general feeding of male veiled

[Stacey5089]

So my male veiled(5-6 months old) dosent seem to eat alot i think he should be eating alot more and lately he had gone of his crickets but hes been eating about 3 crickets aday and a fea morio worms he would eat locust all day if i let him and im just wondering how much he should be eating at this age??

 

[nightanole]

You cant over feed a male. Just do once a day feedings as much as he will eat. By 18 months he will be down to only wanting to eat every other or 3rd day. Some switch to non daily earlier than others.

 

[Stacey5089]

But hes only eating a few crickets and hes still growing so surely its not enough fir him to have 2 or 3 crickets aday?? Hes never been a big eater and ive had him since he was about 2 months old but i feel he should be eating more

 

[babyjoe]

my lad is about the same age and is feeding similarly.he eats about 4 crickets everyday and shows no interest in any more if i offer them.however i leave a dish in with a small few meal worms so if he gets hungry he will come down to eat them.he might eat from this twice a day or some days he doesnt go near it.i just figured it was as nightanole said he is switching to every second day feeding early

 

[Stacey5089]

my lad is about the same age and is feeding similarly.he eats about 4 crickets everyday and shows no interest in any more if i offer them.however i leave a dish in with a small few meal worms so if he gets hungry he will come down to eat them.he might eat from this twice a day or some days he doesnt go near it.i just figured it was as nightanole said he is switching to every second day feeding early

O so its normal theni was just thinking at this age he should be eating more, my bearded dragon is about the same age and she eats about 15 crickets aday ive just moved her on to standard size crickets and my female veiled would eat quite alot if i gave it to her aswell but i suppose alonzo just isnt a big eater

 

[babyjoe]

O so its normal theni was just thinking at this age he should be eating more, my bearded dragon is about the same age and she eats about 15 crickets aday ive just moved her on to standard size crickets and my female veiled would eat quite alot if i gave it to her aswell but i suppose alonzo just isnt a big eater

Well stacey to be honest is see about getting more advice I'm new to chameleon keeping and I'm just going on freds behaviour but he seems healthy and happy so I'm just going to go as I'm going and keep him monitored

 

[Stacey5089]

Im new aswell i have 2 veiled chameleons i got the female first about 2-3 months ago and the male a few weeks later so there my first chameleons but he does seem happy and healthy so maybe it is fine

 

[Alexl]

O so its normal theni was just thinking at this age he should be eating more

No, it is not and should not. A young healthy chameleon who doesn't want to eat anymore is full, which means overfed. Many owners make this mistake and it can shorten life of your chameleons easily. In my opinion, it's one of the most made faults in chameleon keeping. See this thread and this one to learn more about chameleon feeding and feeding amount.

my bearded dragon is about the same age and she eats about 15 crickets aday

That's crazy. Honestly, I think this poor guy will suffer from fat liver and renal damage soon if you don't stop feeding those huge amounts of feeders. Bearded dragons can even live (and very healthy) without any insects as feeders, but only green fresh food, reaching ages around 15 years. I don't want to offend you, but that's really something to think about to keep your reptiles healthy in future.

 

[Rango183]

usally a cham will eat all he can even after he full later on he would be munching

 

[Decadancin]

My boy is about 4 months old. He doesn't have the largest appetite, but certain days he will eat upwards of 18 crickets (medium to smallish). Most days he does not eat that much. I do give him some super worms here and there, but not too often. He is a little small for some of the larger foods. I wouldn't be as concerned with overfeeding unless your cham looks overweight. I disagree with the statement that a full cham is overfed. A varied diet is important, and supplements and gutloading the food is key. There are some days a chameleon just doesn't want to eat. Many have gone on hunger strikes just to make us panic! If you are still concerned, post some pictures and this group will let you know what they think!

 

[Alexl]

I wouldn't be as concerned with overfeeding unless your cham looks overweight.

That's dangerous, cause you can't really see it. If the casque's bulging and the tail's completely round, they're alread on best way to have a fat liver and renal damage. You shouldn't wait for this. You don't see the abdominal fatpad from the outside, but they grow fast by feeding without restriction. Even in a totally overfed chameleon you'll be able to see every single rib, the tip of the hips and the vertebrae. There's no fat storage at all under their skin. Only if the abdominal fat pads are so big they reach nearly heart and lungs, the fat is going to be stored inside muscles - and that's the point the organs can't cope much longer with those fat masses, too.

Remember they're cold blooded reptiles. They don't need 70% of their energy as we mammals do to keep temperature at a certain level. They can go for weeks without food, their metabolsim slows down at lower temperatures. They'll always eat as much as they can, cause in wilderness they don't know when there will be the next chance for food. A chameleon is not domesticated, so it behaves same way in captivity. We as keepers have to pay attention to those points and give them a long and healthy life, even by cut down food a lot.

Take a look at the picture. These are the abdominal fat pads of a male Chamaeleo calyptratus. They don't seem to be that huge seeing it first time, but this guy already suffered from liver and kidney disease (which was the reason for his death, too). The owner would have been able to avoid the complete situation knowing about smaller feeding amounts in chameleons before. Unfortunately, he didn't and the animal had to pay this with its life.

 

[Decadancin]

I get what you are saying, but if they will always eat all they can, why are there crickets still sitting in the cup 8 hours after I put them in? Zaphod ate a couple this morning and a few this afternoon, but he did stop. Especially at a young age, I would be more concerned with not eating enough. They are quickly developing and need the proper diet to stay healthy. Just my opinion .

 

[Stacey5089]

No, it is not and should not. A young healthy chameleon who doesn't want to eat anymore is full, which means overfed. Many owners make this mistake and it can shorten life of your chameleons easily. In my opinion, it's one of the most made faults in chameleon keeping. See this thread and this one to learn more about chameleon feeding and feeding amount.



That's crazy. Honestly, I think this poor guy will suffer from fat liver and renal damage soon if you don't stop feeding those huge amounts of feeders. Bearded dragons can even live (and very healthy) without any insects as feeders, but only green fresh food, reaching ages around 15 years. I don't want to offend you, but that's really something to think about to keep your reptiles healthy in future.

But she is still young i will be cutting bk the insects as she gets older she also eats her leaf and butternut squash everday i feed her as many insects as she will eat in about 5-10 minutes and that's what she eats

 

[Stacey5089]

No, it is not and should not. A young healthy chameleon who doesn't want to eat anymore is full, which means overfed. Many owners make this mistake and it can shorten life of your chameleons easily. In my opinion, it's one of the most made faults in chameleon keeping. See this thread and this one to learn more about chameleon feeding and feeding amount.



That's crazy. Honestly, I think this poor guy will suffer from fat liver and renal damage soon if you don't stop feeding those huge amounts of feeders. Bearded dragons can even live (and very healthy) without any insects as feeders, but only green fresh food, reaching ages around 15 years. I don't want to offend you, but that's really something to think about to keep your reptiles healthy in future.

And my chameleon is definetly not over fed he doesn't not want to eat anything either he just wants to eat what he wants to eat hes went off his crickets that's all! He would eat locusts all day so he doesn't not want to eat hes being picky