Feeders not eating, and dying?! Please help!

[RafitheVeiled]

Hi everyone!

I’va had my Cham for 2.5 weeks, and I started feeding the feeder insects fresh veggies instead of just the store bought flakes about 1.5 weeks ago.
I use Romaine, carrots and sweet potatoes.
The feeders I have currently are Dubia roaches and crickets. Neither is eating any food. They haven’t taken any bites of the vegetables. I have to replace it every few days because it goes bad.
I would really appreciate any help in this. I want to feed healthy feeders to my Cham, but I can’t do that if they won’t eat.

 

[Beman]

I would switch up your gutload... Not the best options as is. But Dubia do like to be warmer. My crickets do as well.
Personally when I feed fresh I replace every day or it can get nasty and attract fruit flies along with grow mold.

You could always try repashy bug burger if you do not want to do fresh veg. This would be mixed as directed on the bottle and stored in the fridge. Lasts for about 2 weeks.

 

[Flick boy]

Hi yeah you could really up the items for your gutload. Depending on your budget you could try bug burger or get get your fresh stuff and as mentioned in the gutload sheet blend and freeze your stuff so you are not wasting food I use a minimum of 16 fresh items but also use arcadia insect fuel

 

[RafitheVeiled]

I would switch up your gutload... Not the best options as is. But Dubia do like to be warmer. My crickets do as well.
Personally when I feed fresh I replace every day or it can get nasty and attract fruit flies along with grow mold.

You could always try repashy bug burger if you do not want to do fresh veg. This would be mixed as directed on the bottle and stored in the fridge. Lasts for about 2 weeks.

View attachment 296072

Thank you so much! I appreciate it

 

[RafitheVeiled]

Hi yeah you could really up the items for your gutload. Depending on your budget you could try bug burger or get get your fresh stuff and as mentioned in the gutload sheet blend and freeze your stuff so you are not wasting food I use a minimum of 16 fresh items but also use arcadia insect fuel

Thank you!! I appreciate your help

 

[Flick boy]

As beman mentioned prob would be worth checking your temp surroundings where your feeders are kept also

 

[GrayMadder]

Like @Beman stated i also change out my gutload daily. I make a gutload blend it and put it in plastic bags in the freezer. I will thaw it when i use it. That way i can keep it longer! I havent had too many issues with them, but i also remove the ones that died.

Sometimes dubias play dead. Ive gone to take out the dead ones and to my surprise they are very much alive!! Hahaa. But after reading a lot on here i figured it was the cold temps in the house affecting them.

 

[RafitheVeiled]

As beman mentioned prob would be worth checking your temp surroundings where your feeders are kept also

I keep them in the room with my Cham, so it’s ambient temp is 75 during the day and 65 at night! It’s also darker where I keep them

 

[RafitheVeiled]

Like @Beman stated i also change out my gutload daily. I make a gutload blend it and put it in plastic bags in the freezer. I will thaw it when i use it. That way i can keep it longer! I havent had too many issues with them, but i also remove the ones that died.

Sometimes dubias play dead. Ive gone to take out the dead ones and to my surprise they are very much alive!! Hahaa. But after reading a lot on here i figured it was the cold temps in the house affecting them.

Ahhh okay! Thank you so much!

 

[jamest0o0]

You're problem is the temperature. Roaches don't eat much when they're cool. Dubia like it around the 90s and will eat a lot then. At 60s to 70s they'll eat very little. Their metabolism is dependent on the temperature, cooler=slower=less eating

 

[RafitheVeiled]

You're problem is the temperature. Roaches don't eat much when they're cool. Dubia like it around the 90s and will eat a lot then. At 60s to 70s they'll eat very little. Their metabolism is dependent on the temperature, cooler=slower=less eating

Thank you! How do you recommend keeping their heat that high?

 

[Andrew1283]

Be very careful that you’re washing your produce thoroughly because a lot of it has pesticides. I made that mistake once. I threw in a piece of kale without washing it and within minutes I had 50 totally paralyzed crickets. Had to discard them all because I can’t pass that along to my chameleon.

I switch between Cricket Crack and my own blended and frozen gut load of organic fruits and vegetables which is based on the chart Beman posted previously. I do change their food daily and clean and wash their enclosure every few days or it gets nasty and smelly.

 

[RafitheVeiled]

Be very careful that you’re washing your produce thoroughly because a lot of it has pesticides. I made that mistake once. I threw in a piece of kale without washing it and within minutes I had 50 totally paralyzed crickets. Had to discard them all because I can’t pass that along to my chameleon.

I switch between Cricket Crack and my own blended and frozen gut load of organic fruits and vegetables which is based on the chart Beman posted previously. I do change their food daily and clean and wash their enclosure every few days or it gets nasty and smelly.

That’s great advice, thank you!!

 

[jamest0o0]

Thank you! How do you recommend keeping their heat that high?

Everyone seems to do something differently. I have a large collection so I use a space heater in a small room(which isn't reasonable for most people). Some use flexwatt heat tape, which I hear good things about if used correctly. For just a colony or two, you could use a human heat pad or some other form of heat pad, just be aware of fire hazards. Or if you have baseboard heat in your house, set the bin next to them. Another good option would be to use a heatpad, like the ones for people, and have it on timer to turn on for a few hours, off for a few, and so on. Or just have it on all day and off at night. All the time would work well, but I hesitate to have a heatpad going 24/7.

 

[Andrew1283]

I also save the cardboard tubes from toilet paper and paper towels as a replacement for cardboard egg crates. They work great. If crickets don’t have places to hide they can get stressed and without sufficient food they will cannibalize each other. I don’t use a heat source at all. I buy crickets weekly from my local pet store and put them on top of the cabinets within my kitchen. Our house is 70 degrees and I think the cooking we do, as well as being high up in the room (since heat rises), helps them to do just fine. I like my weekly trips to the store for new crickets as opposed to keeping large numbers of them. They mature week by week and when they’re big enough they start to chirp which drives us nuts and they even grow wings. If you have a local store just get new ones weekly, mix up a large batch of a good gut load and freeze it, get bug burger or cricket crack and use a good fresh source of water. I use a shallow dish with small gravel in it and put some water in that. They hop in the dish and stand on the gravel to drink and don’t drown.

 

[RafitheVeiled]

Everyone seems to do something differently. I have a large collection so I use a space heater in a small room(which isn't reasonable for most people). Some use flexwatt heat tape, which I hear good things about if used correctly. For just a colony or two, you could use a human heat pad or some other form of heat pad, just be aware of fire hazards. Or if you have baseboard heat in your house, set the bin next to them. Another good option would be to use a heatpad, like the ones for people, and have it on timer to turn on for a few hours, off for a few, and so on. Or just have it on all day and off at night. All the time would work well, but I hesitate to have a heatpad going 24/7.

Thank you!! Very helpful

 

[suprdude]

freeze your stuff so you are not wasting food

Great suggestion!

 

[Flick boy]

Great suggestion!

Thanks but I can't take credit just passing on info from the great members on here. kaisen and others