without d3 at just about every feeding, calcium with d3 twice a month and a multi. Vitamin twice a month.