Picky eater?!?

[Cham Crazy]

Hello all, I have a 1 year and 3 month old male Veiled Chameleon. For the last few weeks he has rejected most of his food(crickets, superworms, butterworms) and will only eat wax worms! He must be a picky eater. Does anybody know how to make foods more enticing to him? Or what kinds of alternative feeders should I purchase? thanks

~~1.0 Veiled Chameleon

 

[Texas Ranger]

Try silkworms, dubias, hornworms.

 

[biglittle]

did anything change recently? my male veiled went on a hunger strike when he got into his free range. he was still in the same corner of the same room just no cage and a big tree to run around in. now he's eating again but he's not going after his dubia roaches like he used to. just give him time if anything changed, if nothing changed then hopefully someone else chimes in.

 

[icegecko]

Banana roaches, hornworms and silkworms make my panther go crazy. the brighter the color, the more your cham will want to eat it.

 

[Cham Crazy]

Banana roaches, hornworms and silkworms make my panther go crazy. the brighter the color, the more your cham will want to eat it.

Thanks. I attended a maryland reptile expo today and one of the vendors who owns a veiled chameleon said that they can be fed mostly a diet of waxworms due to their high protein and calcium content, but you have to dust them.

Where do u purchase your hornworms and silkworms from?

~~1.0 Veiled Chameleon

 

[Tifanydalpont]

murberryfarms.com has everything!!!

 

[jojackson]

LOl, Nice plug, how much they paying you Tif?

 

[Cham Crazy]

murberryfarms.com has everything!!!

thanks

~~1.0 Veiled Chameleon

 

[icegecko]

i get mine from CoastalSilkworms.com. You should only feed waxworms as a treat as they are high in fat and little else..not the healthiest food to give your chameleon.

 

[Hugh Wahl]

Could just be getting older, and wanting less to eat.

 

[Cham Crazy]

i get mine from CoastalSilkworms.com. You should only feed waxworms as a treat as they are high in fat and little else..not the healthiest food to give your chameleon.

Thats wat i thought but the vendor at the maryland reptile expo said if you dust them with calcium and gut load them, they are healthy to eat. But im still not sure. He said hes done it with his male veiled cham.

~~1.0 Veiled Chameleon

 

[Stanly]

Thanks. I attended a maryland reptile expo today and one of the vendors who owns a veiled chameleon said that they can be fed mostly a diet of waxworms due to their high protein and calcium content, but you have to dust them.

Where do u purchase your hornworms and silkworms from?

~~1.0 Veiled Chameleon

from all that I've read you should not feed waxworms regularly for this very reason (high fat, low nutritional value), it's like junk food. sure you might survive on it (for a while), and it maybe tasty, but if it's a large part of your diet it will effect the quality and quantity of your life.

by chance was this vendor selling waxworms as well (or maybe he/she was just misinformed)

they some of the other feeders people have recomended, also make sure your gutloading what ever you feed and supplementing as needed (based on your type of chameleon and how your keeping it)

 

[Stanly]

oh also try some flying bugs, my guy recently stopped eating crickets for a while, I was trying all kinds of worms which he liked ok (tho still not eating as much as when he was eating crickets). well some of the repti-worms (ie black soilder fly maggots) turned into flies and he went nuts for them.

also after he's been eating other things try crickets again, my guy is now back mainly on crickets (by his choice) with a worm or 2 thrown in.

 

[Cham Crazy]

Yeah I understand your point but after some research ive found that wax worms are also very high in calcium, carbs, and protein. I wont be using them as a staple feeder but i will use them until he decides to eat other feeders im offering him. Thanks for the help though.

~~1.0 Veiled Chameleon

 

[Tifanydalpont]

LOL!!! they should pay me

 

[joeandsoph]

I was told not to overfeed wax worms and definately not feed them as a staple due to the high fat content and not alot else. I only offer them to Tilly as a treat every so often.