Veileds, and watermelon

[Psychobunny]

Has anyone fed their veiled cham watermelon (sans the seeds, of course)?

I don't want to buy some, only to have them turn their noses up at it.

Since I have never actually seen either of my veiled drink water, I have to assume they depend mostly on fruit and veggies for their moisture.
So, watermelon seems like a good source of hydration, if only they will eat it!

 

[ridgebax1]

I don't know if they would be toxic or not but given the content is mostly water, I don't think it would hurt them on an occassional basis but for the same reason one does not feed a staple diet of soft bodied insects like horn or silk worms, who also have a very high moisture content, I would not rely on this as a mainstay for nutrition or hydration. It may have more fiber than the worms but with the high moisture content too much may given them diarrhea. And again it may be moot as the chameleon might just choose to ignore it. We need SandraChameleon's food guru knowledge I think!

 

[Psychobunny]

Well, problem is, my veileds wont touch any of the fruits I have offered them. Smeagol did eat blueberries at one time, but now he wont touch them.

Havent tried mango yet, but either of them will eat strawberries, apple, pear, etc., only greens, esp, Romain.
I run it under water so it's dripping wet when they eat it. That way, I know they are getting some water.

I give them veggies once or twice a week. I have offered it more often, but they refuse it.
Never had a diarrhea problem with either of them, and I would only give them one pea sized piece of watermelon, if they eat it at all!!

Hey Sandra, where are you??!!

I would like to know what fruits they would incounter in the wilds of Yemen??!!

PS. A little Googling, and I found a list of fruits and veggies of Yemen:

http://www.agrsci.unibo.it/wchr/wc2/yemen.html

Watermelon is on the list as a veggie!!??
Of course, I have no idea which of these crops would be in the same location where veiled chams live.

 

[Ferrah88]

Just a little suggestion that might help with feeding fruits and veggies (Maybe you're doing it, maybe not, can't hurt to help, right? )

Yuki will NOT touch fruits or veggies if I just put them in her viv. She will eat them though, I just have to do something clever about it. I take a small piece of whatever I am giving her between my fingers and sort of try and move my fingers to make the piece of whatever look like it's moving. I try not to move my hand too much while doing it either. As soon as she sees movement she launches her tongue at it. More often than not her tongue slips off it though, without anything to get from her having launched so she moves forward (I'm still pretending this piece of whatever is a bug) and she'll chomp it up.

I have done the same thing with Ryuu to some success (He's not yet fully trusting of me, but he's getting there).

If you haven#t tried something similar and your cham will eat from your hand sometimes, you can always try this method! Maybe it will work for you too

 

[Psychobunny]

Just a little suggestion that might help with feeding fruits and veggies (Maybe you're doing it, maybe not, can't hurt to help, right? )

Yuki will NOT touch fruits or veggies if I just put them in her viv. She will eat them though, I just have to do something clever about it. I take a small piece of whatever I am giving her between my fingers and sort of try and move my fingers to make the piece of whatever look like it's moving. I try not to move my hand too much while doing it either. As soon as she sees movement she launches her tongue at it. More often than not her tongue slips off it though, without anything to get from her having launched so she moves forward (I'm still pretending this piece of whatever is a bug) and she'll chomp it up.

I have done the same thing with Ryuu to some success (He's not yet fully trusting of me, but he's getting there).

If you haven#t tried something similar and your cham will eat from your hand sometimes, you can always try this method! Maybe it will work for you too

Yes, thats how I finally got Smeagol to try a blueberry, I rolled it around in the palm of my hand to get his attention, and after what seemed like an hour, he zapped it.
I would think, once he eats it, and likes it, he should remember it. But I guess they forget.
Interesting thing, veileds will pick the crick legs and dead cricks off the floor if I let them. So stuff they recognize does not need to be moving for them to zap it.

 

[jorgeduardo]

Just a little suggestion that might help with feeding fruits and veggies (Maybe you're doing it, maybe not, can't hurt to help, right? )

Yuki will NOT touch fruits or veggies if I just put them in her viv. She will eat them though, I just have to do something clever about it. I take a small piece of whatever I am giving her between my fingers and sort of try and move my fingers to make the piece of whatever look like it's moving. I try not to move my hand too much while doing it either. As soon as she sees movement she launches her tongue at it. More often than not her tongue slips off it though, without anything to get from her having launched so she moves forward (I'm still pretending this piece of whatever is a bug) and she'll chomp it up.

I have done the same thing with Ryuu to some success (He's not yet fully trusting of me, but he's getting there).

If you haven#t tried something similar and your cham will eat from your hand sometimes, you can always try this method! Maybe it will work for you too

Haha I do the same thing and sometimes I also cut them so tje pieces look like worms and it works

 

[Psychobunny]

I'll try the "worm cut" thanks

 

[Ferrah88]

I'll try the "worm cut" thanks

I'll cross my fingers for you!

As for the original question regarding the watermelon... I don't think watermelon itself is very nutritious in general. I doubt it's toxic though