Chameleon ignoring crickets on top of the cage

[leyu]

Hello everyone!
I have had my chameleon acting a bit strange in regards to his food location ever since I got him 2 weeks ago. I have been feeding him crickets and some hornworms. I can tell he loves crickets because he has no issues eating them. He is especially excited to eat them out of my hand. However, crickets tend to clamber up to the back right corner of the cage and occasionally on top (near the lamp) and he never goes for them. What's even more strange is that he only goes after the ones on the branches/vines. Not even when they're on the cage.

A bit of info for him and his enclosure
- Ambanja male 4-6 months
- 24x24x48 reptibreeze
- I originally used a 75w Philips Agro bulb but I swapped it out with a 50w zoomed lamp thinking it might be too hot. basking temperature 82
- Reptisun T5HO

Any ideas? is this normal?

 

[rileykathrynmc]

I wouldn't be too worried as long as he is eating! My cham does this sometimes and I just flick the crickets off the mesh. After a while of that I moved a plant to where it could cradle the crickets and keep them off the mesh and he loves that, he knows where he is going to get fed and is always ready! Also if he is in young adult stage, he may have missed food when it is on the mesh and lost confidence, which again, as long as he is still eating and able to grip branches and get food the first try, it is not a big deal!

 

[leyu]

I wouldn't be too worried as long as he is eating! My cham does this sometimes and I just flick the crickets off the mesh. After a while of that I moved a plant to where it could cradle the crickets and keep them off the mesh and he loves that, he knows where he is going to get fed and is always ready! Also if he is in young adult stage, he may have missed food when it is on the mesh and lost confidence, which again, as long as he is still eating and able to grip branches and get food the first try, it is not a big deal!

That is good to know! How did you position a plant to cradle the crickets?

 

[rileykathrynmc]

That is good to know! How did you position a plant to cradle the crickets?

I have some hanging plants sewn high up on the mesh and then I position a branch about halfway down the length of the hanging plant and a few inches away, then I draped the hanging plant over and just adjusted it until it stayed in a position I liked. But the cham still needs to be able to climb it! With your current cage set up, you may be able to take the (ficus?) plant (the tall one) and puncture a leaf and tie it to the mesh in order to create a level surface for the crickets to sit on. Hope this helps!