Feeding help please ??

[zfcmike1986]

Hi again,

Well things have been going very well and Alvin is growing at a very quick pace, when we brought him he had white coming out of his nose but thankfully this has all gone now. The newest problem we have is feeding. I have tried several different methods of feeding and he only seems happy with one and just wanted to find out if this is ok to continue to do. The only way he seems to want to eat at the minute is by me cutting of the crickets back legs so they cannot jump and place them on a leaf near him, yesterday he ate around about 5 cricks which seems to be a daily average. When the crickets fall to the bottom he just doesnt seem interested in them.

Has anyone else had any difficulty feeding, is this normal or is my Cham just a fussy git????

Mike

 

[summoner12]

He is a veiled? the white dust from the nose isn't a BAD sign... it's just his bodies way of getting rid of extra salts and or minerals. This mostly happens when someone puts too much calcium powder on the food items he is eating. Veileds go through hunger strikes or will slow down intake. It is winter time so cooler temps do mean the chams are slowing down and eating less. I would worry about him if he goes off food for a week. As far as him only eating in front of him he seems lazy and maybe just not hungry. What kind of lighting do you have for him?

 

[kinyonga]

"too much calcium powder"?...could you show proof that the salts are calcium? I've always thought that is was something else and would love to see something that clears it up.

"Excess mineral load excreted by salt glands eg.in nostrils of iguanas excess Na, K, HCO3 and Cl is excrete"...
http://www.aquavet.i12.com/Reptiles.htm

"The salt-secreting glands produce a secretion containing pottasium and sodium, both apparently as bicarbonate salts; chloride was collected in only trace amounts."...
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1441439

 

[hallenhe]

My general thought is, so long as he's eating, it's good. Several people remove the back legs from the crickets (not much nutrition, kind of spiny and more likely to get stuck in the throat). My guy has pretty much stopped going to his cricket cup over the past year and a half (he knows where it is, and used to head over there of his own volition), and waits to be hand-fed, cup-fed, or toted to his cricket cup (a whopping 14 inches or so from his Chameleon Condo). They train you quickly.

 

[prettykttkat]

Have you ever tried tong feeding? This might be easier for you than ripping off the legs and putting them on a leaf. Grab the cricket by the back legs with the tongs and hold it in front of him.
BTW chams are divas of the reptile world. They are so picky with how they want fed and watered and what they want to eat when they want to eat it, etc. I think they just like being spoiled and if you do it then they will always expect it. They are also hard headed and once they are used to the spoiling they do not go back to how they used to be. I have a cham right now that will only drink water when I hand water him with a syringe. He will not drink water droplets at all no matter how thirsty he is. He waits for me to do it for him

 

[summoner12]

"too much calcium powder"?...could you show proof that the salts are calcium? I've always thought that is was something else and would love to see something that clears it up.

"Excess mineral load excreted by salt glands eg.in nostrils of iguanas excess Na, K, HCO3 and Cl is excrete"...
http://www.aquavet.i12.com/Reptiles.htm

"The salt-secreting glands produce a secretion containing pottasium and sodium, both apparently as bicarbonate salts; chloride was collected in only trace amounts."...
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1441439

I didn't say the salts were calcium. I said "it's just his bodies way of getting rid of extra salts and or minerals. This mostly happens when someone puts too much calcium powder"

Personally I have had this happen to me only when using too much calcium. That is the only proof i can provide. cause and affect.

 

[sandrachameleon]

He could be a fussy git, or he could just not be overly hungry, or he could be getting bored of crickets. That he does eat some suggests to me he's okay. Is he loosing weight?
Try cup feeding (put it under/near where he likes to hang out) if you want to make life easier on you. Try using something else in addition to crickets (variety is good!) such as silkworms, butterworms, stick insects, moths.....