Feeding Tips

Veiled Chameleons

A Chameleon’s diet should primarily consist of mealworms, crickets and a mixture of dark leafy greens. Food must never be larger than the distance between the chameleon’s eyes. Crickets need to be dusted with a calcium supplement until they are slightly white in color, and mealworms need to be supplemented with a multivitamin. Chameleons need to be fed twice daily, once first thing in the morning, and once mid-afternoon.

Juvenile Chameleons will be fed small mealworms, 3/8” crickets, and finely chopped greens. During the first feed, remove any remaining greens and mealworms prior to feeding. If feces is present in the food bowl, be sure it is cleaned and sanitized before feeding resumes. For each chameleon in the enclosure place 3-4 small mealworms that have been dusted with multivitamin, and 1/4 teaspoon of greens, in their food dish. Also, feed 4-5 calcium dusted crickets per chameleon in the enclosure. On the second feed, mist any remaining greens with water and add another ¼ teaspoon of greens per chameleon. Feed up to 3-4 more mealworms per chameleon and 2-3 calcium dusted crickets. If any mealworms remain from the previous feed, add only enough mealworms to make the total number of worms in the food dish equal to 3-4 mealworms per chameleon. Use the same guidelines for the number of crickets.

For Large Juvenile and Sub-Adult chameleons, the feeding procedure is the same as for the babies except larger food is needed. Increase cricket size to 1/2” for large juveniles and 3/4” for sub-adults, and feed about 6-8 crickets per chameleon. Mealworms sizes can be increased to medium for both large juvenile and sub-adult chameleons. Increase the number of mealworms fed to sub-adults to 5-6. The greens do not need to be cut as finely, and increase amounts fed to about a tablespoon per chameleon.

If you see that your chameleons are eating all of their food within the first few minutes of being fed, gradually increase your feeding amounts until you reach a point where they are eating about ¾ of their food in the first 30 minutes.