I was just thinking

[Mr. J hahaha]

So I was just thinking about feeding. In the reef keeping hobby we feed multiple time a day of course in smaller amounts. Doing this keeps the fish and other inhabitants healthy and feeling more like in the wild. If you think about it fish and yes even chameleons don’t eat food all in one sitting in the wild. So why do we feed them only once a day in such a big amount. I’m thinking would it be more beneficial for them to be fed a few times through out the day but in smaller amounts. Like say if you feed 8 roaches a day split it up into 2-3 feedings. I feel like this would get our babies more active through out the day and they will feel more like they are in the wild. I will be trying this method out myself and giving feed back on here. Please feel free to chime in as well.

 

[andrearamirezo91]

I never thought of it that way but I always feed him twice a day. Early in the morning and around 5 when I get back from work. It kind of makes sense but I don’t know enough about chameleons yet to really give an informed opinion lol. Regardless sometimes people will dump a bunch of crickets in there and the chameleon won’t find them till later. I wonder if it makes a difference.

 

[blue_cham]

I have heard of people doing two feedings, but I'm guessing there are a fare number of people that would not be able to do more feedings do to their schedules. So it may have evolved from convenience? Or is simpler? I personally do any cup or hand feeding in am, and release the crickets for free feed. The boys will hunt them throughout the day

 

[jamest0o0]

I've thought about this too considering chameleons are opportunistic and would seem to snack throughout the day. The reason people feed early though is to allow the day's heat to aid in digestion.

 

[Curlytails]

So I was just thinking about feeding. In the reef keeping hobby we feed multiple time a day of course in smaller amounts. Doing this keeps the fish and other inhabitants healthy and feeling more like in the wild. If you think about it fish and yes even chameleons don’t eat food all in one sitting in the wild. So why do we feed them only once a day in such a big amount. I’m thinking would it be more beneficial for them to be fed a few times through out the day but in smaller amounts. Like say if you feed 8 roaches a day split it up into 2-3 feedings. I feel like this would get our babies more active through out the day and they will feel more like they are in the wild. I will be trying this method out myself and giving feed back on here. Please feel free to chime in as well.

this will be good for natural instinct as they are opportunistic hunters. if they see food they eat it. they dont sit down for a daily meal. thats why i vary my feeding times each day. havent had any problems

 

[Mr. J hahaha]

I've thought about this too considering chameleons are opportunistic and would seem to snack throughout the day. The reason people feed early though is to allow the day's heat to aid in digestion.

I agree as well. But if you think about it Chams in the wild eat all day long and even sometimes before they end up going to sleep. So does it really matter the times they eat? Well of course it would matter because we choose to feed them 8-10 feeders in one sitting. If we did that before bed time to our selves we would end up being huge and having stomach issues as well eventually. I think if they eat twice a day but in smaller amounts they would be more on the hunt al the time. They wouldn’t need to digest such a large amount of feeder at one time which would help with digestion. Don’t get me wrong I’m not trying to say what we are doing now is wrong and we shouldn’t be doing it but I’m just wondering if doing it this way would benefit them more.

 

[Mr. J hahaha]

this will be good for natural instinct as they are opportunistic hunters. if they see food they eat it. they dont sit down for a daily meal. thats why i vary my feeding times each day. havent had any problems

I’m not mean it as what we are doing no is a problem. When I had saltwater reefs when I first started I use to feed once a day. Then as I got more experience and myself and a few other marine biologists sat down one day and started talking about how we only feed once a day and how it’s not natural at all. So we did an experiment to see what would happen to our fish, coral, and inverts. We seen the fish got brighter in colors, less diseases happening, they would breed easyer, and ha e healthyer clutches. Coral grew faster, got brighter colors, and was just healthyer overall. The inverts was the same as the other. I just started thinking about the same thing for our Chams is all.

 

[jamest0o0]

Interesting about the reefs. I come from a SW background too and hope to get back into it one day.

As for the digestion, I totally agree with that. I really don't think it's a problem for your cham to have a snack closer to lights out. I tend to feed my chams throughout the day, but their largest meal is in the morning. I also only feed every other day or so. Sometimes they won't eat for several days, sometimes they seem to never stop. My enclosures have insects everywhere all the time, I'm sure they grab stuff right before lights out pretty often or whenever else they feel like it.