Feeder Questions

[Ferdinand]

Hi all,
Ive had my cham, McLovin' for about 4 weeks now and he is almost 5 months old. Up until now I have been feeding him around 15 crickets every day with this supplement schedule:

Herptivite (multivitamin with beta-carotene) - Mondays and Thursdays
Rep-Cal Calcium (calcium with and w/out vitamin D3 - depending on indoor or outdoor use) - Tuesdays and Fridays
Miner-All (calcium with essential trace minerals) - Wednesdays and Saturdays

I would like to feed him other things like silkworms, but im not sure what size would be appropriate as well as how many he should be fed. Also, seeing as how different feeders have different nutritional values like high calcium for silkies, does that affect your supplement schedule and how so?

What would a nutritional feeding schedule look like for a 4 1/2 month old panther cham along with supplement schedule?

When should one start adding things like roaches or phoenix worms and what size?
Any help or feeding schedule samples anyone can give me would be great!
Thanks again,
Fern

 

[luevelvet]

Gut loaded Dubia Roaches can be fed as a staple with any normal supplement schedule. For a growing male panther, I would stick with supplementing herptivite twice a week and calcium once a week with a staple of crickets/dubia. Everything else should be considered treats and not be provided as a primary part of their diets. Nutitrionally, some feeders should be offered less often than others; ie, waxworms are fatty and should be treated the same as you would dog treats for a dog, a few every few days or so, but silk worms are a bit more "balanced" and can be offered more regularly.

To be honest, if you gut load your feeders well, supplementation becomes a bit less of an issue and provides more flexibility in regards to how much and when to supplement.

Luis

 

[kinyonga]

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos. its important to dust at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder...not just once a week, IMHO.

I dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder and twice a month with Herptivite. If you feel that your chameleon should have preformed vitamin a you can provide it separately this way and be in control of it.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Gutloading IS important, but does not usually replace the need for calcium supplementation.

I use a calcium supplement on all crickets, and most superworms. Without d3 most times, with D3 about twice a month. I use Herptivite about twice a month. I sometimes dust silkies and roaches. I do not usually dust butterworms, stick insects, isopods (wood sows), moths, hornworms.

If you go to this part of my blog, you will find a diary of what my panther chameleons eat, including any supplementation used.
I have been successfull with essentially this method for years. It should be noted that My chameleons do not go outside, and thus the fairly regular D3 supplementation.

For more info on Feeder Nutrition, check this blog entry: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition.html
For more info on Supplementation, go to this blog entry: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html

 

[Ferdinand]

ok, thanks guys for all the info! Ill be checking this thread for more posts