What is the safest way to put some weight on a veiled chameleon?

[tatz4ever]

I took in a male veiled chameleon last night that is pretty skinny. He is estimated at 1 1/2 years old. He shows no signs of any other problems and a quick fecal float last night showed no parasites. He is just skinny. Very little fat in his casque, and a slight bony appearance. Previous owner said he LOVES worms: hornworms, waxworms, and limited superworms. Not a fan of crickets per the owner. I am going to try to get him on dubia and crickets as a staple, but want to supplement a few fattier feeders to get his weight up. What do you recommend and at what feeding intervals?
Thanks,
James

 

[jannb]

Im glad that you took him in and I recommend some silkworms. IMO they are one of the best feeder worms. A wide variety is always a good thing so also offer hornworms, Butterworms, super worms and Phoenix worms. My veileds have always liked crickets but some would not eat roaches. You can also buy some ProZyme to dust his feeders with. It will help with better absorption of vital nutrients.

 

[tatz4ever]

Im glad that you took him in and I recommend some silkworms. IMO they are one of the best feeder worms. A wide variety is always a good thing so also offer hornworms, Butterworms, super worms and Phoenix worms. My veileds have always liked crickets but some would not eat roaches. You can also buy some ProZyme to dust his feeders with. It will help with better absorption of vital nutrients.

Thanks Jannb! A quick internet search is showing a lot of suppliers out of stock for live silkworms. I'll keep looking!
I am not familiar with ProZyme. Is this the product you are referring to? : http://www.petfooddirect.com/Product/3186/Prozyme-All-Natural-Enzyme-Dietary-Food-Supplement-Powder

 

[jannb]

Thanks Jannb! A quick internet search is showing a lot of suppliers out of stock for live silkworms. I'll keep looking!
I am not familiar with ProZyme. Is this the product you are referring to? : http://www.petfooddirect.com/Product/3186/Prozyme-All-Natural-Enzyme-Dietary-Food-Supplement-Powder

I buy my silkworms at coastalsilkworms.com. They are a site sponsor.

This is the ProZyme that I use:
http://www.amazon.com/Prozyme-454-g...e=UTF8&qid=1382978621&sr=8-7&keywords=prozyme

 

[tatz4ever]

I buy my silkworms at coastalsilkworms.com. They are a site sponsor.

This is the ProZyme that I use:
http://www.amazon.com/Prozyme-454-g...e=UTF8&qid=1382978621&sr=8-7&keywords=prozyme

Thanks again. coastalsilkworms.com was the first I checked and they say they are out of stock. Same with many other vendors. I'll keep looking.
I was actually at this persons house to purchase a crested gecko from her. When I saw the set-up (or lack thereof) of the chameleon, I offered to take him in and provide a great home for him. She agreed and gave him to me, after I said I could not pay for him also.
He is now in an 18X18X36 instead of the 10 gallon tank with one of those wire top extenders on it.She had no lights on him, but said he had plenty of natural sunlight before it got cold. She said she owned him for about 5 months, and knew she was over her head as far as providing the right habitat for him. She unselfishly did what was better for the animal.
I am letting him settle in and have already seen him drinking readily from the rain-dome!
The woman said he eats from your hand, but my attempt today made him cling to the far side of the vine. I think he may need a little while to come around.

 

[ChamMan7]

The best way to add weight to a chameleon quickly is through proper insect gut loading and supplementation. ProZyme is a great way to help with the absorption of nutrients, and coupled with proper gutloading, is probably the safest way to go. Your goal should be to get him to a healthy body weight with proper, varied diet, not with fatty food that will be detrimental to your chameleons long term health. Look at some of SandraChameleons blogs about gutloading. She is really the gutloading goddess on here and can give you tons of awesome information.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I took in a male veiled chameleon last night that is pretty skinny. He is estimated at 1 1/2 years old. He shows no signs of any other problems and a quick fecal float last night showed no parasites. He is just skinny. Very little fat in his casque, and a slight bony appearance. Previous owner said he LOVES worms: hornworms, waxworms, and limited superworms. Not a fan of crickets per the owner. I am going to try to get him on dubia and crickets as a staple, but want to supplement a few fattier feeders to get his weight up. What do you recommend and at what feeding intervals?
Thanks,
James

Hello James
You may find the information in this blog entry, about the number of calories needed, useful:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...s-day-required-maintain-chameleon-weight.html
You will want to weigh him now, and use that as a starting point towards increasing his weight.
The easiest way to add weight is to feed more quantity (and make sure his temps are good). Using a variety of prey is the best way to go, but you can use a higher than normal amount of prey like superworms and waxworms until body condition is better.

From within the above blog entry you will see a link to an article by Sue Donoghue http://www.chameleonnews.com/02SepDonoghue.html in which she states:

"Thin chameleons - If you have a chameleon that has had a difficult pregnancy and has lost body condition, she needs calories to replace her lost tissue stores. If you work with wild-caught specimens, a part of conditioning programs involves improvement of body condition. In veterinary clinics and rehabilitation centers, thin chameleons are often presented, and nutrition support is essential adjunctive therapy.


For chameleons that are thin but otherwise relatively healthy, a high calorie food may make up >50% of the diet. Using the above table, wax worms (and superworms) are good bets. "
​

 

[tatz4ever]

Thanks all! I agree with a good quality gutload and have followed that routine. I also try to feed a varied diet, and don't want to make him "fat". I want him to have natural healthy fad pads and thought a few of the fattier feeders would help with that initially. I will try to feed "more quantity", but I have no reference point. I imagine any quantity I give him will be "more" based on his current state.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Thanks all! I agree with a good quality gutload and have followed that routine. I also try to feed a varied diet, and don't want to make him "fat". I want him to have natural healthy fad pads and thought a few of the fattier feeders would help with that initially. I will try to feed "more quantity", but I have no reference point. I imagine any quantity I give him will be "more" based on his current state.

you could use his current weight as the starting point, and double the caloric intake needed to maintain that weight.

or, just give him as much as he will eat within 5 minutes 2-3 times a day until his body condition looks better

 

[tatz4ever]

you could use his current weight as the starting point, and double the caloric intake needed to maintain that weight.

or, just give him as much as he will eat within 5 minutes 2-3 times a day until his body condition looks better

I really need a gram scale!