Am I under feeding?

Jessandsprinkes

Jessandsprinkes

Member
My 7-8 month old male panther chameleon weighs 80 grams. The vet I took him to today said he was underweight (I did not have a positive experience so I don’t really trust his opinion). I feed him 1-2 hornworms a day as well as 15 small dubia roaches (I cycle this with 10-15 crickets a day depending). Is he underweight should I be feeding more?

Also, the vet told me never to feed crickets again and that they have no nutritional value. He was a reptile vet with good reviews and now I feel lost /:
 

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Hello and welcome! Oh he is so beautiful! And he looks great to me! You can usually tell if a Cham is under weight from their tail bones showing, their casque is sunken in and arms can look really scrawny. I’m not seeing that with your boy.

I think you are feeding him the correct amount. Once he stops growing and seems to be getting ‘wider’ instead of actually growing you can adjust his diet so you are eventually feeding him 5 feeders 3-4 times a week. But for now keep doing what you are doing.

Crickets are fantastic feeders and are healthy for your Cham so long as you are gut loading them. This will also be true for the Dubia. You need to gut load those as well.
 
Hi. Are you feeding your feeder insects and keeping them healthy? If so, then they should be nutritious. You do want to add a bit more variety though - as @CCT Reptiles has said, swap out the hornworms for silkworms. Providing a graphic to help.
If you would like some help finding a vet that is experienced with chameleons, @elizaann2 has a list she can provide.
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Hey there. For that age he is not too small. Did the vet run a fecal test though to ensure he does not have parasites?

Your feeder amounts are fine. And crickets are a perfectly good source of nutrition as you can see from the chart. You want a variety. If you only gave him dubia then that is not healthy either.

Feeder nutrition chart.jpeg
 
Jessandsprinkes said:
My 7-8 month old male panther chameleon weighs 80 grams. The vet I took him to today said he was underweight (I did not have a positive experience so I don’t really trust his opinion). I feed him 1-2 hornworms a day as well as 15 small dubia roaches (I cycle this with 10-15 crickets a day depending). Is he underweight should I be feeding more?

Also, the vet told me never to feed crickets again and that they have no nutritional value. He was a reptile vet with good reviews and now I feel lost /:
Click to expand...
I think he looks great.

I recently went through a situation where a vet who said he had experience with reptiles (and used to keep chameleons.......) was completely wrong in what he told me.

1) He told me my chameleon wasn't sick. At all. Despite the fact she lost her apetite, her eyes were closed during the day, she was actually gaping, and after she DID eat, she would twist her body/shake violently until she threw up her food. She died exactly 7 days after he told me she wasn't sick.

2) He told me I should have substrate (after telling him I was NOT running a bioactive enclosure) instead of nothing at the bottom of her enclosure

3) He told me I should be keeping a water dish for her so she can drink and because "chameleons like to take baths to stay hydrated"

All while also telling me he used to have a few chameleons but, and I quote (again this is a VET...): "I could never keep them alive for very long."

So, unfortunately, a vet isn't a vet. They just vary and have different experiences and most seem to not know how to deal with chameleons unfortunately. Fortunately, your chameleon looks great IMO, and it sounds like you're taking great care of him. And, there are vet resources you can find on here. Some members even have a system down to try to find the nearest one to you, should you need one.
 
Steve A said:
I think he looks great.

I recently went through a situation where a vet who said he had experience with reptiles (and used to keep chameleons.......) was completely wrong in what he told me.

1) He told me my chameleon wasn't sick. At all. Despite the fact she lost her apetite, her eyes were closed during the day, she was actually gaping, and after she DID eat, she would twist her body/shake violently until she threw up her food. She died exactly 7 days after he told me she wasn't sick.

2) He told me I should have substrate (after telling him I was NOT running a bioactive enclosure) instead of nothing at the bottom of her enclosure

3) He told me I should be keeping a water dish for her so she can drink and because "chameleons like to take baths to stay hydrated"

All while also telling me he used to have a few chameleons but, and I quote (again this is a VET...): "I could never keep them alive for very long."

So, unfortunately, a vet isn't a vet. They just vary and have different experiences and most seem to not know how to deal with chameleons unfortunately. Fortunately, your chameleon looks great IMO, and it sounds like you're taking great care of him. And, there are vet resources you can find on here. Some members even have a system down to try to find the nearest one to you, should you need one.
Click to expand...
The hardest part of keeping reptiles is finding a great exotic pet vet. I too had some failed visits to "exotic animal vets". Sometimes you have to make that long drive to a good vet. That said, there are great vets out there. You just have to search.
 
Steve A said:
I think he looks great.

I recently went through a situation where a vet who said he had experience with reptiles (and used to keep chameleons.......) was completely wrong in what he told me.

1) He told me my chameleon wasn't sick. At all. Despite the fact she lost her apetite, her eyes were closed during the day, she was actually gaping, and after she DID eat, she would twist her body/shake violently until she threw up her food. She died exactly 7 days after he told me she wasn't sick.

2) He told me I should have substrate (after telling him I was NOT running a bioactive enclosure) instead of nothing at the bottom of her enclosure

3) He told me I should be keeping a water dish for her so she can drink and because "chameleons like to take baths to stay hydrated"

All while also telling me he used to have a few chameleons but, and I quote (again this is a VET...): "I could never keep them alive for very long."

So, unfortunately, a vet isn't a vet. They just vary and have different experiences and most seem to not know how to deal with chameleons unfortunately. Fortunately, your chameleon looks great IMO, and it sounds like you're taking great care of him. And, there are vet resources you can find on here. Some members even have a system down to try to find the nearest one to you, should you need one.
Click to expand...
Wow, thank you for validating what I was feeling. I really wish there was more reputable reptile vets.
 
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