Famous "im-not-eating-crickets" phase

[Lizardlover]

Titan my oustalet is going through a phase now that all of my chameleons have gone through at ome point, hes not eating ANY crickets at all, even when he goes a day or two without food, but im afraid to go any longer than that because hes still growing, he still eats silkworms, superworms, and occasionally butterflies when i catch them, its been going on 2 weeks now and i dont know what to do, im afraid to buy roaches because i dont think he'll eat them since hes not eating crix and none of my other chameleons like roaches....any advice would be great.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Titan my oustalet is going through a phase now that all of my chameleons have gone through at ome point, hes not eating ANY crickets at all, even when he goes a day or two without food, but im afraid to go any longer than that because hes still growing, he still eats silkworms, superworms, and occasionally butterflies when i catch them, its been going on 2 weeks now and i dont know what to do, im afraid to buy roaches because i dont think he'll eat them since hes not eating crix and none of my other chameleons like roaches....any advice would be great.

What is wrong with what he is eating now? Do you gutload your supers?

If you do I don't see crickets as being urgent. Keep feeding him what he has been eating and introduce crickets again in a week or more. Just make sure you are gutloading the supers. I use the same stuff to gutload them as I do crickets.

I have a panther that has not touched more than a few crickets in the last few months and he is thriving. Variety is the key , not crickets.

 

[Lizardlover]

ok, for some reason i thought someone said there had to be crickets or roaches in their diet or something like that, anyways i gutload my superworms with kale, apple, sometimes potatoes, and lately since its mango season ive been feeding them mango, i also mix in pollen chunks and they seem to eat that, but like i said i also provide other things like supers and occasional w/c treats.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

ok, for some reason i thought someone said there had to be crickets or roaches in their diet or something like that, anyways i gutload my superworms with kale, apple, sometimes potatoes, and lately since its mango season ive been feeding them mango, i also mix in pollen chunks and they seem to eat that, but like i said i also provide other things like supers and occasional w/c treats.

I would say you are doing fine then. A properly gutloaded super can be more than a treat. Some keepers use them as a staple.

Make sure you are supplementing with cal , multi vit etc.

I would maybe add into the diet a dry gutload like the famous Cricket Crack. I use it and it works great to gutload crickets, roaches, supers, etc.

 

[Nicodemayo]

keep up what your doing and youll be fine. Supers can be a nice staple if they are gutloaded properly and it sounds like your gutloading is spot on. Like Ryan said, just reintroduce in a few weeks and normally they are interested like theyve never seen a cricket before

 

[Lizardlover]

ok, i never thought of using cricket crack for supers, ill order some in soon. Thanks.

Edit: also, i dont use cal with d3 because he does live outside, so i just supplement with cal and multi V.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

ok, i never thought of using cricket crack for supers, ill order some in soon. Thanks.

Edit: also, i dont use cal with d3 because he does live outside, so i just supplement with cal and multi V.

I saw your other thread , He is looks great! Good job with him.

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

I am not saying I am 100% for sure on this but I am leaning away from the supers. Feeders process different vitamins and minerals differently making the contain different nutrients to whatever consumes them. For instance...you can feed bird and a pig both grains but consumer a pig will have much higher fat content...its what makes the difference in white meat and red meat or whatever.

I am not a nutritionist and do not know the makeup of supers compared to crickets but I would image them to be much higher in fat which in turn is higher in fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). I would suggest not using supers as a staple because of the high fat content.

I would mix them in for sure but I have had chameleons get used to eating supers and then not eat anything else. Like a kid...if he knows all he has to do is hold out to get cheeseburgers then he will hold out and wait for the cheeseburgers even though they are unhealthy.

I would suggest mixing in about 4 supers per week (just a number I feel comfortable with so they don't start to only eat supers). I would try roaches and silkies or wild grasshoppers or blue bottle flies.

Just a thought, good luck, ohh and I have also seen adult chameleons not eat for days then after a while kick right back to eating steadily.

Chris

 

[Lizardlover]

well he doesnt only eat supers, as i mentioned i feed him silkies also, and occasionally wildcaught treats, i just offered him crix again today and he just watched it, then let it go, im afraid to try roaches because he may turn them down like crix, and my parents hate having roaches in the house, and none of my other chams like them. i may buy like 2 today just to see.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Silkworms are fine as a staple. Supers, in my opinion, are not (high in fat). So long as he eats a cricket or super now and then in addition to the silkwoms (he needs a little chinton / fibre in his digestion) he'll be fine. Also consider butterworms, hornworms, wood sows, snails, etc and yes maybe try a roach again too

 

[Lizardlover]

wood sows are like roly pollys right? i have some in my backyard that i could catch and try to breed. and i do feed him hw and bw on occasion whenever i order them its just easy to get silkies since my local reptile store has them.

 

[dodolah]

Lizardlover, try to alternate your feeder type to avoid boredom.
1 day silkies, the other day roaches, and then moth, etc etc..
try not to give him same feeder consecutively over and over..

 

[Lizardlover]

oh i know, i do that as much as possible

 

[cushcameleon]

Both of my chameleons are in a "don't eat butterworms" phase . I think they secretly converse and come up with plans to frustrate me . Tricky little devils...

 

[Sang]

it took 6 months of super worms to get my panther back onto crickets, and i think he is already bored of them.

 

[Lizardlover]

sheesh lol, my panther did the same, luckily hes out of it. now the other one is doing this to me haha.

 

[sandrachameleon]

wood sows are like roly pollys right? i have some in my backyard that i could catch and try to breed. and i do feed him hw and bw on occasion whenever i order them its just easy to get silkies since my local reptile store has them.

Yup! Roly Pollies and Wood sows are kinda related. Check this link for how I breed them (easy, but not fast): https://www.chameleonforums.com/isopods-16457/ This is a good time of year to catch them as you will find lots of pregnant ones in Spring.

Sounds like you are giving a decent variety, which is great.
I try not to offer the same feeder twice in a row, as many different choices in a week as possible. It has made a difference, in that its now very rare for a chameleon at my house not to eat what is offered, and none of them are "off" a certain prey item for more than one offering.