What do you do?

[brighteyez]

I've asked a lot of feeding questions so far about how to get my jackson wilson to eat, but I'm still having trouble.

I'm trying to get an idea of what is normal for you and your cham, so I can better gauge how well Wilson and I are doing.

How often do you feed your cham?

What time of day?

How many bugs does he/she eat?

Do they eat them one after another, or eat one wait and then come back again later for more?

Do you give your cham just one type of bug a day, or a varity?

What do you use to feed them? Cup? Hand? Dish?

*Do you hold the cup/bug(s)? Do you leave the cup or bugs in there and walk away?

Anything else special you do?

Anything you can tell me will be helpful!! I'm just having a real hard time getting some sort of routine done since I can never seem to get him to eat more than one or two bugs a day at most.

 

[ColorCham427]

what type a chameleon do u have and how old? male or female?


if ur chameleon will take crickets, and enjoy them. i do not see the point in offering anything else. crickets are the best staple and you can gutload them with anything. that way, u can count on their nutritional content.

adult crickets are good for breeding. i would only feed younger crickets. adult crickets have spikes on their legs which rnt any good. our chameleons r in our care, y not do what we can do to prevent bull shit from happening?

crickets should be gutloaded 3 hours prior to feeding.

i love using dubia, i now always tear their legs off. dubia roaches have spikes on their legs too. and dubia pack a fat gut. u can gut load them around 11 pm so in the morning time. (7-11 am) u can feed them off.



silkworms are great, and u can feed them at much larger sizes than u would with dubia. they r so soft and squishey lol. they do tend to make ur cham's stool runny.

hornworms are awesome. not a feeder that should be fed off more than once a week. theyre expensive unless u breed them and sell some to help pay for their food.

hornworms can get heavy, packing alot of watery goodness ;]. great for treats.

superworms are like crack in my experience. i wish i never introduced superworms to one of my chameleons. some chameleons just get hook'd on em. they r good for staple. but their shells suck. if u have a huge colony and can pick out the ones that recently molted, i dont see any reason not using them whenever u feel like.

mealworms suck. waxworms suck. butterworms r expensive. phoenix worms dont see the point.



if ur chameleon is wild caught i do see variety as a good thing, helping find something that it enjoys most.

 

[ColorCham427]

all depends on how hungry theyre. if they rnt that interested in the food item, he/she may not tag that bug til later on when it cant find anything else in its territory.

power feeding is not good. chameleons do over eat. and chameleons do get over weight. chameleons do throw up when eating too much.

too much food items in a cup isnt good. might catch a few at once and might not have a good outcome. could cause vommiting. choking is the worse thing that could happen of course.

too many food items loose, could confuse it, which one it wants to catch.

never mist it's cage while feeders that are dusted r in there waiting to get destroyed.

if it's an adult, im using male panther chameleon size. he wont need much more than 7 half inch crickets per day.

one large dubia nymph roach could hold him off for a few days. depending on how fat it's gut is.

large silkworm 3 inches could last a couple days.

large hornworm 3.5 inches could last 4 days.

4 superworms every other day.

all in my experience.

 

[ColorCham427]

if u dont have to hand feed ur chameleon, i dont see the reason to doing so. unless u wana take a picture. keep in mind that he/she is not ur friend. he/she will eventually get comfortable being handfed and all, its just because it is your chameleons way of knowing when food is available.

i would free range crickets and worms with good grip. silkworms and hornworms can be placed on a vine. hornworms at their bigger stage 3 inches plus, should be placed on the screen. they dont have as strong of a grip on the screen.

superworms, roaches should be cup fed.

hope some of this helps.

 

[ColorCham427]

also,

gutloading is SOOOO important!!!!! ur chameleon is what he eats. and what the insect eats is what makes the insect. you MUST gutload in order to provide ur chameleon a healthy life or growing and living the right way.

supplementing is important too. gutloading is far more important than supplementing, althought both should never be neglected when needed.

u should always have the same spot of where his/her dripper is. same time of day. usually once in the morning right when u wake him/her up. and another time during the afternoon. 2-3 pm.

dripper should be on for atleast an hour at a time. make sure u see him/her drinking atleast once.

water should be either boiled for 20 minutes, or leave the water out for 2 nights. make sure the water u use for it's dripper is luke warm. the misting water should be warmer.

its important to have a timely schedule. ur chameleon will get used to a time of the day thing.

thats important, so u know that everything a OK when he/she isnt skipping much out of the day.

always turn the lights on and off same time.

