Am I overfeeding?

[A1ycia]

I bought my Jackson chameleon at petco last night...

I'm not sure how old he is, assuming 3 months? The lady said he had been there a month or two.

How many crickets should I be feeding him daily?

Last night when I brough him home he was a bit lethargic, after he ate though he perked up.


Today he has had 7.
I fed the crickets carrots with the calcium powder on it before feeding them to Loki.

I'm not certain how many would be a good number for him daily... Or even if they have the tendency to overeat?

 

[CAETimlin32]

I think it depends, but from my experience, my cham eats until he's full. If I have crickets left, I just put them back in their container.

 

[kplatvoet]

The best start if your new with a Jackson is with the care sheets from here
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/
Too many times Petco gives out wrong information - Jackson's are more sensitive
If you can post a picture we could give you a better idea of how old he is which would make a difference on how much he should be eating -

 

[A1ycia]

Here is a picture of him on my hand for reference with how large he is.

I will check out that link now; thanks a ton!

 

[A1ycia]

Sorry;
I didn't attach it right last time.

Here is the picture:

 

[A1ycia]

I'm struggling on here lol
Practice makes perfect.

 

[A1ycia]

Here is a better one...
For some reason it keeps giving me an error.

He was mad in this picture...

 

[Masked Gecko]

I've never bred Jacksons but I'd say he's a bit older that 3 months, also did you feed your calcium powder to your crickets??? Lol, it's supposed to go on the crickets.

 

[brownie64]

I would guess 6-7 months. I think 7 crickets is alright if he was real hungry even though mine never eat that much. In fact mine can be quite finicky sometimes. I have seen her go on a weak fast at times and eat 2 super worms or 4 crickets at another. They don't have the urgency to eat the way some other chams do I think it's do to their slower metabolism. Just a friendly suggestion you should get him more plant coverage, and lose the water dish that's not how they drink. Please look at the care sheets for the jackson's on this site they aren't really a first time cham IMHO, and are more sensitive to humidity, temps, and calcium suplimentation. Good luck

 

[A1ycia]

Honestly I was clueless as to his age; at the store she didn't know either. So it was a guess. Thanks

I was putting it on the carrots, so that the crickets would get it and then I was lightly sprinkling it on top of them as well... Not sure if it makes its way through the food chain then.

I did put more vines in after that photo was taken, i just had to buy some fishing line so that I could hang them.

With the water dish, I do spray the leaves 3 times a day. I know he doesn't drink from the standing water but he likes to dip himself in it? I'm not sure if that's a bad thing... But I was changing it out twice daily.

 

[A1ycia]

He has had 11 small ones so far today.

Do you think I should consider feeding him medium ones instead? I do not fully understand the measurement of their head in relation to size of cricket.

 

[DragoLikesReptiles]

The rule of thumb is to feed them crickets no wider than their mouth. He can eat small ones until he is 1 year. The smaller, the better because he can choke on the bigger ones if they are bigger than the mouth. My panther eats 9 smalls, and he is 7 months. So, he might be 8-90 months. How big is his cage?