Veiled Question

[BrokenBabyDoll]

I have a roughly 4-5 month old Male Veiled and I am wondering about how big he should be by now. I was told he was 4-5 months but he seems really small.

I'm having a hard time getting him to eat a lot. I bought him a dozen crickets about 4 days ago and roughly half are still in the cup in his cage.

He is in a complete screen cage, he has a UVB & a heat light, I mist him 2-3 times daily, he has water constantly.

I'm just worried.

 

[brandon1]

I have a roughly 4-5 month old Male Veiled and I am wondering about how big he should be by now. I was told he was 4-5 months but he seems really small.

I'm having a hard time getting him to eat a lot. I bought him a dozen crickets about 4 days ago and roughly half are still in the cup in his cage.

He is in a complete screen cage, he has a UVB & a heat light, I mist him 2-3 times daily, he has water constantly.

I'm just worried.

I'm not trying to make you worry, as those darn chams do that to us enough as it is, but his legs (the front one in particular) appears a little skinny. Maybe it's the pic or the lighting but it seems to be skinnier than it should be. What size crickets are you feeding, and not all chams will openly eat out of a cup on a regular basis? My Veiled won't eat out of a cup and have went three days with only giving him feeders in a cup but he still refused.

 

[BrokenBabyDoll]

I'm not trying to make you worry, as those darn chams do that to us enough as it is, but his legs (the front one in particular) appears a little skinny. Maybe it's the pic or the lighting but it seems to be skinnier than it should be. What size crickets are you feeding, and not all chams will openly eat out of a cup on a regular basis? My Veiled won't eat out of a cup and have went three days with only giving him feeders in a cup but he still refused.

Mostly he's been eating Dubia Roaches, small ones 1/4" - 1/2" the crickets I got him were around 1/3" they were the smallest I could find. He normally seems to do fine eating the Roaches out of a small cup in his cage, and I know crickets shouldn't be free roaming with him so I cupped them lol - Before I got him the crickets though he would stick a Roach, crunch it and spit it out. I'm worried because he looks thin to me, thinner then he should, and with him eating so little.... connect the dots, I'm worried. I can try and get a better picture of him, but all I have is my phone right now and it never does very good pictures.

 

[brandon1]

Mostly he's been eating Dubia Roaches, small ones 1/4" - 1/2" the crickets I got him were around 1/3" they were the smallest I could find. He normally seems to do fine eating the Roaches out of a small cup in his cage, and I know crickets shouldn't be free roaming with him so I cupped them lol - Before I got him the crickets though he would stick a Roach, crunch it and spit it out. I'm worried because he looks thin to me, thinner then he should, and with him eating so little.... connect the dots, I'm worried. I can try and get a better picture of him, but all I have is my phone right now and it never does very good pictures.

Do you have any idea what his eating has been like for the past week? When did he begin to appear skinny to you? Do you have any kind of fruits or veggies available or that you could pick up soon? And what's with the Dubias and crickets? Are you saying you got crickets because he began spitting the Dubias out? Sorry about the 20 questions game but I'm just trying to figure out a game plan of what you could do.

 

[BrokenBabyDoll]

Do you have any idea what his eating has been like for the past week? When did he begin to appear skinny to you? Do you have any kind of fruits or veggies available or that you could pick up soon? And what's with the Dubias and crickets? Are you saying you got crickets because he began spitting the Dubias out? Sorry about the 20 questions game but I'm just trying to figure out a game plan of what you could do.

The past week he had about 12 Roaches and then when those were no longer in the cup - I tried calling the person I get the Roaches from but he was out of town so I went and got him the crickets. I don't know if he has ever eaten crickets before I bought them about 4 days ago.

Honestly I think he's always been on the skinny side, I was trying to find a picture I might have from a month ago to check. These past few days though he's looked skinnier to me.

I had some greens for him but they went bad and was going to pick some up the next time I was able too. But he only takes about 1-2 bites out of it. I'm not fully sure on what kind of fruits and veggies he CAN actually eat. He's my first Chameleon and when I asked the person I got him from I was just told Greens.

 

[brandon1]

The past week he had about 12 Roaches and then when those were no longer in the cup - I tried calling the person I get the Roaches from but he was out of town so I went and got him the crickets. I don't know if he has ever eaten crickets before I bought them about 4 days ago.

Honestly I think he's always been on the skinny side, I was trying to find a picture I might have from a month ago to check. These past few days though he's looked skinnier to me.

I had some greens for him but they went bad and was going to pick some up the next time I was able too. But he only takes about 1-2 bites out of it. I'm not fully sure on what kind of fruits and veggies he CAN actually eat. He's my first Chameleon and when I asked the person I got him from I was just told Greens.

Ok this is what I would do, as it is what I have done for my Veiled before. Find something that he will openly eat. And then while he is chewing the food up, place a small cricket or a small piece of fruit or veggie in his mouth to where he grabs onto it and begins chewing it up as well. Make sure that the fruit or veggie is a small chunk, not wider than the distance between his eyes to be safe. Just continue to do this process by putting crickets, fruits, veggies, or roaches into his mouth until he refuses to eat any more for the day.

A few fruits and veggies I have tried and my Veiled has liked:
-banana
-apple
-mustard greens

He didn't like:
-oranges

Haven't tried:
-collard greens
-grapefruit
-carrots
-blue berries
-strawberries
-black berries
-tangerines

And the list can go on and on. Everything that I listed is okay for him to eat but it does not mean he will eat it. My veiled spat out the orange when he tried it but I have heard others who have Veileds that eat oranges. Each cham has a preferance for food and different taste buds, and those taste buds will change over time as do human's taste buds. For any thing that I didn't list on their, couldn't really think of much because I'm kinda tired, you should look up on the forum or ask on the forum if it's ok to feed. You'll get good answers as there are many knowledgable people on here.

