New baby Cham

[Ronandex317]

Hey everyone!
So I have a 3-5 month veiled whom I've had for 2 1/2 weeks now. So far I've only fed him crickets and meal worms but I heard mealworms aren't very good for him. Today I got super worms (much larger than I expected) and flightless fruit flies. I was worried the super worms were too big for him till he gobbled one down and promptly went to sleep (had just turned the lights off)

So my question is what other feeders should I get Leo being as Wong as he is? I'm not sure how useful the fruit flies are but I thought they were worth a try for variety.

Also, what fruits would be a good idea. Planning on giving him some banana tomorrow.

For a little added info; I let him hunt all the crickets he wants by putting around 20 in at a time. I leave some orange cubes on the floor of the cage for them to eat. Is that safe?? Then I have a feeding bowl where I have put worms. Ran out of live meal worms and have a stash of freeze dried ones as emergency. Have those in his bowl if he needs them. Then today I put 2 super worms in and Leo imideatly ate one.
Is that a decent idea? Hunting crickets and steady supply of worms in the bowl? Then, should I have some sort of feed for the worms while they are in the bowl?

I dust everything before feeding.

Any input and advice would be very much so appreciated thank you!

 

[Andee]

There doesn't need to be a constant source of food, he will get extremely fat even as a baby. A couple super worms a day and around 15 crickets is a good meal for a 3 month old. There are tons of other feeders to try, larger farm raised flies can be found on websites, different types of worms such as silkworms and hornworms can also be found on the Internet, better crickets, mantids, stick insects, roaches, etc

 

[Ronandex317]

There doesn't need to be a constant source of food, he will get extremely fat even as a baby. A couple super worms a day and around 15 crickets is a good meal for a 3 month old. There are tons of other feeders to try, larger farm raised flies can be found on websites, different types of worms such as silkworms and hornworms can also be found on the Internet, better crickets, mantids, stick insects, roaches, etc

Thank you very much. I had heard that there should be a constant supply of food in their cage, but it was by the pet store people who also had the bottom of the cage all uncovered dirt. (I do have dirt, covered in moss for humidity, that I will take out tomorrow when I'm getting my pathos plant)
He doesn't eat all of the crickets and worms, but I'll cut back a bit.

Typically he eats about 3-5 meal worms. I'll update in my super worms. And probably around 10 crickets daily. Leaving the rest for the following days

 

[Andee]

You should only put as much food in there as he will eat, that means if you are sure he will eat 10 crickets then do that and add a few superiors for him to round off. You said you are taking both the dirt and the Moss out? That is what is needed to be done. Moss and dirt aren't safe for chameleons.

 

[Paulycham]

Don't feed him meal worms...

 

[rminnis]

My top feeders ive used are by ease of care, cost, health to chams----Most important thing is dont get to set on any 1 feeder they need a variety in addition to correct dusting.

1) Banded Crickets (from RainbowMealWorms) or many other places
2) Superworms real cheap extremely easy to care for and can easily be colonized and raised easy
3) Silkworms (expense and harder to care for) but a great feeder often not available
4) Dubai roachs/or other roachs
ease to care for great feeder
5) flies
6)Hornworms like silkworms they need special food and housing and care
6) Butterworms, wax worms, mealworms
only should be used as rare treats

 

[Ronandex317]

My top feeders ive used are by ease of care, cost, health to chams----Most important thing is dont get to set on any 1 feeder they need a variety in addition to correct dusting.

1) Banded Crickets (from RainbowMealWorms) or many other places
2) Superworms real cheap extremely easy to care for and can easily be colonized and raised easy
3) Silkworms (expense and harder to care for) but a great feeder often not available
4) Dubai roachs/or other roachs
ease to care for great feeder
5) flies
6)Hornworms like silkworms they need special food and housing and care
6) Butterworms, wax worms, mealworms
only should be used as rare treats

Thank you very much. This is extremely helpful! He's small but really liked the super worms! I'll take a look at that website you posted for those crickets over my local pet store (mostly for larger amounts for longer but loading).
Thank you

 

[Chameleomom]

I leave some orange cubes on the floor of the cage for them to eat. Is that safe??

No that is not safe for the chameleon, They might shoot it with their tongue and ingest it. The Flukers orange cube ARE NOT a good gut load for the crickets.either. Try Cricket Crack or Bug Burger with some kale & carrots

 

[Ronandex317]

No that is not safe for the chameleon, They might shoot it with their tongue and ingest it. The Flukers orange cube ARE NOT a good gut load for the crickets.either. Try Cricket Crack or Bug Burger with some kale & carrots

I'll remove them imidiately. Also thank you. I'll look for those brands instead. I have been dusting them with Vitamins and calcium so I hope that helps cover what fluckers has been missing. Not sure if it helps but I've given the crickets banana the past couple days to help. Thank you very much

 

[VincentChameleon]

What size crickets are you using? At that age, they should still be fairly small...1/4-1/2" at very most depending on the width of your cham's head. That being said, my girl responded best to cup feeding when she was little. I would feed her as many (gutloaded and dusted) crickets as she would eat in one sitting (usually 5-6) and I'd also give her flightless fruit flies and soldier fly larvae. You might also look into hornworms, but make sure you order small ones...my girl was rather traumatized by the larger ones. I'd stay away from meal worms until he's larger as those can cause major impactions and provide little to no nutritional value. My girl loves strawberries and melons most, but it's all about trying different things and providing them with a good variety!