Over eating

camshaft

camshaft

New Member
Will panther chameleons over eat? I give my 6 month old about 8-10 large (not adult) crickets in the morning and usually a snack of a hornworm, superworm, or a few crickets in the evening. After his snack, he usually gets his hunting colors and goes looking around for more food.

Should I feed him more, or am I just getting him in hunting mode?
 
Not to be a downer but if you over feed them you shorten their life span. I used to over feed until one of our members, dressed me down and REALLy let me have it. Benny has save the life of some of my reptiles, maybe I can help you to get your feeding under control before you have a problem.

Your boy is at the age where you need to start cutting down on his chow. For another mont or two I would still feed him every day but not over 8 crickets a day. Then you need to bring it down to 10 crickets, alternated with horn works and other feeders, and that should be Every Other Day. hope this helps.
 
You want to make sure his head pads stay inflated so he needs enough food and hydration to keep them that way.
 
My two panthers are really small for their ages, one is 7 months and the other 5 months and both are half or less the size they should be. So I give them as much as they will eat, because that seems like the reasonable thing to do given the circumstance. However, if your panther is where he should be in weight and size, then you don't have to feed him that much.

However, does over-feeding cut down their lives or does being over-weight do? Because there is a difference, I imagine. If he's eating a couple more crickets every day but he's still at a healthy weight, I don't see how this hurts them? I imagine different chams have different metabolisms, like anything else.
 
Since his last shed (almost 2 weeks ago) he has some loose wrinkly skin on the side of his body. Not a lot, but a few. It makes me feel like he needs to eat more.
 
camshaft said:
Since his last shed (almost 2 weeks ago) he has some loose wrinkly skin on the side of his body. Not a lot, but a few. It makes me feel like he needs to eat more.
Click to expand...

You may be right, he might need more food. The difficult part of the beautiful creatures is that no two are alike. You have to know your chameleon. I can give you guidelines, which may help. But you need to look at him and see how he is. There are a million post of healthy chameleons available on here use them. Go to the photo gallery and look, really look at other chameleons like yours. Is the lose skin because of his position or is he under weight? Without even a picture all I am doing is giving guidelines and GUESSING. Remember you are the keeper, and only you decide.
 
The things on the head. They are the round looking parts of the casque. Some chameleons have HUGE head pads that look like it's brain is going to pop out of it's head :)
 
 
Those are great reference pics to show people the diff in a well fed and well hydrated cham and one that needs some more food intake. Well done kinyonga!
 
It might not be food intake, but dehydration. Are the urates a good color and shape? If not perhaps consider using a "jucier" diet for a few weeks and see if theres any change. But if fecals and all around health and activity appear fine, it could simply be an individual trait, just look around to make sure. One can never be to careful.;)
 
Inflated head pads can indicate good health.

BTW...I find that panthers need more food than veileds do to stay healthy...but you still don't want to overfeed them constantly.

Thanks for the comment Texas Panther Man! They always say a picture is worth a thousand words! :)
 
My cham does have inflated head pads. He's looking good. his front legs look skinny to me, but he has no problems getting around.

He hasn't been as aggresive at eating as used to be. He often leaves crickets uneaten.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

MeganMagic91
Juvenile Veiled Chameleon Adjustment
Replies
2
Views
333
kinyonga
K
Gecky
He tries to eat my fingers. Is he ok?
Replies
3
Views
694
Gecky
Gecky
averib
Eating Problems
Replies
1
Views
273
janjan20
janjan20
Gecky
Why is he trying to escape?
Replies
9
Views
537
Beman
Beman
M
Throwing up food?
Replies
5
Views
474
MissSkittles
MissSkittles
Back
Top Bottom