Feeding

[ChamLover04]

I absolutely love watching my boy eat and feeding him with tweezers, but it just takes too long if done daily. I don’t mind feeding him like that occasionally, but it takes approximately 1 hour every day like this. More often than not, he won’t even eat off the tweezers so I have to let the roaches walk on branches near him so he can see them and catch them, they often fall down and I lose them. Or when I pick them up he’ll be hesitant about going for them again or they get away and I have to put them within the range of this tongue etc. I put bsfl and supers on the leaves and have to control them in place until he sees them and comes to get em. It’s really amazing to watch him shoot his tongue out, but the process is so frustrating and time consuming. I tried leaving roaches in his enclosure because he loves hunting and eating like in the wild, but they snuck in the secondary plant pot where the excess water goes and all drowned and when I cleaned his enclosure I was really disgusted when I discovered that so looks like free range feeding is not an option also. I want to get him used to cup feeding because it’s the easiest option and the best one. I’ve tried leaving the cup in his enclosure with supers, dubias, lateralis, but he didn’t go for any of them. Tried different cup positions aswell and different cups lol, but with no success. He really goes nuts for bsfl, but they can climb up so I can’t put those in :/. Can anyone help me on this one, how to get him used to cup feeding? As I previously stated, I’d love to let him catch his food of the branches and leaves some days of the week when I have time, but 1 hour every days seems like a lot of time that could be reduced by getting him used to the cup.

 

[janjan20]

Instead of a cup try a feeder run.

 

[ChamLover04]

Instead of a cup try a feeder run.

That looks great, I really hope it will work. Thanks!

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Also, when I got my cham used to her cup feeding, I started out doing it by hand and holding the cup out for her. I also shook the cup just a bit to catch her eye and get interested in the dubias. It worked really well for me and only took a week or two until the connection was made, cup = food! I left the cup in her plant after that without issues. Also, I was using one of those small tupperware cups about 3 -4 inches in diameter, maybe 3 inches deep.
All chams are different though and they all have different preferences so stick with whatever works best for you and your cham.

 

[Han0915]

Only just recently got my little guy used to cup feeding, as he was hooked on hand feeding only for the past few months. I started with his superworms which is just pure candy to him, and he immediately went for them in the cup, but wouldn't eat his roaches from it. I had to sit there for a while daily, trying to hold the cup sideways right up to him so he learned he could reach in and grab roaches that way. Eventually, I placed his cup near his favorite spot , just under the basking spot, and "starved" him out for 1 day. He got the hint the next day and will eat most days from his cup, though I still prefer handfeeding when I have time. But sometimes yeah, you gotta just wait them out to get past their stubbornness and hunger usually sets in!

 

[cyberlocc]

That looks great, I really hope it will work. Thanks!

I seen a play on this the ohter day, that was more akin to the feeder shootout. That I really liked.

They used a tupperware container, like you get deli meat in. Cut the lid down most of the way, and put the small 1/3 piece back on. So it was much easier to cut, had less sharp edges, and is wider. I thought that was a stellar idea, I will try to find the post of the person who did it.

 

[JuniorC]

Also, when I got my cham used to her cup feeding, I started out doing it by hand and holding the cup out for her. I also shook the cup just a bit to catch her eye and get interested in the dubias. It worked really well for me and only took a week or two until the connection was made, cup = food! I left the cup in her plant after that without issues. Also, I was using one of those small tupperware cups about 3 -4 inches in diameter, maybe 3 inches deep.
All chams are different though and they all have different preferences so stick with whatever works best for you and your cham.

So the dubias really cant climb out of a tupperware if used for a feeder cup?

 

[cyberlocc]

So the dubias really cant climb out of a tupperware if used for a feeder cup?

No, hissers could.

 

[ChamLover04]

I seen a play on this the ohter day, that was more akin to the feeder shootout. That I really liked.

They used a tupperware container, like you get deli meat in. Cut the lid down most of the way, and put the small 1/3 piece back on. So it was much easier to cut, had less sharp edges, and is wider. I thought that was a stellar idea, I will try to find the post of the person who did it.

This is the feeder cup I made and he still doesn’t go for it. I didn’t feed him yesterday because of this reason and I thought he would get food from this finally. But here I am writing this right as I’m feeding him like I used to because he didn’t eat from the feeder cup. The edges are covered with isolation tape so there isn’t anything sharp and the feeders can climb vertically on the clean kitchen rag. He only wants to eat when I put his food on branches and leaves in the cage...
Also, he loves BSFL. Anything that isn’t BSFL is meh in his book. He doesn’t even go for superworms as he does for BSFL.