 

[sandrachameleon]

How often do you feed your cham? What time of day?

Almost every day. usually twice a day, morning and afternoon.

How many bugs does he/she eat?Do they eat them one after another, or eat one wait and then come back again later for more?

Between one and 6 bugs per day. Sometimes one of them chooses not to eat at all. usually they will take at least 3. Sometimes all at once, sometimes not. Depends on the day.

Do you give your cham just one type of bug a day, or a varity?

VARIETY! I firmly believe a wide variety of insects is good for chameleons.

What do you use to feed them? Cup? Hand? Dish? *Do you hold the cup/bug(s)? Do you leave the cup or bugs in there and walk away?

Bowls attached to the cage, free-ranging food. RARELY handfeed as there is no good reason to and several reasons NOT to. In the morning I put the food/insects in the bowl and leave. In the afternoon, I often watch them eat, and this is often free-ranged bugs.

Anything else special you do?

I really try to change what they eat often, so that they dont have to eat the same thing more than twice in a row.

You're welcome to review my blog, a section of which is devoted to a food diary - a log of what they eat (I do not log what they choose not to eat).
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/food-diary/

 

[dodolah]

if ur chameleon will take crickets, and enjoy them. i do not see the point in offering anything else. crickets are the best staple and you can gutload them with anything. that way, u can count on their nutritional content.

Not to be a jerk, but I have to disagree on this statement.
Chameleon in the wild eats many varieties of insects to complete their nutrition needs.
Each insects offer nourishment that somewhat unique.
Silkies for example offer more hydration and more protein than crickets.
And, arguably, vitamin A (from the chow).
Crickets offer chitin to your chameleon's diet.
Butterworm offer higher calcium ratio and fat.
and so on and so on...

In the simplest analogy, you would not feed your kids just one type of food, would you?

They need varieties of food to remain healthy and strong.
So do Chameleons..

Superworms... i dont see any reason not using them whenever u feel like.

How about their high fat content and their poor ratio of Ca: Phos?
the idea behind feeding your chameleons is to achieve a variety and balance in diet.

mealworms suck. waxworms suck. butterworms r expensive. phoenix worms dont see the point.

Again, they are not that bad. Butterworms are fattening... but once in a while, sure why not?

if ur chameleon is wild caught i do see variety as a good thing, helping find something that it enjoys most.

Why you limit offering variety of feeders only to WC specimens?

 

[ColorCham427]

Not to be a jerk, but I have to disagree on this statement.
Chameleon in the wild eats many varieties of insects to complete their nutrition needs.
Each insects offer nourishment that somewhat unique.
Silkies for example offer more hydration and more protein than crickets.
And, arguably, vitamin A (from the chow).
Crickets offer chitin to your chameleon's diet.
Butterworm offer higher calcium ratio and fat.
and so on and so on...

In the simplest analogy, you would not feed your kids just one type of food, would you?

They need varieties of food to remain healthy and strong.
So do Chameleons..




How about their high fat content and their poor ratio of Ca: Phos?
the idea behind feeding your chameleons is to achieve a variety and balance in diet.



Again, they are not that bad. Butterworms are fattening... but once in a while, sure why not?



Why you limit offering variety of feeders only to WC specimens?

sent you a PM

 

[cushcameleon]

How often do you feed your cham? I feed my chameleons everyday.

What time of day? I try to feed them at the same time everyday, which is around 1-2 p.m. When my chameleons see me walking around their cages during this time in the afternoon, they immediately walk towards the front of the cage and wait for me to begin feeding.

How many bugs does he/she eat? They both consume about 1-3 bugs a day.

