NooB feeding ?'s

[PITBULL]

In a couple of months I'm planning on taking a trip out to Florida which will last a total of 7-8 days. What is the absolute longest my cham can go without food? Any suggestions on how to maintain a feeding pattern while I'm away? My problem is that the person that is willing to care for him while I'm away will not deal with any insects therefore my dilema begins. It is a male veiled aproximately 3-4months old now. I have been keeping jackson and veileds on and off for the past 15 or so years but have never been away from them long enough to worry about feeding. My plan is to have a bunch of free roaming crickets hopefully to last him. And as for misting, the person taking care of him doesn't have a problem spraying the cage from the outside. Any suggestions?

 

[tv321406]

could you make some small tupperware containers that have some veggies and egg carton and 1 feedings worth of crickets in them, and then have them just dump the entire container in the cage and close the door real quick for each feeding? that doesnt sound too hard to handle for someone afraid of crickets

 

[PITBULL]

could you make some small tupperware containers that have some veggies and egg carton and 1 feedings worth of crickets in them, and then have them just dump the entire container in the cage and close the door real quick for each feeding? that doesnt sound too hard to handle for someone afraid of crickets

Thats an option but the person is terrified of both insects and the cham. I've tried to train the person not to be scared and how to do the daily routine of caring for him but fear sits in and the only thing they are willing to do is spray the cage. They think that the cham is going to jump out lmao and bit them or the crickets are gonna jump out and bit them as well. I don't have many people that I trust to come and go out of my home as needed to take care of him therefore my options are very limited.

 

[tv321406]

do you think they could handle something like superworms or hornworms? they dont move a whole lot

 

[Cainschams]

They both will bite

I like the first option you suggested. That shouldnt be very hard. I wouldnt go that long without feeding even my adult chams although as an adult they could handle it better than a 4 month old. Just show the person that the cham isnt capable of jumping (at least that far).

 

[PITBULL]

The thing is the person taking care of him is my mother who even bought me my first cham when I was 10 or 11 which was a jackson and I'm 26 now lol and to this day she is still terrified of them lol. So those 10 or so yrs when i lived with my mother and raising chams at her house and trying to get her to overcome her fear hasn't helped. Will leaving about 200-250 or so crickets suffice 7-8 days? If so how bad will overfeeding him affect him in the longrun if he does overfeed during my absence?

Thanks everyone for your quick responses!!!

 

[BocaJan]

Is there a reptile store by you? Some of them will babysit chams. Dumping 250 crickets in a cage just isn't a good idea. They can bite your chameleon.

 

[Dean Pulcini]

Feed them well and leave a few in the cage before you leave also leave the crickets food to eat. The most important thing is hydration you can't compromise on that food is not that important if it's only going to be a week.

 

[PITBULL]

Is there a reptile store by you? Some of them will babysit chams. Dumping 250 crickets in a cage just isn't a good idea. They can bite your chameleon.

The stores I have available get pretty busy and others I just don't trust. If dumping 250 crickets is extreme, what would be a good number for 1 week period of time. Hydration isn't a problem at all, I have my misting spray line built into the enclosure and the water supply outside of it so I never have to open it to mist the plants and all my mother has to do is spray the driftwood and substrate to keep the humidity.

 

[klangford]

The stores I have available get pretty busy and others I just don't trust....

No offense but you're leaving it all up to chance by not trusting a reptile store. I've done a bit of research for you and found this place:

Chicago Reptile House - Orland Park, Illinois
14416 John Humphrey Dr
Orland Park, IL 60462
(708) 349-9055

Seems to have a very loyal following; great reviews and quite the reputation for reptiles. At a minimum I would call and ask about pet-sitting; heck they may just have the name/number of a fellow Cham lover who would babysit for you.

 

[blackbetty]

There are some vets that are willing to do this too. My mother in law took her Iguana to a vet and they kept him in his setup for a few days, at $20 a day but its worth it if you love your animal. I agree about the crickets biting. They will do that and it could cause the cham serious injury. Ive seen chams lose their tails because of it. Call around and see if any Vets will board him for you, just make sure its someone qualified int he knowledge of feeding,misting, and light schedules as to not cause him any more stress than usual.

 

[PITBULL]

No offense but you're leaving it all up to chance by not trusting a reptile store. I've done a bit of research for you and found this place:

Chicago Reptile House - Orland Park, Illinois
14416 John Humphrey Dr
Orland Park, IL 60462
(708) 349-9055

Seems to have a very loyal following; great reviews and quite the reputation for reptiles. At a minimum I would call and ask about pet-sitting; heck they may just have the name/number of a fellow Cham lover who would babysit for you.

Thanks, but I've been to that place which I agree they have a great selection of reptiles but noticed it was a bunch of kids running the place and when I asked about their chams they were pretty rude and seemed like they were in a hurry to answer my questions and didn't even know what kind of panthers they had which were ambilobe. Pretty odd that they are more into making a $2 sale on crickets when they lost a chance to sell a $220 cham. The vet might sound more promising since I will be boarding my dogs as well. Thanks, I didn't even think of that.

BTW If you are reading this and you are one of those kids that work at Chicago Reptile House.....stay in school because $220 is worth a lot more than $2.

 

[RachelRiot]

Personally I would try to put the crickets/feeders in a cup feeder or make one of the milk jug feeders. This way you can leave them in the cage without having to worry about them attacking your cham.

Here is the link to the milk jug feeder

You can then throw some fruit or veggies in with the feeders so they dont die in the feeder cup.

 

[PITBULL]

Personally I would try to put the crickets/feeders in a cup feeder or make one of the milk jug feeders. This way you can leave them in the cage without having to worry about them attacking your cham.

Here is the link to the milk jug feeder

You can then throw some fruit or veggies in with the feeders so they dont die in the feeder cup.

Wow, thanks! Thats the first time I've heard about that. Seems more cost effective. I'll give that a try now so that when it is time for me to go I'll make my final decision on whats best for my cham. I'm glad I'm preparing 3 months in advance which gives me plenty of time to experiment different types of methods. Thanks again everyone! You guys/gals rock!!!

 

[Ricardo]

How about to let roam some locusts? (with some food for them) they just eat plants and not active at night - just like your cham. Its jut an additional idea with the milk jug feeder maybe...

 

[royden]

exotic vets have sitter feas around $10 a day.

This is the reason I have a misting system and a cup trained cham.

In a cup you can leave gutload and as many feeders as you want.