Are you trying to hand feed?

rotarhead

rotarhead

New Member
I have successfully fed Moe now every day by hand for approximately five days or so. I thought I would share a possible coaxing method. I started off slowly limiting his cricket intake as he was addicted to them. At this time I also moved my hand throughout the enclosure during the day, not fast, just slow but around him so he was used to me reaching in regularly since I don't handle him as much as I used to. Then I proceeded to try hand feeding some worms.

I HIGHLY suggest getting hornworms. Buy them as babys since they grow so fast. It seems that the movement and color really helps! It might take patience but if you have it just hold the worm a short distance away from the chams face and let it wiggle. If it isn't moving you can move your fingers to make it look like it is moving a lot. I would do this later than your normal feeding at first so your cham is a little extra hungry. Eventually he should go for it. Just remember to not hold the worm real hard so he can actually take it. I did this with Moe and it has worked GREAT lately. He won't take the wax worms but I think he just can't make out the difference between my fingers and the worm since wax worms are so small. He gladly takes hornworms and butter worms though and eventually I'm going to try and hand feed silks and even crickets.

I know there are a lot of people attempting to hand feed so I thought it would be nice to share what has worked with me. Maybe it will work for you and your cham as well. Adding a little video as well of Moe hand feeding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0xHsziYcb4
 
cant say ive ever really had any problems with my veiled, i just went through what i thought was a natural process, he free ranges crickets, and has wax worms for a treat. when feeding wax worms, i held one between my forefinger and thumb, let it wiggle, then put it on a branch about 10 inches away from him, when he got used to that, i started using Exo Terra feeding tongs, when he got used to that i just removed the tongs and he will happily take them right from my hand now :) but good idea btw! i think i could have saved myself some time using your method.. haha
 
It took a while for Moe to finally be more than confident with eating from my hand. It was weird though because he would eat the crickets right out of the plastic container they came in when I was buying them 25 at a time. I would open the container in his cage so the crickets wouldn't go everywhere and he would start snatching them out of the container but if I put one in my fingers he was less than interested. My method took time but now that it seems he is more than willing to enjoy his food from my hand/fingers I thought it would be worth sharing to those who are attempting to hand feed. It's rewarding when he doesn't hesitate to eat because his food is in my hand. I feel like he trusts me, lol.
 
clair doesnt think twice to eat right out off my hand. im teaching her finger wiggle!!

(i wiggle my finger--food is comeing soon!--clair responds by looking at my hand and opening her mouth!)

im so proud!
 
I hand feed my old guy Clyde who is blind in one eye. Since he lost his vision on that side he couldnt hit the target when he shot his tongue. Now when he sees me open the cage door, he comes right to the fron with his mouth open :D
We have been doing it this way for almost two years! He is almost 6 years old now.:eek:
 
KCcham said:
I hand feed my old guy Clyde who is blind in one eye. Since he lost his vision on that side he couldnt hit the target when he shot his tongue. Now when he sees me open the cage door, he comes right to the fron with his mouth open :D
We have been doing it this way for almost two years! He is almost 6 years old now.:eek:
Click to expand...

6 years? Wow! Nice to hear he is still doing good partially blind and living to a ripe ol' age. I was curious, does he use his tongue at all or do you just drop the bug in his mouth?
 
I purchased some hornworms for this reason. One of my chameleons will not eat in front of me and if i dont find the feeder later then i just assume he ate it, but i dont like that.
SO~ I got the hornworms and he ate one off my hand, then he ate a roach off my hand after that. It was like a miracle, but then he got angry when I accidentally made eye contact(he hates that) and would not take any more feeders.
We'll see how he does today, I hope he learns to trust me. The other male I have is basically the same way also but he wasn't at all interested in a hornworm, he was too busy looking at my face and being scared. He'll only eat crickets if i leave the room. He'll be the bigger challenge i think. It doesn't help that they are both WC.
 
Moe looks good, and you are right, Chameleons have to be comfortable to hand feed.......you need to move deliberately and slowly, and you sometimes have to wait patiently for ages to get them to be more hungry than nervous :)
I only had any kind of trouble when my male was growing up, he wouldn't come near me for a bit.......it was actually waxworms that got him excited enough to come over to me again.
 
Thanks! Always nice to hear he looks good and healthy. I was worried at one point that he wasn't growing like he should but that worry was layed to rest through this site. I've also just purchased a Rain Dome system for him. I've been hand misting and my job doesn't allow me to do it like I should at times. I figured I should up his care even more now that we are getting along so much better lol (I'm sure his care could always use a little improvement), kind of a prize for him trusting me. Though, it's really to help me out as well. :)
 
Clyde will still kind of shoot his out when he gets real excited about eating. Most of the time he eats 2/3 grown discoids, he just opens his mouth and takes it out of hand :)
 
KCcham said:
Clyde will still kind of shoot his out when he gets real excited about eating. Most of the time he eats 2/3 grown discoids, he just opens his mouth and takes it out of hand :)
Click to expand...

Thats really neat. I hope you continue to have success with him, though I'm sure that won't be a problem since he has been doing so well for so long now.
 
I have never had a problem hand feeding, my veiled hates me going into his cage but will zap a cricket from my fingers anytime hes hungry. and my new panther ive had for 5 days has eaten every one of his crickets from my hand :D
 
Ok so while everyone is on the subject, i figured it would be a great post to address my question, and perhaps learn something new. My little man Lambeau is 4 months and a week old. We have had him since he was a tiny as a pinky and now he obviously has grown ...beautifully i might add, and with a great appetite. (poor guy is on a diet to shed some extra weight via vets orders) anyway. I have Never attempted to hand feed him, i suppose i have just figured he liked his routine of crickets in his hanger bucket, with a few to hunt when they escape, and of course silky's on his treat day once a week. After saying all that, my question to the forum, and friends, should i be trying to hand feed him ?, i know it would be neat and stuff,but we enjoy seeing him snap a cricket off a limb in his cage or out of his bucket just as much, is there a real benefit from hand feeding as opposed to not?
 
If your happy watching him eat himself then i would just stick to that. i think hand feeding is more of a bonding experience and if you want your cham to start feeling more comfortable with you (hand feeding more, climbing too you, handling ect.) then it would be good to start practicing hand feeding. but there is nothing wrong with what you are doing now :)
 
HerbsForMyChameleon said:
If your happy watching him eat himself then i would just stick to that. i think hand feeding is more of a bonding experience and if you want your cham to start feeling more comfortable with you (hand feeding more, climbing too you, handling ect.) then it would be good to start practicing hand feeding. but there is nothing wrong with what you are doing now :)
Click to expand...

I suppose i could give it a try next feeding, see if he will take to it, if anything just to see if he would or not. Lambeau free ranges alot in his trees around the house and he also has a few outside, he doesn't always come to me but he also doesn't mind be held. I will definitely give it a whirl and let everyone know if it works.
 
Tried some hand feeding today, no luck, he showed interest and came for it but never snatched it, i placed it in the feeder bucket and wham he took it. Ill try again, but figured i would let ya'll know
 
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