Quantity of food for panther?

How much "should" the average adult Panther Cham. eat a week?
for that matter babys on up. Rough guesstaments would be Great. Thanks M and Z

Hey Martin,
If I told you "its hard to say", it wouldn't be of much help. So let me take a minute or two, as this concern needs to be looked at from several angles of measure.
A healthy adult male panther can easily average 4-12 crickets daily, or the equivelent, with very large panthers being near the high end, smaller somewhat less. A healthy adult female more like 2-5. Since you will not likely see your chameleon actually consume 90% of what it eats, unless you sit by its cage all day, you will need a different approach other than counting what it eats. It helps to have a cage which minimizes or eliminates cricket escape. In this way, you can observe a reduction in the number of live crickets in the cage, either cup-fed or free-ranging. In either case, you would only want to present (or make available) a number of crickets equivelent to the high ends mentioned above on a daily basis. Each day, attempt to ascertain the approximate number of uneaten crickets remaining, and fill back to the high-end level. Whether cup-fed or free-ranging, a quantity of the cup-fed crickets will become free-ranging by escape. It is important to have some good food available for the crickets to munch on as they await being munched on. We rate crickets only as being as good as what they have eaten in the last 4 hours. One thing to keep in mind is that many chameleons will not cup feed, and may only do well with crickets presented as free-ranging. Other conditions may also inhibit the chameleon from feeding regardless of how the food is presented, and may need to be changed. A good sign of feeding is always a "healthy defecation", or some such terminology, and the build up or maintaining of healthy fat pads, especially on the top of the skull, behind the eyes. While I am sure you know this, for the benefit of other readers, don't rely on cricket counts to determine if your animal is feeding. Look for healthy dumps, and watch those fat-pads closely. If they start to reduce, something has to change. It may be the choice of food, or it may be a husbandry condition. Good luck with your chameleons.
Jim Flaherty
The Chameleon Company

As an added note, with regards to the smaller panthers in your inquiry, they can be treated as females, offering and expecting them to eat 2-5 crickets of a size (in length) equal to the width between the eyes across the top of the chameleon's head. Of course, many other food sources are available, and sometimes preferred. Here's a picture I caught this morning of a male Tamatave eating his turkey ... aka a common variety wolf spider, which about half of all males will consume readily, of considerable size (the spider, that is). Many food refusal problems in panthers ca be solved by offering a different insect. Many panthers can become "spoiled", and refuse crickets to the point of death, while readily eating some other "favorite" food. It is vitally important to not wait too long with a chameleon that is refusing one type of food to offer something different, and also consider other husbandry option changes.

Jim Flaherty
The Chameleon Company

They can eat 20 - 80 a week depending on the age, size and the individual. If your going to be feeding 80 a week then you will wanna start buying them in the 1000's or breeding them. I would suggest breeding them because it doesnt cost as much. Of course you should feed them a variety of foods. king worms, cockroaches, crickets, pinkie mice and field plankton depending on what is available.


CK