health improving, but how long to fatten-up skinny legs?

[donnak0125]

I'd written here before about the poor health & illness of my new adult male veiled cham "Romeo". He's had some health issues for which I took him to the vet for a emergency visit/check-up 4 days after I got him. He's finally healthy and normal now. I've only had him a month and have watched and nursed him carefully to regain his health. I was wondering how long it might take to fatten him up?
I was not able to find out his age, but his cask is tall and hard and I was told he had mated with a female before. He looks much skinnier (esp. his legs), than the other males I have seen posted and his legs are skinnier than the female cham I use to have. His legs are very long and skinny (the vet didn't say anything about his skinny legs).
He eats very well now that he is healthy, but I don't know if he is going to gain weight and thicken those thighs or not. I weigh him regularly and because he was dehydrated when I got him plus ill he of course weighs much more now. He seems to be staying at the same weight +/- two or three grams but not getting more plump. Is it possible that he is normal and just slim by nature/genetics, or does it take a while to fatten one up (his crickets get proper gut load mixture, a recipe I got here on forums, plus cham gets all the vitamin recommendations suggested by senior members here)? Now that he's healthy he can eat a lot; I started feeding him 10 to 15 crix a day in last 10 days or so, a slow increase as his appetite got better. What do you all think?

 

[donnak0125]

Any ideas somebody?

 

[pssh]

Need pics.

His legs SHOULD NOT be fat. You do not want his legs to be too thick.

 

[kinyonga]

Can you post a picture please?

 

[Amanda1801]

I had the same problem with my cham - but the last thing you wanna be doing is encouraging fat accumulation - by all means allow him to gain strength and build up muscle by allowing him plenty of room to move around (i also free-range my chams locusts and such to encourage him to get moving) but you really dont want fat...

 

[Alexl]

He looks much skinnier (esp. his legs), than the other males I have seen posted and his legs are skinnier than the female cham I use to have. His legs are very long and skinny (the vet didn't say anything about his skinny legs).

His leg should look skinny, because there are no fat storages. A chameleon's one and only fat pad ist the abdominal one and you can't see anything of it outside. Some months ago, I had a chameleon which seemed to look "thin" or rather restrictively fed. At necropsy I found out his abdominal fat bodies easily extended to his chest - so this animal wasn't thin at all, quite the contrary.

As long as he eats very well you can be sure he's "fat enough". In my opinion 10 to 15 crickets a day is really too much, even for a young chameleon.

 

[pssh]

There are fat pads on the casque.

 

[donnak0125]

I'll try and post a pic today. He probably hasn't been healthy long enough to get a normal thickness to his legs. How many crix should I feed him a day?

 

[Alexl]

There are fat pads on the casque.

No, there are no real fat pads as those abdominal ones. Casques contain muscles and connective tissue most of all.

 

[ataraxia]

post some pics so we can get a better idea of skinny. many chameleons on here are beefy and maybe a little overweight. in my own experiences it takes about a month of solid feeding or so to beef up a chameleon. i use silkworms, hornworms to perk the appetite up. they pig out on these.

 

[donnak0125]

post some pics so we can get a better idea of skinny. many chameleons on here are beefy and maybe a little overweight. in my own experiences it takes about a month of solid feeding or so to beef up a chameleon. i use silkworms, hornworms to perk the appetite up. they pig out on these.

Still working on getting the pic up. I am going to order those worms on the Internet. Only worms I have found are the supers or the meal worms. I think they were meal worms? They looked like the supers only smaller. Both have that crunchy/slick/segmented outer shell. I know not to give many of that type, so I rarely feed him those.

 

[donnak0125]

post some pics so we can get a better idea of skinny. many chameleons on here are beefy and maybe a little overweight. in my own experiences it takes about a month of solid feeding or so to beef up a chameleon. i use silkworms, hornworms to perk the appetite up. they pig out on these.

I think I have a good picture finally to post regarding my cham's skinny legs. I'm thinking they don't look so dreadfully skinny anymore...? You can tell me what you think. This is a picture of him in the shower while I am cleaning his enclosure. His underbelly is lighter as of yesterday; I think he's about to shed. Also mind-you, he has an old injury to his tail, looks short too (was that way when I got him). Looks as if it was chewed-on by something.

 

[jojackson]

It could just be that his body was a bit skinny before, now that its gained weight some, its legs seem disproportionately skinny. They look ok to me. Does look to be beginning a shed (lower half) and the appearance of the tail will improve some after a few sheds.
Good job with him, keep it happening!
p.s. Dont forget, regular monitoring of his weight and daily observation will keep you a step ahead of any further issues.
cheers

 

[donnak0125]

It could just be that his body was a bit skinny before, now that its gained weight some, its legs seem disproportionately skinny. They look ok to me. Does look to be beginning a shed (lower half) and the appearance of the tail will improve some after a few sheds.
Good job with him, keep it happening!
p.s. Dont forget, regular monitoring of his weight and daily observation will keep you a step ahead of any further issues.
cheers

Thanks for responding! Yes, I have been weighing him (Romeo) daily. The fancy digital scale I have was sitting around unused for last 3 years (one of many expensive gadget/toys my Dad couldn't live without, then never used ), it has now come in very handy for me. How often should I weigh him once I finish with daily medication? I only have a couple more days of antibiotics, so I won't need to handle him so much. Since Romeo doesn't "dig being held/touched" I assume, I shouldn't do it everyday?

 

[ataraxia]

Thanks for responding! Yes, I have been weighing him (Romeo) daily. The fancy digital scale I have was sitting around unused for last 3 years (one of many expensive gadget/toys my Dad couldn't live without, then never used ), it has now come in very handy for me. How often should I weigh him once I finish with daily medication? I only have a couple more days of antibiotics, so I won't need to handle him so much. Since Romeo doesn't "dig being held/touched" I assume, I shouldn't do it everyday?

personally i would just weigh him once a month. he looks good man. honestly feed the guy silkworms and hornworms till he cant eat no more and he will have thick legs soon enough.

 

[donnak0125]

personally i would just weigh him once a month. he looks good man. honestly feed the guy silkworms and hornworms and he will have thick legs soon enough.

Cool, thanks!