Not eating from a cup

[Arabella2424]

Help! My 10 month old panther chameleon is not showing much interest in cup feeding. I’ve had him about 6 months and he’s been tong fed his entire life! but he’s quite a slow eater and I no longer have the schedule to accommodate that. I’ve been slowly trying to ween him off of the tongs and get him used to the cup/eating from it but hes shown less and less interest in eating every time I try. I’ve left it in his cage for hours and been giving him plenty of space. He shouldn’t have any other stressers I’ve been checking all of the important husbandry things often to make sure that it isn’t something I’m doing wrong. I’m putting the cup near the top of the cage in his favorite hangout spot he’s got plenty of plants to give him privacy and I’ve put many bugs so they should be moving. I feed Dubia roaches and mealworms. The last few times I’ve fed he’s eaten one bug out of the many I’m putting in there. Do I just need to have some more patience? How do I get him to eat from the cup? I’m worried because he’s not eating enough that he will get sick! It’s been a week of me feeding every other day which is our normal schedule by just putting it in his cage and leaving him alone but he only eats one bug every time! What do I do (yes there are lots of branches behind all those plants)

 

[isaiah33]

Help! My 10 month old panther chameleon is not showing much interest in cup feeding. I’ve had him about 6 months and he’s been tong fed his entire life! but he’s quite a slow eater and I no longer have the schedule to accommodate that. I’ve been slowly trying to ween him off of the tongs and get him used to the cup/eating from it but hes shown less and less interest in eating every time I try. I’ve left it in his cage for hours and been giving him plenty of space. He shouldn’t have any other stressers I’ve been checking all of the important husbandry things often to make sure that it isn’t something I’m doing wrong. I’m putting the cup near the top of the cage in his favorite hangout spot he’s got plenty of plants to give him privacy and I’ve put many bugs so they should be moving. I feed Dubia roaches and mealworms. The last few times I’ve fed he’s eaten one bug out of the many I’m putting in there. Do I just need to have some more patience? How do I get him to eat from the cup? I’m worried because he’s not eating enough that he will get sick! It’s been a week of me feeding every other day which is our normal schedule by just putting it in his cage and leaving him alone but he only eats one bug every time! What do I do (yes there are lots of branches behind all those plants)

Its good that he is eating from the cup, I think he just needs time to get used to eating out of the cup. Sorry if this does not help. Note I would not be worried about this unless he continues not to eat out of the cup.

 

[Arabella2424]

Its good that he is eating from the cup, I think he just needs time to get used to eating out of the cup. Sorry if this does not help. Note I would not be worried about this unless he continues not to eat out of the cup.

Okay! Thank youu

 

[isaiah33]

Okay! Thank youu

No problem just make sure he's eating enough!

 

[Sonny13]

One handsome boy you got there First it could be due the maturing he’s eating less, once they age are full grown they’ll slow down their food intake. Not for Veiled’s they eat till they drop. Second cup feeding takes time, some eat from it quickly will take ages or even keep refusing it. I’ve two of the last one. Therefore a feeder run could do the trick, because they will see the movement and get attracted to it.

 

[Arabella2424]

One handsome boy you got there First it could be due the maturing he’s eating less, once they age are full grown they’ll slow down their food intake. Not for Veiled’s they eat till they drop. Second cup feeding takes time, some eat from it quickly will take ages or even keep refusing it. I’ve two of the last one. Therefore a feeder run could do the trick, because they will see the movement and get attracted to it.

That’s a good idea. I didn’t think about trying a different feeder bowl thanks for the reassurance that it might take a while I’ve just been so worried!

 

[Sonny13]

That’s a good idea. I didn’t think about trying a different feeder bowl thanks for the reassurance that it might take a while I’ve just been so worried!

No problem and as long as we keep worrying we’re taking good care of them

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Even though you’ve been tong feeding without incident, it is quite risky. We aren’t as quick to release as chameleon tongues are to grab and pull and too many have gotten tongue injuries from this. Some have even ended up losing their tongue. There’s several different styles of feeding stations available that should entice your handsome guy. If you have a screen door, the shooting gallery is my favorite. https://tkchameleons.com/products/shooting-gallery?variant=30018608595032 Then there is https://www.fullthrottlefeeders.com/ and a similar style is https://sunsetchameleons.com/product-category/chameleons/chameleon-feeders/ Plus there’s different variations on these on Etsy. Whichever you choose, you want to hang it where it is easily visible from basking area.
On a different note and something which you haven’t asked about…I love that you have such a dense amount of live plants. But I’m not seeing any branches or vines. Are they hidden in the plants or have you not been able to secure them?

