Baby Ambi Wont cup feed.

[dcooley08]

Hey guys,

So i have a 2.5 almost 3 month old baby ambilobi. Hes my first cham and hes great. Ive run into a problem cup feeding. he will not eat out of it. he will sit and watch the crix in the cup but will not eat them. i would like to cup feed so that the feeders dont get lost in the enclosure. On the other hand when i dump the crickets out he gobbles them up. well the ones that dont get away and hide before he can get them. I hate having to clean up cricket poop out of his cage!! Plus i can never tell how much he ate and if hes getting enough.

Any thoughts or solutions on this topic?

Heres a pic just to make you guys smile.

 

[dcooley08]

Bump Bumpity Bump

 

[tharyeriobsessed89]

I am having the same problem with a 2 month old veil. I made a cricket feeder out of a sunny D bottle. My baby chameleon seems to be scared when I put it in her cage. She will eat when I put a cricket on the branch near her or when I hold 1 in her face. It's not hard to do just takes so much time bc alot of the crix jump or fall off the branch

 

[dcooley08]

yea i know what your going threw but mine is scared of my enormous hands so he wont eat from my fingers. The only option i have is to dump them in there. unless someone on here has other ideas?

 

[ISA my Veiled]

I am too having a problem like this with my two month old Veiled Ezio lol but my older veiled caught on at about 3 months old. The one thing I will say is make sure he can see the feeders and make sure they are active. I mean it may take them awhile to adjust but they will catch on and eat if they are hungry. Just make sure it is his only option and don't try to hand feed. That is what I would do.

 

[azgnoinc]

It is a young chameleons' instinct to search for prey to feed upon. I have feeder cups in my baby enclosures from the time they come out of the egg and into the enclosure, but they are all much more active eaters when the crickets or fruit flies or silkies or rice flour beetle larvae are moving about freely in the enclosures...Since they are reptiles and only have instincts to go on when they are young- they are going to ambush prey more readily when it is out & about.
Once they hit the 3-4 month mark they have been separated out and will more readily feed from a cup, in fact at times they will be waiting for me to put the feeders in the cup & then they start to munch out.
Just my 2 cents, I am by no means an expert on this.

 

[dcooley08]

It is a young chameleons' instinct to search for prey to feed upon. I have feeder cups in my baby enclosures from the time they come out of the egg and into the enclosure, but they are all much more active eaters when the crickets or fruit flies or silkies or rice flour beetle larvae are moving about freely in the enclosures...Since they are reptiles and only have instincts to go on when they are young- they are going to ambush prey more readily when it is out & about.
Once they hit the 3-4 month mark they have been separated out and will more readily feed from a cup, in fact at times they will be waiting for me to put the feeders in the cup & then they start to munch out.
Just my 2 cents, I am by no means an expert on this.

Thanks for the input. so looks like im stuck with bugs everywhere for a couple more months. What you have said makes complete sense. Guess i have to deal or try and try again till he realizes that it is actually food in there and not to be scared of it.

 

[tharyeriobsessed89]

I just tried with the cup again and no luck but she ate 3 from my hands. Still ignoring the meal worms.

 

[dcooley08]

I just tried with the cup again and no luck but she ate 3 from my hands. Still ignoring the meal worms.

haha sounds like we are trying to feed the same cham except mine hates my hands!! and mealworms. lol Im going to try some butterworms next week see if that will bring him to his senses.

 

[ISA my Veiled]

It is a young chameleons' instinct to search for prey to feed upon. I have feeder cups in my baby enclosures from the time they come out of the egg and into the enclosure, but they are all much more active eaters when the crickets or fruit flies or silkies or rice flour beetle larvae are moving about freely in the enclosures...Since they are reptiles and only have instincts to go on when they are young- they are going to ambush prey more readily when it is out & about.
Once they hit the 3-4 month mark they have been separated out and will more readily feed from a cup, in fact at times they will be waiting for me to put the feeders in the cup & then they start to munch out.
Just my 2 cents, I am by no means an expert on this.

Great point made because as I just posted in the general discussion thread, I got Ezio to eat off of his leaves and went to town on 5 crickets, 1 tiny Super, and his first Dubia tonight! I would have given him more but it is less than an hour before his bed time and that is a big no no in the chameleon world. Read my thread and you will see what I was talking about.

 

[shaunaroxanne]

One of mine won't eat from a cup, one eats from nothing but a cup, and the other will eat anything, anywhere. It just depends of the individual. They will probably all eventually eat from if we allow them to go hungry until they do....but most of us won't do that!

 

[nightanole]

Have you tried tube filling the cup? AKA the 3/4" clear slide of death. Its how i got one of my not so brave souls to cup feed. Crickets just magically enter the cup with out opening the cage.

 

[dcooley08]

Have you tried tube filling the cup? AKA the 3/4" clear slide of death. Its how i got one of my not so brave souls to cup feed. Crickets just magically enter the cup with out opening the cage.

what is this clear slide of death you speak of?

 

[nightanole]

you make filler tube for the feeder cup out of 3/4" vinyl tubing with a funnel on top (cricket bong?). the funnel is on the outside of the cage.

 

[clarkrw3]

Honestly most baby chams like to hunt. I have had poor luck with all my chams starting them out on a cup. It is much better imo to free range there food. The only thing I don't free range are roach nymphs.

 

[Chamlo]

I started when my veiled was 1.5 months. He'll eat escapees and the cup bugs. Too bad he's on a hunger strike right now...

 

[Chamlo]

He loves silkies and he strikes for them

 

[dcooley08]

hopefully he will come around. but till then i will free range his feeders.

thanks guys

 

[mjhough]

My veiled caught on to the sunny d cup feeder fast previous owner said he's about 5 months old. He's to scared to eat from my hand. It took him a few days to catch on to the cup feeding. I'd just keep trying till he eventually catches on. May I ask what kind of feeder cup you use?

 

[dcooley08]

My veiled caught on to the sunny d cup feeder fast previous owner said he's about 5 months old. He's to scared to eat from my hand. It took him a few days to catch on to the cup feeding. I'd just keep trying till he eventually catches on. May I ask what kind of feeder cup you use?

i use a little deli cup and just set it in his enclosure on a branch.