Can you over feed??

[Angsty]

We have an almost 4 month old male veiled Cham, he is doing fantastic, eating pooping, and actually getting better about handling, (he likes my son the best!!)

My question is regarding how many crickets he should eat a day, I work from home and am able I check/mist throughout the day. I put in about 5-6 medium in the am and then recheck again about 1pm and might give him a couple more as long as I don't see any rooming in the terrarium. We just switched to med this last batch as the small where really small and I was finding them at the bottom of his cage dead. So never really sure if he was getting enough!!

any advice would be great

 

[jannb]

Yes you can over feed Chameleons. Over feeding can cause major health problems. If you will post some pictures of your Cham we can see if he looks good weight wise and healthy in general.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Yes, you can overfeed (though its more likely with animals over 6 months than under)

I recommend you offer about as much as it can eat within about 5 minutes 3 or 4 times a day. Offer a VARIETY of prey, not just crickets.
You may find bowl feeding for some portion of the food helps you determine how much its really eating, and to ensure none are left roaming about uneaten too long. Weighing him every two weeks to once a month (depending if he is stressed by being handled) will also tell you if he is growing. You want a steady growth rate, but not super fast. Growth will slow as he approaches a year old, and will be very slight after about 18 months.

 

[Psychobunny]

Wait a second! 3 or 4 times a day??
I only feed my guys once a day!!

I'm not even home from 6am to 3pm

 

[kanjiman]

Wait a second! 3 or 4 times a day??
I only feed my guys once a day!!

I'm not even home from 6am to 3pm

i'm right there with you.. i feed my little guy right when i get home so he have enough time to digest before he goes to sleep..

 

[deadhd5]

i'm right there with you.. i feed my little guy right when i get home so he have enough time to digest before he goes to sleep..

I work long hours and I can only feed once a day during the week too.. I usually do it in the morning though:

6:15am lights on
6:30-6:40 morning rain (Mist King)
7:15-7:30 breakfast

I leave a daily dose of food for him to hunt because i get home just in time to do the nighttime closing procedure.

That being said, I take Sandra's advice on the weekend... It is better for the cham, and fun for the owner

 

[Angsty]

I have tried worms a few times and he isn't interested at all, both times tried from hand and then put into a dish after giving up.

here are two shots of him!!!

 

[sandrachameleon]

Wait a second! 3 or 4 times a day??
I only feed my guys once a day!!
I'm not even home from 6am to 3pm

I personally like to feed young growing chams multiple times a day, at least on those days when I am able to. Which is one of the reasons I dont breed right now (not enough time at home!)
But its okay to feed them in the morning only, or in the morning and when you get home (assuming its not too late). Up the quantity a little per "serving"
And adults I usually feed only once a day, about 5 times a week.

 

[Angsty]

he was totally pissed at me after taking those two pictures!! to the point that when I put him back in he puffed himself up and screamed at me!!!

 

[Psychobunny]

he was totally pissed at me after taking those two pictures!! to the point that when I put him back in he puffed himself up and screamed at me!!!

LOL! all chams seem to HATE cameras.
My guyz dont turn technacolor pancake on me unless I get too close with it.
So I dont take many pics because I am trying to gain their confidence, not
scare them to death

 

[Psychobunny]

I personally like to feed young growing chams multiple times a day, at least on those days when I am able to. Which is one of the reasons I dont breed right now (not enough time at home!)
But its okay to feed them in the morning only, or in the morning and when you get home (assuming its not too late). Up the quantity a little per "serving"
And adults I usually feed only once a day, about 5 times a week.

When I have them, I like to put some blue bottle flies in for them.
It takes them all day to find them all, so this gives them a snack durring
the day when I'm not home.
Smeagie eats green leafy veggies, so I give him his little 'salad' in the morning
for his breakfast.
Smidget will eat from his 'bird cage' cup on the wall of his cage, so I put phoenix or silk worms in it for daytime snacking.
Noogie wont touch a worm of any kind, so I just turn some 1/2'' crick nymphs in for him to find and hunt, same with Squee.
So they dont exactly starve while I'm at work.
They get their dinner first thingwhen I get home at 3:30pm. I wish I had someone around who could feed them at noon every day, but I dont

 

[Pensfan7125]

I have the same question. I feed my juvenile 8 small crickets in the morning at like 6:15 and like 8 when I get home at 2:30ish. Is that too much?

 

[Angsty]

glad that you all seem to agree with what I am doing!!! I bought some small meal worms today to see how that goes, he hasn't eaten any yet but they are in a dish hanging from one of his branches!!

 

[Psychobunny]

glad that you all seem to agree with what I am doing!!! I bought some small meal worms today to see how that goes, he hasn't eaten any yet but they are in a dish hanging from one of his branches!!

Something even better then mealies, and cheap too, is phoenix worms.
Loaded with calcium they R
Only thing, some chams wont eat them, what with being nasty, wriggly
maggots

Smidget and Smeagol are the only 2 who will eat those, so I got some bird cage food/water cups for them to eat out of when I'm not home.