Cup Feeding? Do or Don't.

[Carmine1]

Hi,
I am brand new to the forum and a new Veiled Chameleon owner. My Chameleon is still a baby, only about 1 month old. For now, he is housed in a small glass and screen terrarium, though I have a larger screen one ready for when he starts to grow. He has a 10.0 UVB purchased at his reptile vet's office and a 60 watt uva bulb. Right now I am misting by hand but am looking into misting systems.

Diet: Pinhead crickets gutloaded on fruits and veggies and lightly dusted with calcium with NO D3 - per his vet.

Problem: I would really like him to cup feed, but he seems reluctant. I KNOW he can because I've seen him do it. I've tried moving the cup up a bit in the cage, but he's not thrilled. Naturally, I give up after a bit and let the crickets go, but I don't want them biting him at night. Do some chameleons simply refuse to do this?

 

[xephyr17]

How deep is your cup? It might be too big

 

[Lazy Boy]

Chameleon do not like change. Put it in there and leave it. He knows they are there and won't starve. If he will let you hand feed too.

 

[Carmine1]

Hi Xephyr17
His cup is about 2 1/2 inches deep. He has fed from it before but seems to prefer to hunt. I would just like to have a good idea of what he's eating and keep him from being bitten during the night. The pinhead crickets get lost easily in the cage so they are hard to remove.

Thank you, Lazy Boy. My fear is that I must give in or he won't get enough food...despite the fact that the cup contains plenty of crickets for him. I am a new owner so I was also concerned about his ability to know they're there.

 

[nick barta]

Simple answer to your question is YES.

Do both.

IMHO, pinheads won't hurt the chameleon. Look at Melanagastor & Hydei fruit flies and bean beetles as a small food source.

Cup suggestions:

Make a feeder cup that has a side to climb up on. Search "Sunny D feeder cup" on this forum.

Place cup under where the chameleon sits so he can see the food moving.

The cup cannot collect water when you mist; all bugs will die. It needs a screen bottom.

Once you move to horn worms, silk worms butter worms, and super worms, hanging them on the side of the screen cage within striking distance works best, they don't move in the cup so well.

If your cage is large, a lot of food will hide if you only free range.

Nick

 

[Carmine1]

Thank you, Nick. He did eventually eat the five or so that I had in the cup. Once he ate those, I put a few more in the cup, then a couple in the cage. I like the idea of having some in the cup and a few free roaming.

His doctor said that fruit flies are too small for him, but that he should grow more before offering silk worms or meal worms. He's only about a month old. His doc also told me to never feed super worms. He said they have an outer shell which contains a large amount of chitin that can be bad for the chameleon. He feels silk worms are the best for him in the worm category.