He's eating EVERYTHING

[Kennaree]

So my male 4 month old Veiled Chameleon is trying to eat everything he lays eyes on. Just yesterday he managed to chew on a bracelet, an eraser, cough drop wrapper, a frito, a sock, a blanket, and anything hidden in the carpet he happened to see. Is there something wrong with him or is this just something that some chameleons do? I guess the real question is, should I be worried?

 

[sandrachameleon]

they do like to eat. give him as much as he can eat within about 5 mintues, 2-3 times a day.

but why would he have access to "bracelet, an eraser, cough drop wrapper, a frito, a sock, a blanket, and anything hidden in the carpet" ? is he not in a cage? if not, you need to keep stuff away from him.

If its any interest to you, I kept a log of what my young veiled ate each day for a couple months: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/818-young-veiled-prey-intake-july-2013.html

 

[Kennaree]

I take him out pretty often and let him roam around my room, he loves to climb my walls and stalk around my floor. I keep an eye on him the entire time, but he seems to be interested in flicking his tongue at everything he possibly can and chewing on it if he can pull if back to his mouth or will approach it and he bites it. He eats well, he gets pretty much all the crickets he wants per day. Also he refuses to eat any fruits or veggies. I give the crickets everything he needs, but he loves to chew on everything else!

 

[Tyaeda]

If he eats something small like dirt, or "anything in the carpet" he could get impacted which could kill him. I know he likes to roam around, but he's much safer inside his enclosure.

 

[armando]

I would avoid letting him get close to all those kinds of objects, just like Tyaeda says, he could get impacted and die...
Maybe try to offer more food, and also more food options, not just crickets...
I give my veiled cham:
dubia roaches, locusts, grasshoppers, isopods, superworms, crickets, lobster roaches, dragon flys, moths...
My veiled ate A LOT when he was that age... I used to feed him 3 times at day, as much as he would eat from month 2 to to month 5...
and he started to reduce food intake, so I started feeding 2 times at day.
When he got 8 months old, he reduced his food intake once more, so I started to feed just in the morning.
Also, make sure you are gutloading well your insects...

 

[Kennaree]

If he eats something small like dirt, or "anything in the carpet" he could get impacted which could kill him. I know he likes to roam around, but he's much safer inside his enclosure.

Thank you! good to know! I'm a first time owner, and I live in a place where reptiles aren't well known, so I don't get much advice from anywhere but you guys on this site. I'll be sure to keep him off the carpet. I do like to let him out, he climbs to the door and tries to get out every time I open his enclosure. He loves climbing about, I'll just keep a closer eye on him. I can usually tell when he's about to flick his tongue.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I agree that a variety of prey is important. You don't want any single type of prey to make up more than 40% of the chameleons diet. so its okay if crickets are frequently offered, but add in lots of other choices too!

 

[Kennaree]

thing is, I have offered all sorts of prey, he just refuses them. I put meal worms in a couple times and every time he just stared at them and hissed until I took them out of his cage. I haven't found any other bug he likes eating.

 

[Kennaree]

Is there anywhere to order those insects? I live in a small town in Wyoming, so there is only one pet store that sells only crickets and meal worms.

 

[armando]

Im not from USA, but you can try one of our sponsors... you can look around them and see wich one would work best for you...
I wouldnt let him go outside the cage if you dont have a proper free range set.
Chameleons stress out if handled often... and you dont want that...
have you seen the forum caresheet?
this is it: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
it includes almost everything you need to know, if not everything.


sponsor list: https://www.chameleonforums.com/index.php?page=sponsors

 

[Tyaeda]

Do you hand feed him? If not, maybe you can try to get him used to that.

 

[junglefries]

addiction

All my veils when younger ate nonstop. One day they are babies and the next day 110g small dogs. Watch their intake, & as lot of users have advised: variety is the key to health. Try mantis, silkworms, superworms ($Cheap$), hornedworms. All which should be quickly gobbled up. Those can be ordered easily also.