Beardeddragoncheese
New Member
I gave my chameleon a can o crickets 1 time and ever since then he ignores the live crickets i give to him, but i put a dish of pre killed ones in a dish and he goes to town. Is this bad?
Chameleon only eats dead crickets
- Thread starter Beardeddragoncheese
- Start date
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
If you buy live crix, gutload and dust them correctly, and then kill them right before feeding it would probably be OK, but sort of a hassle. The canned crix won't be nearly as fresh or nutritious most likely. This is odd, because usually chams hunt prey based on movement.
Beardeddragoncheese
New Member
Yea i thought it was odd too. I always dust the crix just a bit. I even dust the canned ones. Maybe its the smell or taste? Hes very healthy. I tried not feeding him for a day to make sure he was super hungry and again completely ignoring the ones crawling all over the mesh cage. Now he will eat mealworms that move but i try not to feed him worms that often. Thanks for the reply btw
Beardeddragoncheese
New Member
I gave my chameleon a can o crickets 1 time and ever since then he ignores the live crickets i give to him, but i put a dish of pre killed ones and he goes to town. Is this bad? He will eat live mealworms but i try to avoid worms in general. Had problems with worms in the past with beardies. Hes very healthy and it is very odd that he is not hunting the live crix crawling around the mesh cage.
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NHenn
Avid Member
I would check out everything you possibly can here https://www.chameleonforums.com/cha...sheets-caging-lighting-nutrition-more-104558/
There are a few items of concern from the photo. One he needs a UVB light asap, two I would remove the water dish as he can drown in it. Its also hard to tell from the photo but how big is his cage, it seems to look on the smaller size?
There are a few items of concern from the photo. One he needs a UVB light asap, two I would remove the water dish as he can drown in it. Its also hard to tell from the photo but how big is his cage, it seems to look on the smaller size?
laurie
Retired Moderator
I would carefully follow the advice given by these members. Everything they suggested, needs to be corrected.
Beardeddragoncheese
New Member
The light is a 125W mercury bulb uva/uvb and heat. The waterdish is to catch the water from the dripper and it never even gets a quarter of the way full. The cage is a little small, waiting on the bigger cage i bought online to arrive. And yes i have tried not feeding him for 2 days and he still ignores the live crickets.
NHenn
Avid Member
I'm not too familiar with the uvb bulbs that combine both heat and uvb. I personally use tube UVB bulbs and highly recommend them.
As for the water dish, I think an alternative would be to make a simple drainage system for your cage. It can be as simple as a small hole in the bottom that drips into a bucket below.
Glad to hear you are getting a larger cage, that in itself will help him greatly. What are your temps like in your current cage?
As for eating, if he is hungry he will eat. So I would stop the dead crickets completely and start trying other foods along with the live crickets. You said you want to stay away from feeding a lot of worms which is good because of the fat content in some but I would still recommend to give silkworms and superworms a try over the mealworms. Silkworms are excellent in all aspects imo and superworms can be gut loaded the same as crickets so both will be beneficial to him if he isn't eating crickets right now.
As for the water dish, I think an alternative would be to make a simple drainage system for your cage. It can be as simple as a small hole in the bottom that drips into a bucket below.
Glad to hear you are getting a larger cage, that in itself will help him greatly. What are your temps like in your current cage?
As for eating, if he is hungry he will eat. So I would stop the dead crickets completely and start trying other foods along with the live crickets. You said you want to stay away from feeding a lot of worms which is good because of the fat content in some but I would still recommend to give silkworms and superworms a try over the mealworms. Silkworms are excellent in all aspects imo and superworms can be gut loaded the same as crickets so both will be beneficial to him if he isn't eating crickets right now.
