Feeding and supplementation for chameleons

Being primarily carnivorous, wild panther chameleons consume a wide variety of small insects and occasionally vertebrates like small lizards or other similar prey items. They will also eat vegetation like leaves or flowers but it is not known how much of this they may consume in the wild and there are theories as to whether captive animals do this as part of their everyday nutritional needs, or whether they are trying to replace certain vitamins that they may be deficient in. What you feed your chameleon will have a substantial effect on its lifespan and well being and the more thought and effort that goes into your feeder choices, the happier and healthier your chameleon should be.

Not only is your chameleons diet important, but also the diet in which you provide the insects prior to feeding them on, this is a good way of enabling your animal to consume some of the much needed vitamins and minerals it needs in everyday life. (See gut- loading).

Although we are unable to provide the diversity of insects a panther chameleon would consume in the wild, there are many commercially available feeder insects we can use, most of which are readily eaten by chameleons. Some of these insects are easier to obtain than others and some are more nutritionally beneficial to your animal than others.

A few of the many food types you can offer your chameleon can include – crickets, locusts, morio worms, wax moth larvae, flies, phoenix worms, cockroaches, moths, stick insects, mantids and butterflies. The last three mentioned can be a little expensive and may be hard to get at certain times but make good treats that will be greedily consumed by any chameleon.

Panther chameleons usually eat with gusto but on occasion they do get picky and can regularly change their feeder preferences. Sometimes they will happily consume one prey item for long periods of time and then all of a sudden, show no interest in them what so ever and develop a taste for other food items. This can change every few months or so and is another good reason to offer different food types as they quickly become bored with just one or two items. Some food items should only be given as treats and part of a varied diet, wax worms are like chameleon “crack” and they would happily eat them all day every day, unfortunately they are very high in fat and will do nothing but harm if fed to your chameleon on a daily basis. If your chameleon is refusing other food items but will take wax worms then this needs to be rectified straight away, try fasting your chameleon for a day or two and then offering other items, this is usually enough to wean them off and get them back into a feeding regime that is actually good for them.

A feeder cup made from a plastic milk carton
and mesh is a very good way of monitoring
food intake.

Cockroaches are a very good food source, but again should only be offered as part of a varied diet and should never be used daily as they are very high in protein, using them as a staple would lead to gout and other health issues.

Food can be offered daily for hatchlings and juveniles, adults are fine being fed every other day. Ideally it is better feeding in the mornings as the chameleon has all day to digest their food properly by basking in the warmer parts of the enclosure. Feeding shortly before the night cycle should be avoided.

With adults you should try and offer enough food for the chameleon not to be ravenous, but you should aim for a feeding response when the food first enters the cage. If you have a healthy animal that just sits there when you first offer food, then you are probably over feeding and making things a little too easy for your chameleon. In the wild they would have to work for food which would involve patrolling areas and hunting, so you are looking to try and replicate this somewhat by sporadic feeding and getting them looking for food rather than having it placed in front of their nose everyday. If it comes to feeding time and there are still uneaten insects in plain view then either wait until they have been eaten before introducing more, or take them out and offer freshly dusted food items the next day.
Also try to avoid leaving too many uneaten crickets in the enclosure over night, the hungry crickets will be out in the hunt for food at night and will chew on the chameleon if given a chance, and they can leave pretty nasty wounds!
This can be avoided with good gut-loading of the crickets before feeding and by not introducing too many at any one time.

If you fear that the insects you are introducing are hiding away in plant pots or other inaccessible areas and not being eaten by the chameleon then it may be a good idea to try cup feeding, this is basically containing the insects in a small plastic bowl or cup which is deep enough to make insects unable to escape, but shallow enough for the chameleon to see them and gain access to. Cups can be cable tied to branches or vines near one of the chameleon’s regular spots. This way it will ensure your animal can get access to the food and it will be easier to monitor what is being consumed. When using feeder cups remember to use opaque plastic, this way the chameleon wont fire its tongue at the plastic when trying to reach the insects inside, this may lead to tongue damage which can cause problems with feeding. (See problems page).

Always offer appropriately sized insects for the size of the animal, as a general rule with most lizards, never offer anything much bigger than the width of the animals head. Panther chameleons, if given chance will often try and tackle something that is way too large for them and there is always the possibility of choking, luckily though they usually know when they have bitten off more than they can chew and spit the potential meal back out.