how do i feed my cham fruit and vegetables
- Thread starter pedro92
- Start date
royden
New Member
sorry, no pics for you.
I always wondered this too. I recently placed slices of pear on a leaf near Otto's basking spot and he recognized the 'foreign' object and quickly ate it after I was out of view. I tried to stimulate before hand by rubbing the pear on his mouth a bit. I'm not sure whether that played a part or not. I've fed him blueberry's and pears this way, but when I do the same thing with collard greens he totally ignores them.
I should also note that Otto eats free roaming crickets. I don't use a feeding dish.
I would also not recommend blueberrys at this point. He had some strange behaviour after eating the blueberry. Just some strange swallowing, and head tilting stuff. Maybe it was too big or something.
good luck!
I always wondered this too. I recently placed slices of pear on a leaf near Otto's basking spot and he recognized the 'foreign' object and quickly ate it after I was out of view. I tried to stimulate before hand by rubbing the pear on his mouth a bit. I'm not sure whether that played a part or not. I've fed him blueberry's and pears this way, but when I do the same thing with collard greens he totally ignores them.
I should also note that Otto eats free roaming crickets. I don't use a feeding dish.
I would also not recommend blueberrys at this point. He had some strange behaviour after eating the blueberry. Just some strange swallowing, and head tilting stuff. Maybe it was too big or something.
good luck!
Chill
New Member
My veiled eats alot of vegetable, not so many fruits. At first i had to chop up romaine and he would eat it. i would jus leave it in a bowl in his cage and throw some flowers from my yard in it he would eat those too. Now i can just put a whole leaf near the cricket tub and he tears it up.
royden
New Member
pedro,
do a search on 'dusting' and you'll find plenty of information.
crickets are high in phosphorous, so if you're feeding crickets make sure you dust with a phosphorous free calcium. Calcium with D3 is also important, and many keepers here also use miner-all.
The search function here is great so use it! It'll save you from frustrating unanswered threads. They go unanswered because the information is already right at your fingertips!Just click search!
good luck!
do a search on 'dusting' and you'll find plenty of information.
crickets are high in phosphorous, so if you're feeding crickets make sure you dust with a phosphorous free calcium. Calcium with D3 is also important, and many keepers here also use miner-all.
The search function here is great so use it! It'll save you from frustrating unanswered threads. They go unanswered because the information is already right at your fingertips!Just click search!
good luck!
ChameleonsTree
New Member
They arent supposed to be eating fruit. Occasionally they will eat the leaves on the plant you put in the cage.
Feeder insects usually have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous, so dusting them with a phos.-free calcium powder helps to make up for this. For my veileds I dust with this at most feedings.
I dust with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A twice a month. Vitamin A from beta carotene sources can not build up in the system, but those from preformed sources can. However, there is controversy about whether all chameleons can convert beta carotene into vitamin A, so it may be necessary to provide a little preformed from time to time. Excess preformed vitamin A can build up in the system and prevent the D3 from doing its job...and lead to MBD.
Because my chameleons usually only get UVB from artificial light, I dust lightly with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder. Excess D3 from SUPPLEMENTS can also build up in the system and lead to problems....but not enough will mean that not enough calcium can be absorbed...so you need to reach a balance. If a chameleon gets its UVB from direct sunlight, then it won't likely be necessary to give it any D3 supplement.
Appropriate basking temperatures are important for good digestion which plays a part in nutrient absorption.
Phosphorous, calcium, D3 and vitamin A are four of the big players in bone health (and they play other parts in the body too)...so they must be kept in balance. Its important to look not only at what the insects contain, but at what supplements you are using and what you feed to the insects and gutload them with.
Keeping them the way I do, my female veileds usually live to 6+ years of age and the males live even longer.
As far as feeding them fruit goes...I give mine a little with the greens and veggies and it hasn't seemed to cause any problems.
