My baby veiled doesn't hunt. Can I show him the light?

[Evascade]

So, I've had a lot of reptiles in the past. Darwin is my first tropical reptile, however, and he's proven to be really rewarding thus far (I've had him for 2-3 weeks now?). We guesstimate that his age is between 3 and 4 months, although we're not 100% sure.

My original plan was to purchase a baby from a keeper a couple towns over, and I was willing to wait.(the terrarium's been set up forever in anticipation of Darwin!), but my boyfriend surprised me by getting one, although unfortunately from a pet store.

Sooo.
Darwin doesn't hunt.

My SO told me the girl at the pet shop told him he was being fed 2 crickets a day and wasn't sure about how often they were dusted or what they were being dusted with. He was so skinny, but I'd say he's a fat happy cham now and I'm glad.

I cup fed him for the first few days to monitor what he was eating and to make sure he was putting on a little bit of weight, but I think he grew much too accustomed to it. I started off by letting a meal worm crawl around on a branch a few inches away from him, and he ate that. When he was hanging out in his tree, I put a cricket in his line of sight but not too close. He sat there and waited until the cricket literally crawled right into his mouth (lucky cham, stupid cricket, eh?).

So I've come to the realization that if it's not in a cup or not directly in front of him, that Darwin won't eat it or pursue it. Which is saddening because I really feel like he should be a fat happy cham who has to work to get his food in order to continue being fat and happy.

Is there anything I can do for him? Can I show Darwin the light?

PS; sorry for the long post. First post, total newbie here.

 

[SaintJimmy]

Just stop using the cup, he will learn to hunt eventually when he becomes hungry.



He is probably learning fast to use a cup, so start hand feeding and leave the majority of food roaming around if you want him to hunt.

personally I love the cup method for old and young because you can watch and see if they're actually eating.

 

[ir0k]

i agree, just stop the cup feeding and let them free range. he should pick up soon the idea of hunting them down. I like to free range my feeders as it keeps them active in their cage. But to each their own. everyone prefers different.

In the wild just remember they can go a couple days without eating, although, you do have a baby so you want to make sure your baby is getting something. but, Id free range for a day or two. just count the crickets you put in and at the end of the day do the math.

I put 12 crickets in my chams cages everyday and there are days where they just do eat them all. im not worried. crickets vary in size (nothing to big as they are just babies also) but as long as they are getting food its all good.
the pain is having to retrieve the crickets at the end of each day cause crickets will bite your chameleon at night. so make sure to get all them out.


good luck