Fruit flies for a 2-3 month veiled

[Dantarius]

Greetings to all! Just got my 2-3 month old veiled named Fletch. I'll post a pic when I can find time to get one. He's doing ok in his enclosure, but I just had one question. I have some Hydei fruit flies and was wondering about how many should I be feeding him on a daily basis? I offer him some pinheads, but he doesn't always go after them. He eats the Hydei voraciously.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Swayne8998]

Could we see some pictures of him to determine?

 

[maxttu]

Greetings to all! Just got my 2-3 month old veiled named Fletch. I'll post a pic when I can find time to get one. He's doing ok in his enclosure, but I just had one question. I have some Hydei fruit flies and was wondering about how many should I be feeding him on a daily basis? I offer him some pinheads, but he doesn't always go after them. He eats the Hydei voraciously.

Thanks in advance!

2-3 mos old? He would eat 1000's of the ff. He should be taking down 1/4 inch crix no problem by now. Please post a pic of him so that we can guesstimate his age and better assess the matter. Thank you!

 

[JohnnyD]

Mixing in the fruit flies is not bad but he will get more out of properly gutloaded crickets, dubia, etc at that age.

 

[Dantarius]

Sorry a little out of focus...

 

[Dantarius]

Does anyone have any hints as to how to get my veiled to eat crickets? He's looking skinny to me and I'm worries... He's only eating fruit flies at the moment...I made a cricket cup thing out of an inverted bottle of rubbing alcohol and I even have a branch sitting right in front of that cricket cup... He's still not used to eating out of his cage, nor will he eat when I try to put a small cup of mini- mealworms or small crix in front of him...

Please help! Any suggestions welcomed! (FYI, his name is Fletch for the fletching on an arrow... I like archery and his eating reminds me of it.)

I'll try to post pictures tmrw morning... He's sleeping at the moment...

 

[sandrachameleon]

give him as many flies as he can eat within about 5 minutes, three times a day
are the crickets only in a cup or free-range? is the cup dark coloured?
what colour is the cup you are using for the small mealworms?
some of mine eat only from a dark coloured bowl
how many do you put in at once (too many can overwhelm)

have you tried baby silkworms? terrstrial isopods? bean wevil/beetles?

 

[Dantarius]

So here is the photo with the cricket cup. I purposefully put a vine right in front of it so that fletch can walk across and see the crickets. I keep only like 4 of them in the cup at any given time. But he walks past, looks at them and keeps walking.


So far I'm feeding him at least twice a day with as many fruit flies he can get but they jump all over the place, so I kinda just let them roam the cage. He hunts them down very voraciously but ignores the crickets... Any suggestions?

 

[Dantarius]

Oops, forgot to post pictures of him... Is he kinda skinny? Does he look dehydrated?
Sorry, having a little trouble with my forum app... Won't let me post two images in same posting...

Anyways, he walks around the enclosure relatively quickly (for a Cham) and appears to be totally alert and such...

 

[sandrachameleon]

he looks fine.
usually if they are eating fruit flies, they're eating pinheads too. Perhaps try a cricket one size up?

 

[Dantarius]

Thank you for your advice! I wasn't feeding him as often as 2-3 times a day, but I just let a huge handful of fruit flies into his enclosure to let him hunt. Oh...and I was writing this I just saw him eat his first cricket! (or at least that I know of).
Great to know he's at a decent weight! ^.^ thanks again!

 

[sandrachameleon]

Thank you for your advice! I wasn't feeding him as often as 2-3 times a day, but I just let a huge handful of fruit flies into his enclosure to let him hunt. Oh...and I was writing this I just saw him eat his first cricket! (or at least that I know of).
Great to know he's at a decent weight! ^.^ thanks again!

dont forget to calcium dust those flies, at least some of them
and gutload the pinheads

 

[Dantarius]

What's the best/easier way to dust the fruit flies?

I have them in their original container (which i bought from a reptile show) , that looks like an enlarged deli cup with a cotton soft gauze under the lid that also has holes drilled in it. They are growing and pupating on the bluish gel that I assume is also gut loading them. I have mostly just been dumping them in the enclosure, as they start crawling upwards in a huge swarm the instant I open the lid.

 

[sandrachameleon]

that blue medium will not provide nutrition. Its likely largely potatoe flakes and a mold inhibitor.

Put a little supplement dust into a container - not a lot, just a little.
Tap / dump some fruit flies into this container.
recover the fly culture quickly then tap down / swirl the container with the flies and supplement to lightly coat them
(if you are not fast yet dealing with fruit flies, you might want to do all this inside the enclosure).
tap out the now dusted flies (or let them crawl out)

Have you offered bean beetles? Terrestrial isopods? Little silkworms?
Its good to get some variety into your chameleon.

 

[sandrachameleon]

you might want to start another fly culture, if you havent already.
DIY Fruitfly Culture
Fruit Fly Culturing
Drosophilia hyde (fruit flys)
http://www.dendroworld.co.uk/BDGarch...ruitflies.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/bocajan/643-fruit-fly-medium-you-can-count.html

 

[bsidesyesmaybe42]

i have been having the same problem with my jackson, before i got some fruit flies she would eat the aphids off the hibiscus and ignore the pin heads. She (i think its a she)is 3.2 inch vent to snout.