Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, my juvy veiled eats like a horse, but I am thinking the over feeding theory holds a lot of water. I am feeding him lobster roaches...full grown at that. I know they are technically too big for him, but that is the way it is....how many should I feed him per day. I would think 4 raoches would convert to 6, 3/4" crix. So not more than 5 raoches a day?
Also, someone(maybe sonia) recommended skipping feeding somedays and just feeding greens some others...what do you think?

Oh, he is about 4 inches STV

thanks
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Matt

If he eats the greens, do it. My best breeder females use to eat about 75% greens, flowers and fruits. Ionly fed them insects once a week. One of my females used to eat cat food with my blue tongue skink...that was funny to see thechamleon, on the ground, sitting next to a blue tongue skink, eating from his bowl of cat food like two little kittens.

My favorite male, who I kept outside in the summer, used to eat hibiscus more of the time. He'd eat every flower that bloomed every day, then some leaves. I would throw in some crickets once or twice a week for him to hunt. Along withthe occatinal intruder insect, that's all he got. Veilds can be VERY omnivorous.

the nice thing about limiting insect intake is it keeps them from getting too fat. Liver problems are a big life shortener, and lots of veggies keeps them healthy and lean. This is a big problem with females. From the time my females reached breeding size, I would barely give them any bugs, maybe a dozen a month. they would produce smaller clutches of much larger eggs...with much larger, healthier babies.

funny thing about my current male..he tried to eat some dandylions when he was 3 months old. Since then, he wont touch plants.

Truly, the over-feeding theory makes sense. It has taken us some time to prove it out - but after a few years of breeding - it really does hold water.

At 4" stv, it sure wouldn't hurt him to skip a day here and there. Lobsters are usually good size - but their nutrition depends on what they have been eating. We feed ours dry gutload, plus cantaloupe, zuccini squash, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, apple and oranges.

The superworms get the same
The crickets get the same
You are what you eat!

One of the neatest fodds to feed is silkworms. All that nutrition is a soft-body and easy to sit on a branch!

The easiest way to get a veiled to eat greens is to shred them into a feed bin and drop some feeders on top. (gotta love that "Salad Shooter"

When the cham shoots a cricket, he usually gets a piece of carrot or squash or leafy veg. After that you can offer leafy veggies on a cage clip - and fruits by small chunks in the feeder bin. We have a couple of veiled that love strawberries.

Heck, even our bt skinks love bananas, grapes, melon, etc. It just takes extra time to prepare.
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Just Curious, I am thinking of feeding Lobster roaches as well. Do you put them in a bowl, or let them roam in the enclosure? They are very fast and I wouldn't want any to escape in my house. Thanks.

I put them in a bowl, but as they are glass climbers, you will have to smear a thin layer of vaseline around the rim...about a 1 1/2" band should do. Cricketfood.com has got a big sale goin on lobsters and they have a good gutload too. I have heard that the orangehead roaches are even better....they get bigger and cant climb glass(plastic). However, they also cost about 4 times as much.
my cham loves them by the way
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Matt

Thanks for the info. Matt.

We feed them in a bowl... but they can climb almost anything, so if you don't have "Bug Barricade" or "Bug Stop" (a paint-on substance to prevent escapes), you should use either a glass bowl or stainless steel.

We don't want them roaming the house either!
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