Food ideas for young, shy chameleon

[Charms]

Hi folks, I've got a 3-month old male veiled that I adopted recently. He's very shy about eating or drinking around me, so it's always difficult to tell if he's actually eating enough.
I put about 12 medium-sized crickets in his enclosure each day, but it's a bioactive enclosure so I assume some of them are just hiding in the soil / under logs. I have seen him nail a few of them though, and he's got no trouble at all eating them. He just seems hesitant to eat when I'm near.

I've tried cup feeding him but he doesn't go for it. I even fastened a little cup in the enclosure with dubia roaches, and he doesn't touch them. He also doesn't touch the tiny-chopped fruit / veggies I put in there.

I was thinking of trying to get him a few hornworms but I've heard they can bite hard, and he's a very little guy.

What else should I be trying?

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and welcome! Its not uncommon to have a chameleon, especially in the beginning, who is too shy to eat in front of you. Even if you eventually see your baby eat in front of you, seeing him drink in front of you still may not be something you see. This is why we monitor their poops so much. You'll want to keep an especially close eye on this since he is in a bioactive set up. Urates should be white, a darker color of the urate is ok so long as the end is white. Poops should be firm, but not hard and dry.

As far as feeding him goes, how long have you had him? How was he fed before? Is there a chance his feeders are too big?

 

[Charms]

I've had him for 4 days, and we don't know how he was fed before beyond "small crickets." The guy was really busy at the expo, so he didn't have time to teach us much about how he raised the chameleon. His feeders aren't too big because I've seen him eat them! He seems to crunch them up in 3 bites.

 

[jamest0o0]

Honestly just give him time, as long as you don’t terrorize your Cham, they’ll get used to you enough to at least eat. 4 days isn’t near long enough for them to not be shy/defensive. It can take months.

 

[MissSkittles]

Try a feeding station like one of these https://tkchameleons.com/products/shooting-gallery?variant=30018608595032 or https://www.fullthrottlefeeders.com/ Place it on a level just a tad below the basing area so baby can see it. They are good at keeping the feeders contained and your cham will always know where to find food. Give baby time to adjust to a feeding station. If you happen to have any fake plants, try attaching them to the screen on the outside of where the feeding station is, for a sense of privacy. Make sure your feeders are smaller than the space between the eyes. Veileds can eat plant matter and do enjoy nibbling their plants, but have no need for it. Just give live insects that have been well fed. One of the problems with uncontained crickets is that at night, they get hungry and can bite your cham.