How much should he eat?

[ICu35]

I have a 9 Month old veiled he has been a very picky eater lately and refuses to eat crickets. he has been eating about 2 to 3 worms daily We feed Silks and horns primarily with suppers and the occasional butter worm and on rare occasions wax and meals, we have tried repti-worms but he hasn't eaten any yet., is 2 to 3 worms daily enough to sustain him, he hasn't lost any weight and hes been eating like this for a month now.


Chameleon Info:
Chameleon - veiled, male, (named Rococo) bought from pet store 4 months ago currently 9 months old from my best guess
Handling - When we clean And also maybe once every 3 days or so if he is willing to cooperate
Feeding- we Are feeding several super worms, horn worms as staples (he used to eat crickets but no longer wants to touch them), and the occasional butter worm and wax worm and meal worm.
Supplements - we give him a multi-vitamin 2x a month repti-Cal with D3 2x a month and a light dusting of calcium w/o D3 with every meal.
Watering - we have a little driper going day long and also mist anywhere between 4 and 6 times a day to keep humidity above the 55% range
Fecal Description - Urine is white and fecal mater looks normal dark brown little logs.

Cage Info
Cage Type - Repti-breeze 24"x24"x48"
Lighting - he has 5.0 reptisun linear, he also has a 100 watt sun glo lamp for his basking spot and a 65 watt bulb for extra light and to maintain ambient temp, lights go on by timer light on at 7:30am off by 7:45
Temperature - Basking spot is about 91.6F to 93.7F Ambient cage tempt 74F to 85F mattering where in cage very bottom of cage is 73F night time tempt doesn't drop below 70F
Humidity - isn't really an issue with the live plant he has in there now, it stay at around 50% to 65% misting with spray bottle at least 3x daily and dripper
Plants - A large Schefflera arboricola bought from Lowes and washed well to rid it of any possible toxins and smooth stones placed on soil to prevent ingestion of soil. he Also has lots off vines bought from the local pet store as well as plastic vegetation.
Placement - in bedroom on a 2 foot tall table, eye level, moderate foot traffic in area we try to give him as much peace a quite as possible
Location - Central Michigan
picture:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=9318&c=3&userid=14295

 

[carol5208]

Sounds like the same situation I am in! My cham quit eating crickets atleast six months ago. I reintroduce them every so often but he still refuses! He basically eats a variety of worms also and some flies and moths that hatch from the worms when they are available. Many members recommend feeding every other day at around 9-months to a year. My breeder's suggestion was at about 13 months to cut back to every other day. So everyone has their own opinions about this. My cham is 16 months old and I feed him pretty much every other day about 6 feeders. So if you are feeding everyday and are feeding 3 feeders that is like 6 feeders every other day I guess! The key is not to overfeed. I would feed a few more feeders at 9 months and feed daily but that is just my personal opinion.

 

[jannb]

I can't see your picture but unless he's small for his age I would only offer food every other day. I would cut back a tad on the calcuim if you are gutloading well (you didn't mention your gut load). I lightly dust with plain calcium at every other feeding and my adult male veiled bask at 89.

Have you had a fecal before?

 

[ICu35]

Honestly i am guessing that he is 9 months old he could be a tad younger im worried that he isn't eating enough, he has tarsals so i assume he is a male

this is a picture of him:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=9318&c=3&userid=14295

 

[ICu35]

we are mainly feeding silks and horns which i believe don't require gut loading, the suppers are gut loaded with leafy greens (kale what ever we have lying around) sweet potatoes and carrots we also use enriched baby food cereal (barley) for its higher calcium content as substrate. we have tried to lower his basking temp..and he doesn't seem to like it he turns really dark and basks for much longer periods

ive also tried to feed him more the 3 feeders a day but he doesn't seem to want to eat more. but he is eating fairly large horn worms (largest being 2 inch) and silks.

 

[Cham Crazy]

thats how my male veiled cham has been acting. Where do you buy your silkworms and hornworms.

~~1.0 Veiled Chameleon

 

[ICu35]

i get my worms from mulberry farms there a sponsor of the forum. i don't know of a lot of other sites that sell both horn-worms and silks for a good price, so if anyone has a site that they can Recommend i would be grateful

 

[icegecko]

CoastalSilkworms.com is good for silks (black, zebra, regular white) and greatlakeshornworms.com for hornworms.

 

[jojackson]

I would only offer food every other day.

I agree. What does your animal weigh? I suggest weighing him once a month and keeping notes,
This will give you a better idea whats aceptable to give you steady slow weight gain and no loss.