how DID you get your cham to hand feed
- Thread starter ken2414
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Nicodemayo
Avid Member
Some seem to just never want to hand feed. In fact, some chams wont even eat if your watching. Each cham has a different personality but sometimes you can slowly coax them into it. Just place the bug in your hand and hold your arm out straight and dont move at all. Any movement will make them nervous. If you do this enough, they'll learn that when you stick you hand out, you have food for them.
Cainschams
New Member
Listen to nico about not making any movements. My female panther will eat anything out of my hand or fingers. She actually thinks my finger tips are food sometimes. My male will only eat hornworms out of my hand and he is leary about this too. He is not a very nice charming lad hahaha but he is still loved.
Nicodemayo
Avid Member
Yeah if they start to take aim on your fingertips pull away. My female vieled will do this this on occasion and she'll grab my finger and i have to quickly put my finger by her mouth and let her gnaw on my finger to pry her tounge off. Also in terms of not making any movements, it might take 5 min or so before he even thinks about going for it. Get comfortable cause your arm will get tired but patience should pay off.
Cainschams
New Member
Yes you dont want them to hit your fingers especially if your going to pull back. This could damage the toungue. My female hand fed as soon as I got her. No coaxing necessary. Try hornworms or a newer type feeder to stimulate him if he isnt going for crix or whatever. Ive never heard of a cham not wanting the nutorious hornworm. These guys are very colorful and JUICY they squirt all over when being chomped on hahah
Adman
New Member
I work in a reptile centre so i'm around these things most hours of the day and i discovered, with the ones in the centre, that it's best to start with their favourite foods, like wax worms (because they're really sweet to them), after trying it out for long enough on the ones in the centre i decided to try it out on my own at home. Using their favourite foods will get them to trust you enough to hand feed at all, then after hand-feeding them their favourite foods for a bit you can move onto other types of food. But when hand-feeding in the beginning you just want to have the food in the plam of your hand, and also that it moves enough to catch their attention.
CammieNLeno
New Member
I have always had great success with silkworms. They sorta "stand up" on your fingertip and wiggle around like crazy, it really gets the chams attention. Staying behind the food with it directly inbetween you and the cham is the key as they can see both you and the food that they need to focus in on.
Dankmeleon
New Member
wait til he's hungry
the reason he is not hitting when you first offer is your hand is scaring him, however over a few minutes of being very still and wiggling cricket antennas, he should give in, just make sure you are very still, use the bar on the side of the cage to rest your arm on.
the reason he is not hitting when you first offer is your hand is scaring him, however over a few minutes of being very still and wiggling cricket antennas, he should give in, just make sure you are very still, use the bar on the side of the cage to rest your arm on.
Dankmeleon
New Member
also try closing your eyes lol, i dunno about ya'll but my chams watch my eyes
Cainschams
New Member
Ive noticed mine watch my eyes to. I can stare in the vicinity of my male and he will very carefully move around but as soon as I make eye contact boooooom he is behind his branch.
summoner12
Avid Member
I was reading that chams don't like to see two eyes at once. When they see two eyes they take it as a threat. Think about it lol... imagine you are a cricket. when you see that hungry cham looking at you with both eyes what happens next? oh... NM you just got eaten
When I have my boys out and I am examining them up close I sometimes close one eye if they are watching my eyes. When I close one they tend to look away and see if there are any other threats in the area. Most of the time I just don't make direct eye contact. It helps them feel safe and secure and keeps the stress down.
hand feed...
My adult male Jackson's started like this: when I misted he would move toward the bottle, and eventually would open his moth so I could spray directly... then I started tossing food in, when he opened his mouth...and it went from there...I start to wonder if a previous owner had not perhaps already hand-fed him...
My adult male Jackson's started like this: when I misted he would move toward the bottle, and eventually would open his moth so I could spray directly... then I started tossing food in, when he opened his mouth...and it went from there...I start to wonder if a previous owner had not perhaps already hand-fed him...
Cainschams
New Member
Thanks summoner I will try that tomorrow. Its only my male panther though and he is a very pissy dude.
Sruli Jacksons like temps a little cooler than panthers and veileds. Gapping his mouth open could mean he is overheated. Be careful of spraying directly into his mouth he could drown so dont over do it.
Sruli Jacksons like temps a little cooler than panthers and veileds. Gapping his mouth open could mean he is overheated. Be careful of spraying directly into his mouth he could drown so dont over do it.
summoner12
Avid Member
My female veiled would gape like you are saying when I would mist. I would just mist/drip the water into her mouth being careful not too over do it. Cainschams is right, if you over do it you could hurt them. You want to be sure you don't give them a respiratory infection.
hand - feed jackson's
I guess I should have been a little more clear... i am still using the mist-er... it is not as if I was shooting a squirt gun down his throat... most of it gets on his face, the cage-wires (which he licks off). Still, this was interesting behaviour, because my other chameleons seem to be annoyed with water directly on them. This one had learned that this was where the water was good and fresh, somehow. In any event, as useful as the hand-feeding is, it will probably never be my primary method for feeding these guys, because it takes time. I can dump bugs in the cage and let them feed themselves, but hand-feeding all of their food would be painstaking, and probably tedious. But real useful, especially, when live food is scarce.
I guess I should have been a little more clear... i am still using the mist-er... it is not as if I was shooting a squirt gun down his throat... most of it gets on his face, the cage-wires (which he licks off). Still, this was interesting behaviour, because my other chameleons seem to be annoyed with water directly on them. This one had learned that this was where the water was good and fresh, somehow. In any event, as useful as the hand-feeding is, it will probably never be my primary method for feeding these guys, because it takes time. I can dump bugs in the cage and let them feed themselves, but hand-feeding all of their food would be painstaking, and probably tedious. But real useful, especially, when live food is scarce.
summoner12
Avid Member
LOL a squirt gun..... haha
I just imagined this orange plastic see through squirt gun you find in the summer time at the grocery store for a dollar fifty.I agree on the hand feeding.. lol I don't have time! I get up get the crickets ready, dump them, shower, eat/watch them eat and then I'm out the door.
Vibrant Chameleons
Avid Member
I'll agree with this statement. I have a bunch of females that I take turns free ranging in my bedroom in large ficus and hibiscus trees.
If I'm sitting on the couch and I look over at them, they are usually staring right at my eyes. With 2 of my females, as soon as they notice I have focused in on them, they puff out at me lol. It goes to show how assertive the chameleon really is with its surroundings, especially the human eyes...
Veiled_Cham
New Member
I've had my Cham Manny for about 2 years now and as Nico and others say, every Cham is different. For optimal hand feeding success, mine likes to be higher up than me perched in his cage and then will readily will feed from food in my hand (you might want to start here since it may be less scary for him). If he is very hungry, he'll sit on my left arm and he'll snatch the food from my right hand.
His favorites are Silkworms or Waxworms but he'll eat just about anything from my hand if it's wiggling.
Patience is the number one thing here while limiting movement and presence of other people/animals while feeding him. Also, you probably are doing this but please be sure your hands are freshly cleaned (good ol' soap without harsh perfumes or dyes and water) and no rings to distract him.
His favorites are Silkworms or Waxworms but he'll eat just about anything from my hand if it's wiggling.
Patience is the number one thing here while limiting movement and presence of other people/animals while feeding him. Also, you probably are doing this but please be sure your hands are freshly cleaned (good ol' soap without harsh perfumes or dyes and water) and no rings to distract him.
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