I dust with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A twice a month. Vitamin A from beta carotene sources can not build up in the system, but those from preformed sources can. However, there is controversy about whether all chameleons can convert beta carotene into vitamin A, so it may be necessary to provide a little preformed from time to time. Excess preformed vitamin A can build up in the system and prevent the D3 from doing its job...and lead to MBD.
Because my chameleons usually only get UVB from artificial light, I dust lightly with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder. Excess D3 from SUPPLEMENTS can also build up in the system and lead to problems....but not enough will mean that not enough calcium can be absorbed...so you need to reach a balance. If a chameleon gets its UVB from direct sunlight, then it won't likely be necessary to give it any D3 supplement.
Appropriate basking temperatures are important for good digestion which plays a part in nutrient absorption.
Phosphorous, calcium, D3 and vitamin A are four of the big players in bone health (and they play other parts in the body too)...so they must be kept in balance. Its important to look not only at what the insects contain, but at what supplements you are using and what you feed to the insects and gutload them with.
Keeping them the way I do, my female veileds usually live to 6+ years of age and the males live even longer.
As far as feeding them fruit goes...I give mine a little with the greens and veggies and it hasn't seemed to cause any problems.
davemailcall
New Member
I've also heard that the older a cham gets, the more fruits and veggies you should add to their diet. So they can't be all that bad.
You said..."I've heard of feeding your crickets carrots. It has a beta-carotine in them and the crickets can process the vitamin A. so when your cham eats them the vitamin is already broken down and they can digest it"...if chameleons can not convert beta carotene (and I can't find any articles to prove/disprove it) then they have to get preformed vitamin A from the insects (or supplements) that they ingest. So if they can't convert beta carotene, the question becomes...do insects have enough preformed in their system and/or can they convert beta carotene.
I have been trying to find studies that indicate how much vitamin A is in an insect....but its hard to find because you have to look up each insect separately....and that's time consuming.
Some insects have been tested and no vitamin A has been found in their bodies except for the head/eyes. (It seems to be required for their vision.)
Some cockroaches need no vitamin A or carotene to survive (that doesn't meant that there is none in them). Insects with red or yellow pigments may have/likely have carotenoids/vitamin A....but some of them are toxic and not eaten. However there are studies that have proven that spiders have vitamin A in them... http://apt.allenpress.com/perlserv/...&issn=0098-4590&volume=066&issue=02&page=0084
Here are some sites that talk about vitamin A in insects...
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v192/n4805/abs/192874a0.html
http://www.nd.edu/~biology/reu/faculty.html
"In insects, vitamin A is used only in vision where it serves the role of the chromophore for all the visual pigments."
So...since I cannot prove that chameleons can convert beta carotene....and I can't find enough information on how much preformed vitamin A an insect contains or whether they can convert beta carotene or even how much vitamin A a chameleon really needs....I include in my statement that "disclaimer" about the possible need for preformed vitamin A.
I have been trying to find studies that indicate how much vitamin A is in an insect....but its hard to find because you have to look up each insect separately....and that's time consuming.
Some insects have been tested and no vitamin A has been found in their bodies except for the head/eyes. (It seems to be required for their vision.)
Some cockroaches need no vitamin A or carotene to survive (that doesn't meant that there is none in them). Insects with red or yellow pigments may have/likely have carotenoids/vitamin A....but some of them are toxic and not eaten. However there are studies that have proven that spiders have vitamin A in them... http://apt.allenpress.com/perlserv/...&issn=0098-4590&volume=066&issue=02&page=0084
Here are some sites that talk about vitamin A in insects...
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v192/n4805/abs/192874a0.html
http://www.nd.edu/~biology/reu/faculty.html
"In insects, vitamin A is used only in vision where it serves the role of the chromophore for all the visual pigments."
So...since I cannot prove that chameleons can convert beta carotene....and I can't find enough information on how much preformed vitamin A an insect contains or whether they can convert beta carotene or even how much vitamin A a chameleon really needs....I include in my statement that "disclaimer" about the possible need for preformed vitamin A.
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