I think I became Dracos best friend today...

[Kieonii]

When I came home today I notices his face was covered in thick white. Poor guy. After I fed him, he started grabbing at his skin and scraping his face on his vines. So I stuck my hand in there and pulled what prices I could off. He stopped scraping it on the rough vine and instead started scraping his head on my finger. He couldn't be happier for a lil help. Then he came right out to me all on his own. Pretty awesome. Not to mention he LOVES meal worms. Are there any more nutritious worms for him? Mealworms are more of an occasional snack, right?

After hangin out with me a bit I let him hang out in the tree. makes me wanna leave it up all year. I told my husband we gotta get an Umbrella tree for when he's out :-D

 

[Meow Kitty]

try not to pull of the shed it can actually do more harm then good, just let him scraped it off as he pleases.
mealworms should only be occasionally and truthfully avoided in general. Silkworms are great along with Golaiths (not wild tomato ones)

 

[Chameleonsthecoolest]

I have heard pulling shed off is bad but how is it bad what harm could it do?

 

[GlassEyez]

I have heard pulling shed off is bad but how is it bad what harm could it do?

If you pull too hard you could pull of fresh skin with the dead skin that hasnt totally separated. Not the greatest explanation but it could be like pulling a scab off your knee before it is healed completely

 

[Enochlg]

its so tempting sometimes when you know you can help them, but thats a good way of explaining it. sometimes if you take a scab off to soon the skin underneath looks healthy but it'll still feel a little raw like it wasnt completely done growing.

 

[Chameleonsthecoolest]

Oh that makes sense

 

[Decadancin]

Also, if you can get super worms, they are better for your cham as an occasional treat. They contain less fat and are easier to digest. Make sure to gutload them too!

 

[DavidBuchan]

Here is a good list of alternative feeders, the mealworms and supers are both relatively high fat so not as good as the low fat and high calcium silkworms - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

 

[Kieonii]

I kinda thought it wasn't typically a good idea but it looked so painful scraping his face ( practically squishing his eyeball) he just couldn't seem to reach the part that was hangin off. Will not interfere next time. After pulling of the initial piece I just rubbed his head with my finger while he nudged his head where we wanted to be rubbed. Just like a cat. It was so cute. Thanks for the list of feeders. Super helpful. When you order feeders to they tend to last longer then the ones u buy in the pet store? I worried he liked the meal worms too much. He didnt eat at all yesterday. Snubbed the crickets. Not sure if it had Anything to do with th shedding. Does the head typically shed last/first. Any pattern. I'm thinking the rest of his body already shed before I got him. His head has had a whitish to tiny to it since I got him but no signs of it on his body.

 

[ClubFauna]

Pulling shed off, is only bad when you try to pull it off when it's not ready. Because your trying to pull off skin that still attatched to his skin which will hurt if its not ready to come off. But if it's loose, it's no problem

 

[Chachachameleon]

Everyone says stay away from meal worms but ive been giving them to mine for 3 months and he loves them. as long as you put calcium on them its a food. Super worms are better for them though, easier digested. my cousin only feeds his chameleon super worms and his is perfectly fine. i mean in the wild what if they only find worms? shit happens! lol

 

[Decadancin]

S@%T may happen, but you might want to avoid stepping in it! Its not that you can't feed them, but they are not the best feeder option. A child may like chocolate cake, but diabetes is not something I would encourage. There are risks from too much of a "good" thing. High fat content can lead to major health issues as well as impaction from the harder to digest exoskeletons. I would try to offer some better choices to avoid some hefty vet bills or worse. Just my advice .

 

[DavidBuchan]

Everyone says stay away from meal worms but ive been giving them to mine for 3 months and he loves them. as long as you put calcium on them its a food. Super worms are better for them though, easier digested. my cousin only feeds his chameleon super worms and his is perfectly fine. i mean in the wild what if they only find worms? shit happens! lol

This is not good advice, and you know it..........lol

Chances of a wild Chameleon being able to find worms but nothing else for months? Not very high. Think about how many kinds of insect there are in your garden, or the average rainforest.......

Chocolate is also a food and you won't die if that's all you eat for a while. You will get very unhealthy very quickly though. So will your cousins Chameleon if he doesn't change its diet.

 

[Kieonii]

I agree about the worms. Not a lot of options at my local pet store. Wanted to give h a treat. He only got the worms the one time, saving the rest for a treat on another day. But it def chocolate cake to him. He woulda ate all 50 (the only quantity they come in) of I let him. Just like I would eat a whole choco cake. And I'm sure he would regret it almost as much . Still not much interest in crickets though. I'm hoping he's just gonna shed the rest of his body