Food Quantity

[isamu]

Hi there,

I know this question has probably been asked several times before, but I would just like to know how many food items should I be feeding my 5 1/2 - 6 month old veiled per day?

At the moment he is eating about 10 - 12 3/4 crix and a few meal worms a day (meal worms not every day). Is this too much or too few?

Thanks

 

[isamu]

Any feedback would be greatly welcomed

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I think what he's eating now sounds fine.
Anyway to get a bit more variety?
In my experience, after Kitty got a bit older he was sort of self-regulating.

-Brad

 

[isamu]

Thank for the reply.

I am looking into getting some dubia's but it is a bit difficult in SA at the moment.

He does not like silkworms and eats the odd super worm.
He goes mad for the soldier flies, but will not eat the grubs.

I think I am sitting with a picky eater.

I can possibly get some grass hoppers / locusts - are they a good feeder?

Sorry Brad, what do mean by self regulating?

Leanne

 

[Brad Ramsey]

What I meant was that at a certain age my cham slowed down as far as how much he was eating and now seems to eat only what he needs.
If you have a girl (i think so??) You may want to moniter her diet a little more carefully as the abundance of food can trigger egg-production.
You would start to consider this at maybe 5 or 6 months of age.
Once she hits that age 2 or 3 well gutloaded feeders every other day would (I think) be fine.
My male veiled is approaching 11 months old and never eats more than 3 items in a day and often skips a day.
He is very healthy and well filled out and has been eating this way since he was about 6 months old.

-Brad

Edit: Just re-read the posts....You have a boy, I say: let him eat what he wants.

 

[isamu]

Thanks Brad.
We have a male - he has the tarsal spurs.
He seems to be slowing down and some days he only want a few items, such as maybe 3 or four, but the next day he goes to 10 again.

So you think this is normal behavior?

Also, do any of you think grass hoppers are a good feeder?

Thanks again

 

[Tygerr]

Grasshoppers/locusts are a great food item. They are said to be the natural prey of Veiled chameleons in their native habitats in the Middle East.

In SA, you'll have to catch them in the wild of course, but after the first summer rains arrive (and that shouldn't be too far away, given how nicely the temperatures have increased this week) there will be tons of them to catch in the veld.

Like with any WC food items though, you have to be careful of parasites that the insects might have picked up in the wild, but the general school of thought is that provided you can be sure you're collecting the insects from a place that is completely pesticide free, the benefits of a diverse WC insect diet outweigh the risks of parasite. Just be sure to monitor your cham's health and progress closely after feeding WC insects.

My Veiled loved the bright green grasshoppers and katydids that are quite abundant in Gauteng during summer.

 

[booshified]

i was told to avoid anything with a hard shell. this can include some grasshoppers.

anyone confirm this?

 

[Smitty]

Hard shells can be difficult to digest and cause compaction. I would think it would really depend on how "hard" the shell is. For instance, some people would say that meal worms have shells that are too hard and can cause this, so you only want to feed them to chams every so often as a treat, and not a staple diet item.