Feeding a 1 year old veiled

[MissMay]

Before my roommate and I got our little guy we did a bunch of research on general chameleon care and he's been doing great! I've raised a lot of reptiles and other animals so I'm decently well versed in general care, but not an expert in chameleons.
No problems, seems healthy and happy. He's about a year old now and I've read so many different things regarding feeding; how much, how often etc. he gets meal worms and crickets and gets fed every morning.
Usually feed him 6-7 medium/large meal worms or 5 small crickets and just started feeding medium crickets which I give him 3-4, depending on the size of the cricket. He gets calcium powder and D3 powder alternating everyday.
I just wanted some insight on if he's getting a good amount of food or what to change to better his diet because we love is little man and want the best for him! Here's a picture of him to give an idea of his size and weight
Thank you for any advice!

 

[zsazsa85]

Hi there!
Congratulations to your beautiful boy!
I think the best way to know he eats enough, give him as much as he eats in about 10 minutes. When he showes no big interest in the feeders anymore, means he is full.
If you could, buy silkworms, butterworms and phoenixworm, they are nutritious. Give him rather more crix then mealworms.
Use plain calcium without D3 every feeding and multivitamin with D3 once every two weeks.
Do you have proper uvb light and a nice big enclosure? He will need it!

 

[MissMay]

Thank you! I will do that next feeding!
We do, we have a heat lamp, UVB lamp, and a water dripper from him. He loves coming out and climbing on EVERYTHING so I'm working on building a little out-of-cage jungle gym for him
Do you generally have to order the silkworms online? I've never run into any at pet stores.

 

[Bonyin]

Hi I'm a little concerned regarding how much my Jerome is eating, due that he is free to go around in my apartment, even though he has a breutiful and nice environment. He start mostly close to his cage in a bunch of plants and coming all over the places. He also spend a good amount of time under his baking lights.
But lately he is not very interesting in resting as much as he use to. I'm afraid that his freedom in my place is not been the best choice even thou he looks pretty healthy. He is only eating about 2 mealworms or three / day. Am I doing something wrong? This his how Jerome looks like. And thank you so much for your feedback.

 

[kinyonga]

Mealworms are not a good choice of food for him...crickets, roaches, locusts, silkworms, hornworms, superworms, etc are better choices. Because hes a veiled he can also eat some greens, veggies and a bit of fruit.

Letting him free range is OK as long as he is getting what he needs...appropriate temperatures, exposure to UVB light, proper food that is supplemented and fed/gutloaded properly, access to water in an appropriate way.

Appropriate temperatures allow him to digest his food properly which indirectly plays a part in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to the UVB allows him to produce the D3 he needs to use the calcium in his system to keep his bones and muscles and other things strong and healthy. He can't overdose on the D3 produced this way as long as he can move in and out of the UVB at will.

Since most feeder insects have a poor ratio of phosphorous to calcium we recommend dusting them just before feeding them to your chameleon with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at all let every feeding.

I recommend dusting twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that it gets some D3 without overdosing it and allowing it to produce the rest from its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplementing can build up in the system and lead to health issues.

I also recommend dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene prOformed source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A will not build upmin the system so you don't have to worry about overdoing it. This leaves it up to you to decide if/when the chameleon needs a prEformed source of vitamin A. PrEformed sources do build up in the system and can cause health issues...but it's controversial as to whether any chameleons can convert the prOformed sources.

It's important to feed/gutload the insects well. Crickets, locusts, roaches, superworms, can be fed a wide assortment of greens such as dandelion greens, kale, endive, escarole, collards, etc and veggies such as carrots sweet potato, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, etc and a bit of fruit such as apples, pears, melon, berries, etc.

Water should be provided by misting the cage/area several times a day and providing a dripper.

If he's too cool most of the time he's not going to digest his food at the right rate and may not eat as much as he should. If he's dehydrated he may not eat as well. If he's not getting a proper nutrient balance he may not eat properly. If he is becoming sick or has parasites or something else going on he may not eat either. Having said all of this, you said he eats 2 or 3 mealworms...if that is everyday then he may just be slowing down because he's reaching maturity. He can be fed every second day now judging by his size.