Do they eat them one after another, or eat one wait and then come back again later for more? I feed my chameleons all their bugs for the day, one after another. When I first owned chameleons, I fed them multiple times a day, but I found it was too easy to overfeed them.

Do you give your cham just one type of bug a day, or a varity? That depends on what bugs I have ready. For the most part my chameleons like crickets the most. I have used butterworms, but found that my chameleons did not really enjoy them and sometimes refused to eat them. I use silkworm and crickets as staples. I will have much more variety to offer when I begin purchasing bulk sizes of feeders (likes roaches, supperworms) for my new chameleons I plan on getting in the fall.

What do you use to feed them? Cup? Hand? Dish? None of the above. I free-range every bug I feed and I use tongs to place them on branches or screen sides of the cage. My chameleons have become so adapted to this method, that they will begin opening their mouth (preparing to launch their tongue) as soon as they see the tongs.

*Do you hold the cup/bug(s)? Do you leave the cup or bugs in there and walk away? I place the bugs in their using tongs (like I mentioned earlier) and then I pull the tongs out, but I never ever leave my feeders unsupervised in the cages (especially crickets).

Anything else special you do? I pull the legs off of each cricket I feed, because it is much easier to catch them in the cage, if your chameleon decides not to eat them. I also feed (free-range) bugs one at a time, I never have two or more feeders in the cage.

How old is your chameleon; how big is he? I do not know if this applies to jackson chameleons, but I have been told by several experienced/senior members that montane species are able to tell when they are full. Depending on the size of your chameleon, 2-3 bugs could be plenty.

 

[ColorCham427]

they're not in the wild, they're in our hands. speaking of CB specimens.

silkworms do have good water source, but don't we all provide our chameleons with an awesome dripper that goes on at a certain time? twice a day at least? we all should do our best for our chameleon's hydration needs. chameleons drink alot yoo! lol
crix get supplements on em. ive heard butter worms don't need to be supplemented cuz of their higher cal.

i really just wanted to make more of a less expensive way of providing a chameleon a good diet.

and from what ive been told and experienced, treats are treats. variety is in the gutload.

I admit, I'm poor and cant afford all the good treats like i used to!!! but really, i still dont see the point of treating our chameleons with high in fat foods when we dont need to. u wana treat ur chameleon... get him a fat silk/hornworm or even better, get him a few ladies for the week.

need to put on weight, offer more food. hornworms are awesome when theyre huuuuge.

 

[chameleon97]

How often do you feed your cham?
2 ish times a day

What time of day?
Whenver

How many bugs does he/she eat?
Up to 5 a day

Do they eat them one after another, or eat one wait and then come back again later for more?
Whenever she sees food

Do you give your cham just one type of bug a day, or a varity?
Hornworms, Superworms, Crickets, WC Bugs (Especially flies)


What do you use to feed them? Cup? Hand? Dish?
Set them on a branch

Do you hold the cup/bug(s)? Do you leave the cup or bugs in there and walk away?
Sometimes i hold the bug, usually free range

Anything else special you do?
No

....................
Steve

 

[brighteyez]

How old is your chameleon; how big is he? I do not know if this applies to jackson chameleons, but I have been told by several experienced/senior members that montane species are able to tell when they are full. Depending on the size of your chameleon, 2-3 bugs could be plenty.

I'm not totally sure how old he is, but my guess is 4 months, maybe 5. He's 0.5 oz and 3-4ins not counting his tail.

Thanks guys!!!
This is really helpful. I think I have a better idea of what I was doing wrong now. I need to be more consistant which my feeding times, and I used to hold the cup in there. I stoped doing that today, and already he's eaten two bugs.

 

[cushcameleon]

Your chameleon is smaller and weighs less than my rudis chameleon; and my rudis chameleon averages 1-2 bugs per day as well. Depending on the size of your feeders, your little jackson is still pretty small and I would think that the amount he is eating is normal and you shouldn't be worried. How big are your feeders?

 

[sandrachameleon]

...I used to hold the cup in there. I stoped doing that today, and already he's eaten two bugs.

Yes that could be a big part of it. Some of them do NOT like to eat with you watching, much less you holding the food bowl.