Am i under feeding my new addition

[gemmaphillips]

Hi Guys
New to this and a newbie owner of a beautiful senegalise chameleon. He's about 7" long. I was told to feed him little and often, but he only seems to eat when u hold the locus in front of him.

He's only eating 3 locus a day, is this enough??

Is he eating little because he's in a new viv (brought him home on sunday)

Also when the locus that a hopping around in the viv go near him, he goes all spotty (blacky colour) what's he trying to say??

Any information would be most greatful.

 

[laurie]

Congrats on your new chameleon. Also welcome to the forums, you will have a way to learn lots if you want too. I am in the US and have not used locust so I can't offer any help, but we have members from the UK who will offer help.

 

[Miss Lily]

Firstly, welcome! This site is full of knowledgeable chameleon keepers and is a wealth of information. Am I right in thinking you are from the UK too?

I am thinking that maybe he is stressed by the locusts. Are they quite big? Just remember to keep food items smaller than the gap between the cham's eyes (insect width rather than length). My first cham, Lily, used to get stressed if I let locusts roam in her cage. If one climbed on her she would stiffen and try to get away from it, bless her. I always hand feed locusts and feed crickets out of a tub (also referred to as cup feeding). It's best to remove any uneaten insects at night so they can't bite your sleeping chameleon. Also cup feeding allows you to see how many insects are being eaten.

 

[gemmaphillips]

Hi guys,
Thanks for the reply.
Yeah i'm from the UK.

Thanks for the welcome and for sharing your experience.
I had been purchasing medium locuts (but too me were large!) so today i went and brought some smaller ones in which he ate 2 of.

How do i go about cup feeding him??

 

[Miss Lily]

I use an empty (small) Stork margarine tub and attach it to the side of her cage just below a vine. They need to be able to look down into it. Any container would work as long as it's not see thru or the cham will try and shoot the food from underneath and maybe damage the tongue. Place the chosen 'cup' below a vine or branch that your cham likes to sit on most so he can see them moving around. I remove the hopping legs of the crickets so they can't escape and I also take off the large back legs of the locusts too. When 'free ranging' food, locusts tend to climb upwards whereas crickets will stay hidden at the bottom of the cage more.

 

[gemmaphillips]

Brilliant!

Thanks for the advise i will deff try that!!!

 

[Miss Lily]

Give it a go - it's worth a try. Also if you only just got him a few days ago, they can take a while to settle in. Hopefully he'll start to eat a bit more soon!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Is this an adult lizard?
3 a day is too much.

-Brad