What do I feed my male veiled juvie?

[1derwoman]

Currently he is only on crickets. Is he too young for butters? What exactly should I be feeding him and when? Suggested number of crickets per day (currently eating about 10), suggested number of worms and what type per day, and is that along with the crickets or in place of? Also, part of my goal is to fatten him up a little bit - he's under weight. Any advice/suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[carol5208]

how old is he? Hard to tell from the picture. Adults can be fed every other day. Mine will usually eat about 6 or 7 feeders, but they are full grown. If he is a juvenile 10-15 feeders a day is fine. I like silkworms and hornworms and also feed superworms. Silks I like best as they are the least of the fatty worms, but also high in calcium. Butterworms are very fattening and can be fed, but I wouldn't go overboard on them. Some chameleons have had weird reactions to them and their faces and heads turn black. I usually will feed like 4 crickets and then 3 or 4 worms. Maybe two silks and two supers. I also try and catch moths and dragon flies when I can. Hornworms are good feeders but get HUGE within a matter of days, so if your chameleon is not real big, I would not suggest them until he gets bigger. Babies can pretty much eat as much as they want until they are full. Make sure to dust your feeders with calcium without d3 daily or at most feedings. A multivitamin 2-3 times a month and a calcium with d3 the same thing.

 

[1derwoman]

how old is he? Hard to tell from the picture. Adults can be fed every other day. Mine will usually eat about 6 or 7 feeders, but they are full grown. If he is a juvenile 10-15 feeders a day is fine. I like silkworms and hornworms and also feed superworms. Silks I like best as they are the least of the fatty worms, but also high in calcium. Butterworms are very fattening and can be fed, but I wouldn't go overboard on them. Some chameleons have had weird reactions to them and their faces and heads turn black. I usually will feed like 4 crickets and then 3 or 4 worms. Maybe two silks and two supers. I also try and catch moths and dragon flies when I can. Hornworms are good feeders but get HUGE within a matter of days, so if your chameleon is not real big, I would not suggest them until he gets bigger. Babies can pretty much eat as much as they want until they are full. Make sure to dust your feeders with calcium without d3 daily or at most feedings. A multivitamin 2-3 times a month and a calcium with d3 the same thing.

Thank you! I'm not sure how old he is because he was "dumped", so the guess is maybe 3 months old. So to make sure I understand you, on a daily basis I could give him something like 4 crickets and 4 worms? He is a little underweight, so I'm not too worried about the fattiness of worms, yet. Once he's bigger/older and has gained some weight I'll move to feeding every other day. I use calcium with d3 and currently lightly dust every 3 days. Thoughts?

 

[hkitchen]

Switch to without d3 for everyday dusting, too much d3 can cause health issues. If he is only a few months old then he can probably eat more than the 4 crickets and 4 worms, mine is 6 months old and eats at least 8 worms of varying types and about 6 crickets. If he is underweight then let him eat.

 

[1derwoman]

Switch to without d3 for everyday dusting, too much d3 can cause health issues. If he is only a few months old then he can probably eat more than the 4 crickets and 4 worms, mine is 6 months old and eats at least 8 worms of varying types and about 6 crickets. If he is underweight then let him eat.

Thanks you!