how much to feed?

[armando]

Hi everyone..
My male veiled chameleon seems to be going down on the amount of preys he is eating...
I give him crickets (gutloaded with dry recipe and wet from sandrachameleon)
he also gets grasshoppers, locusts, dragonflies, and sometimes one superworm.

He is around 5 months old... and he was eating like crazy about 3 weeks ago... (around 20+ insects per day)
Now he has reduced to 7-8 per day...
Temperature is fine, he is getting natural sunlight, uv, basking spot, and all the supplements the way it should be... everyday plain calcium, and I alternate between reptivite, d3 and calcium plus every sunday.

How much should he be eating at this age?
Should I feed him just once? (in the morning?)
oor... Should I feed him two times at day?

Why doesnt he eats like he used to?

Thanks a lot for your time, and help =)

 

[Lathelia]

The older they get the less they eat (not talking about adults of course). I think once a day is ok, don't feed in late afternoons or evening, cause they may not have enough time to digest.

 

[Alexl]

don't feed in late afternoons or evening, cause they may not have enough time to digest.

Don't know who invented this idea, but reptiles need some days to digest, not hours as mammals do. So they will often have full stomach and gut at night (which means it's cold outside, so their metabolism slows down). Without problems.

Take a look at this thread for feeding amount. 20 insects a day is lot too much and your chameleon's just full, that's the reason why he won't eat such a lot anymore. A healthy (not overfed) chameleon's always hungry.

 

[Lathelia]

Don't know who invented this idea, but reptiles need some days to digest, not hours as mammals do. So they will often have full stomach and gut at night (which means it's cold outside, so their metabolism slows down). Without problems.

Really? I heard many people say that when their cham eats in the evening its poop looks "undigested"

 

[Alexl]

Yes, there are several studies ongoing up to date about reptile's digestion. All reptiles need days to digest and temperatures only fasten or slowen the process (some even need weeks, e.g. several snakes). But they won't digest anything like mammals in some hours. Undigested feces might happen due to malabsorption, but there are a lot possible causes for this (e.g. inflammation due to parasites, dysbacteria, overfeeding, bad feeders, no place to warm up to favorite temperature...).

 

[Lathelia]

Yes, there are several studies ongoing up to date about reptile's digestion. All reptiles need days to digest and temperatures only fasten or slowen the process (some even need weeks, e.g. several snakes). But they won't digest anything like mammals in some hours. Undigested feces might happen due to malabsorption, but there are a lot possible causes for this (e.g. inflammation due to parasites, dysbacteria, overfeeding, bad feeders, no place to warm up to favorite temperature...).

That's intresting, thank for the info. So why most people recommend feeding in the mornings? Is there any difference?

 

[Alexl]

I don't see a big difference. It's more natural to feed not always the same time, too. As I said, I don't know who invented the idea, so you might ask someone else. It wasn't me . You can test digestion times with indigestible colours put on the feeders. It's a very interesting topic, I hope there will be more work done about it in future.

 

[Lathelia]

I don't see a big difference. It's more natural to feed not always the same time, too. As I said, I don't know who invented the idea, so you might ask someone else. It wasn't me . You can test digestion times with indigestible colours put on the feeders. It's a very interesting topic, I hope there will be more work done about it in future.

Ok, thanks. I feel stupid giving people advice that wasn't beneficial at all, lol
But I'm still curious about this topic..

 

[Figeretta]

Its funny all my chams face down on their branches when they are "hunting" and it is usually in the morning. They are thirstyist at 4 in the afternon. When I got my female veiled she was about 9 mo old and was eating 4-7 med crickets a day dusted 3 x a week and gut loaded with a store bought gut load. She is about 15 months old now, and I was giving her about 8 meds and larges, crickets a day and a couple meal worms , she had a first clutch of eggs the 9th of sept that was huge! 60 eggs. I have read that large clutches of eggs like that are partly due to OVER feeding. She is again filling up with eggs and i have cut her crickets to about 6 larges a day, 2-3 worms maybe 4 times a week and every other day some fresh romaine or green leaf.
If you are feeding a young cham 20 crickets ( or worms) a day OMG I cant imagine what he is doing with them!! I am pretty new at this too , this is just my experiences, but if he has cut down on his intake I would say that is a good thing........I know mine is a female but there shouldnt be THAT much difference I wouldnt think.