How long to fully swallow?

[tkurt]

Hey,
So I got my first Jackson the other day.
I wanted to give him some time to adjust to the new surroundings so the first day I offered him one dubia roach and he ate it. The next day he didn't want to take another one so I gave him a super worm and he ate it. Today I wanted to start feeding him a few roaches. So I offered him a roach and he took it but this one is taking him a while to eat. Should I be concerned? Maybe it was slightly too big for him? I'm pretty sure he is only a month or two old. Thanks for any input.

 

[Carlton]

Hey,
So I got my first Jackson the other day.
I wanted to give him some time to adjust to the new surroundings so the first day I offered him one dubia roach and he ate it. The next day he didn't want to take another one so I gave him a super worm and he ate it. Today I wanted to start feeding him a few roaches. So I offered him a roach and he took it but this one is taking him a while to eat. Should I be concerned? Maybe it was slightly too big for him? I'm pretty sure he is only a month or two old. Thanks for any input.

Not quite sure I understand. Is he catching the roach and holding it in his mouth for a while before swallowing? Or, is he struggling to get it down his throat completely?

If he's holding it in his mouth, that's common. Many chams hold a live feeder in their mouths for a while...maybe until it stops moving.

He shouldn't be offered feeders that are larger than the width of his head between the eyes. For a baby be conservative and go smaller. It is easier for them to digest more small feeders than fewer large ones.

 

[LLLReptile]

As mentioned by Carlton, it's not unusual for them to hold a feeder in their mouth before swallowing.

You may want to go a bit smaller on feeders, but the chameleon will kind of let you know they don't want something bigger after they have a problem with a large prey item - they just won't go for big stuff if they're not hungry enough.

-Jen