 

[BrokenBabyDoll]

Ok this is what I would do, as it is what I have done for my Veiled before. Find something that he will openly eat. And then while he is chewing the food up, place a small cricket or a small piece of fruit or veggie in his mouth to where he grabs onto it and begins chewing it up as well. Make sure that the fruit or veggie is a small chunk, not wider than the distance between his eyes to be safe. Just continue to do this process by putting crickets, fruits, veggies, or roaches into his mouth until he refuses to eat any more for the day.

A few fruits and veggies I have tried and my Veiled has liked:
-banana
-apple
-mustard greens

He didn't like:
-oranges

Haven't tried:
-collard greens
-grapefruit
-carrots
-blue berries
-strawberries
-black berries
-tangerines

And the list can go on and on. Everything that I listed is okay for him to eat but it does not mean he will eat it. My veiled spat out the orange when he tried it but I have heard others who have Veileds that eat oranges. Each cham has a preferance for food and different taste buds, and those taste buds will change over time as do human's taste buds. For any thing that I didn't list on their, couldn't really think of much because I'm kinda tired, you should look up on the forum or ask on the forum if it's ok to feed. You'll get good answers as there are many knowledgable people on here.

I will defiantly pick up a variety of things for him the next time I'm at the store. I'll do that feeding "trick" too and I hope that it works. I want him to be a little fatty boy lol not so skinny.

Here's a pic I was able to get of him a bit ago.

By the way, THANK YOU for your help. It is greatly appreciated.

 

[brandon1]

I will defiantly pick up a variety of things for him the next time I'm at the store. I'll do that feeding "trick" too and I hope that it works. I want him to be a little fatty boy lol not so skinny.

Here's a pic I was able to get of him a bit ago.

By the way, THANK YOU for your help. It is greatly appreciated.

No problem at all. This is what this site is for and I really wish I would have known about this incredible resource when I first got my then baby Veiled, as it certainly would have saved me some stress lol.

From that last pic he doesn't appear to be too skinny. I would have to agree that he appears a little under weight but not to where it's really bad.

A few short notes to ask/tell you, as I don't know what all you know, or what all you have been informed of about chams/Veileds, before I go to bed:

Not sure what time it is where you are at, or if you took that latest pic at night, but if it is dark you should put him up immediately. He should have 12 hours daylight and 12 hours nightime. And he should never be disturbed while it's his nightime and absolutely never sprayed at night: could cause a respiratory infection.

How do you supplement him? In general, everyone uses calcium without D3, calcium with D3, and a multivitamin. And a good schedule to keep is calcium without D3 3-4 times a week dusted on your feeders, and calcium with D3 and the multivitamin twice a month appiece dusted on your feeders (don't do any of them together on the same day but say calcium with D3 the first week, multivitamin the second, D3 the third, and multi the fourth). Nowadays though there has been a revolutionary product to save the time it takes to keep up with that schedule: Repashy Calcium Plus. It states that it replaces all three supplements and I would dust feeders with it every other feeding.

Along with spraying him manually, getting a misting system is convenient if you don't have the time to mist him yourself everyday, I would suggest you get a dripper. This can be as simple as cleaning out a jug or bottle and poking a small hole to let water drip out, or you can purchase a ZooMed Dripper specifically designed for that (they are actually quite cheap with a 70 or 79 oz being like $5 and the 1 gallon at like $8).

And the last thing I can think of: check his heels on his back feet; kinda looks like a smallish casque (maybe because the cham is a little younger, but he kinda looks a little like a she). You're looking to see if there are spurs, little whitish looking bumps (one on each heel) there. If they are then he is definitely male but if not, it is female and you will have to provide her with more calcium (you would have to ask around for someone more experience in dealing with female Veileds than myself to see how much) in order to get ready for her when she lays eggs. She doesn't need to come in contact with a male she will obtain eggs anyways, and there are a few things you would need to ask if it is female, but if it's male then you won't have to worry about any of those things.

 

[BrokenBabyDoll]

Okay so I am sorry for the delay. He is actually doing AMAZING. I picked up more mustard greens I believe and he's been eating those daily, I was able to get more roaches and he cleans his bowl by every night. He's being introduced to several things like strawberries, oranges, mango, blackberries ect. When I get my paycheck next week I am going to go buy the calciums and mult vitamins for him and get him some silkworms to throw into the mix. He wont eat the crickets anymore - ive tried.

Any goood ways to gut load the roaches though?

 

[camimom]

Okay so I am sorry for the delay. He is actually doing AMAZING. I picked up more mustard greens I believe and he's been eating those daily, I was able to get more roaches and he cleans his bowl by every night. He's being introduced to several things like strawberries, oranges, mango, blackberries ect. When I get my paycheck next week I am going to go buy the calciums and mult vitamins for him and get him some silkworms to throw into the mix. He wont eat the crickets anymore - ive tried.

Any goood ways to gut load the roaches though?

you just put the gutload in with them, they eat it... and thats all.

 

[ChamFreak]

I think there is more to this, Can you give a description of your setup please?

More the kind of lights being used?

You said he has plenty of water, drip system?

Any chance you can tell us the humidity and temps in your setup?

the chameleon is dehydrated, that will make him eat less.

I noticed you have fake plants, do you have any real ones in there?

I am not as concerned about the cage size, just what kind of lighting and the humidy levels.


Also have you tried free ranging crickets? letting them crawl around instead of in a cup?