 

[AmandaS]

You should never use anything sticky inside your chameleons cage as they could get stuck and cause serious skin issues. Im a little surprised that your little chammy wont eat from that feeder run! Lol. Picky eater.

 

[ChamLover04]

You should never use anything sticky inside your chameleons cage as they could get stuck and cause serious skin issues. Im a little surprised that your little chammy wont eat from that feeder run! Lol. Picky eater.

It’s not sticky on that side. And yeah he’s a pretty picky eater.

 

[Ares05]

Hmm. if he is a healthy weight maybe give it another day, without food, and then put BSFL in the cup and see if he goes for it?

 

[ChamLover04]

Hmm. if he is a healthy weight maybe give it another day, without food, and then put BSFL in the cup and see if he goes for it?

I would, but BSFL can climb vertically on their own and they climb all the time in their plastic container so they’ll get out of the feeder run cup I think.

 

[Ares05]

Huh.. my BSFL could only sort-of climb up the walls if the surface was moist.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

With the dubias in the tupperware they would usually be fine unless they were pretty large, except my girl would perch on the cup, knock it over, and then chase them around and with that happening a couple found the crevices of the cage where she couldn't get to them. But other than that the dubias are usually pretty solid. Some places say that the males fly because they have wings when they are fully grown, but I've never even seen one try *yet*

Huh.. my BSFL could only sort-of climb up the walls if the surface was moist.

Also, I am fairly sure I have seen the lighter dubias use water droplets to climb up the sides of the cup (or at least attempt) as well, I think all light insects might be able to do this, so its something to watch for whenever debating the use of a feeder cup and insects with legs.

 

[Gordita0405]

I made these for my panther and jackson's. They eat from them. They also eat from me or they hunt the black soldier flys in their enclosures. My experience so far is that if they don't eat right away from my hand or when I put the food on leafs means they aren’t that hungry, so I just come back with them later.

 

[ChamLover04]

View attachment 259024
I made these for my panther and jackson's. They eat from them. They also eat from me or they hunt the black soldier flys in their enclosures. My experience so far is that if they don't eat right away from my hand or when I put the food on leafs means they aren’t that hungry, so I just come back with them later.

Ooh those look pretty nice. Good job! And I don’t think he doesn’t want food, I mean he could eat. It really depends on the day for him and he is really shy/territorial. I would really like just leaving his food in the cage so he can free range, but I can’t monitor how much he’s eaten and I’m really paranoid about letting roaches roam freely. Maybe chameleons are like people in this regard and some tend to eat less than others. He looks just normal. Also, today I noticed some bite marks and half a leaf missing on fresh schefflera arboricola leaves, do panthers really eat leaves? I’ve heard veileds eat vegetables and leaves, but haven’t heard anything specific about panther on this subject.

 

[cyberlocc]

Huh.. my BSFL could only sort-of climb up the walls if the surface was moist.

Crawl Outs, when they turn black/Dark and are getting ready to pupate they climb very well, still they need to be a little moist though.

You likely fed before they got to that stage. They say the calcium is higher as a crawl out, but they wont stay in cups, they are pretty hard, and my boy wont eat them in that stage.

The last 2 stages, The mid Dark color and the Darkest color, they can crawl very very well in those stages.

 

[Tory990]

View attachment 259024
I made these for my panther and jackson's. They eat from them. They also eat from me or they hunt the black soldier flys in their enclosures. My experience so far is that if they don't eat right away from my hand or when I put the food on leafs means they aren’t that hungry, so I just come back with them later.

Wow those are amazing. Care to impart some wisdom on how you made those?

 

[Gordita0405]

Thanks I have seen people using shooting gallery ( see link below)
https://www.rainbowmealworms.net/shooting-gallery-chameleon-feeder/
But since I live in asia, I just decide to make my own! I went to the plastic container shop and found these two that matches what I had in mind. Cut the hole but leave more space in the bottom so the feeder won't be able to climb or jump out. Then just glue gun the back with cut to sized screen. After that, I just spray them with green and add some plastic leaf for decoration. I also add the plastic on top and bottom so I can easily zip tie the box in their enclosure. As one side is completely screen, you can see how many of the feeder left, and I put a carrot or sweet potato on the middle of the screen( with wire) so when they climb up to eat, they are also more visible!
I guess you can make them into any size according to your enclosure.