 

[Beman]

Hey there. I would switch to a feeder run. This is a more natural transition for them and more like free feeding. Cup feeding takes time. And they do not always take to it. Get something like a full throttle feeder run or the shooting gallery by TK chameleons. Place at basking level so he can see the insects moving around in it.

Does he have any open exposed branches to bask in without plants being on top of the branches or over them? Looks very full at the top which will limit his ability to bask properly and get the UVI levels needed. I have seen this lead to health issues. The front right plant would be better to pull the pot out from below it and drop it on the ground to allow more open space at the top for him to move around. It will then create more hiding areas lower behind the plant.

 

[Arabella2424]

Hi. Even though you’ve been tong feeding without incident, it is quite risky. We aren’t as quick to release as chameleon tongues are to grab and pull and too many have gotten tongue injuries from this. Some have even ended up losing their tongue. There’s several different styles of feeding stations available that should entice your handsome guy. If you have a screen door, the shooting gallery is my favorite. https://tkchameleons.com/products/shooting-gallery?variant=30018608595032 Then there is https://www.fullthrottlefeeders.com/ and a similar style is https://sunsetchameleons.com/product-category/chameleons/chameleon-feeders/ Plus there’s different variations on these on Etsy. Whichever you choose, you want to hang it where it is easily visible from basking area.
On a different note and something which you haven’t asked about…I love that you have such a dense amount of live plants. But I’m not seeing any branches or vines. Are they hidden in the plants or have you not been able to secure them?

I know this about the tong feeding and it’s definitely a main reason I’m trying to switch over to cup feeding thank you for the links and suggestions I’m definitely going to look into a different feeder. Yes there are a lot of branches hidden in the brush. He explores all over and has a branch dedicated for basking. I know it looks like he doesn’t have alot but it’s mostly because the plants cover it all up. I do want to add some more towards the bottom but he does climb down the main stem of the wood I have in the center of the cage when he needs to. He also climbs on the more sturdy plants to get lower if he needs to. But the top is very branch heavy it just doesn’t look like it.

 

[Arabella2424]

Hey there. I would switch to a feeder run. This is a more natural transition for them and more like free feeding. Cup feeding takes time. And they do not always take to it. Get something like a full throttle feeder run or the shooting gallery by TK chameleons. Place at basking level so he can see the insects moving around in it.

Does he have any open exposed branches to bask in without plants being on top of the branches or over them? Looks very full at the top which will limit his ability to bask properly and get the UVI levels needed. I have seen this lead to health issues. The front right plant would be better to pull the pot out from below it and drop it on the ground to allow more open space at the top for him to move around. It will then create more hiding areas lower behind the plant.

He does have a lot of branches at the top. I have the plants pulled in the front and around to allow him to hide behind them but there are many branches towards the top to allow for basking in his heat bulb and uvb. I want to add more branches towards the bottom but he does have a good heat gradient to where he can get to and plenty of places to soak up all the uvb. I definitely appreciate the concern though and I’ll definitely prioritize getting some more branches for him. There’s a branch directly behind the stem of that front plant you’re talking about that he hides behind occasionally. A few stems on the palm plant in the back are bulky enough that he hangs on them occasionally and those branches definitely allow for uv exposure. Definitely gunna order some more branches though thanks!

 

[Arabella2424]

Hi. Even though you’ve been tong feeding without incident, it is quite risky. We aren’t as quick to release as chameleon tongues are to grab and pull and too many have gotten tongue injuries from this. Some have even ended up losing their tongue. There’s several different styles of feeding stations available that should entice your handsome guy. If you have a screen door, the shooting gallery is my favorite. https://tkchameleons.com/products/shooting-gallery?variant=30018608595032 Then there is https://www.fullthrottlefeeders.com/ and a similar style is https://sunsetchameleons.com/product-category/chameleons/chameleon-feeders/ Plus there’s different variations on these on Etsy. Whichever you choose, you want to hang it where it is easily visible from basking area.
On a different note and something which you haven’t asked about…I love that you have such a dense amount of live plants. But I’m not seeing any branches or vines. Are they hidden in the plants or have you not been able to secure them?

Question about the feeders. How do the bugs not escape that?

 

[MissSkittles]

Question about the feeders. How do the bugs not escape that?

Very few figure out that they can, at least with the shooting gallery that I use. The most escapes that I’ve witnessed were - bsfl squirming their way out the bottom, small roach nymphs squeezing their way thru between the feeder and the screen and me ‘flicking’ the screen (to get a feeder out of the corner where it’s trying to hide) propelling a feeder out thru the opening.
I forgot to ask…have you had your guy tested for parasites? That’s always a good thing to check and potentially rule out anytime there’s any feeding issue.
It’s next to impossible to know what people know and don’t know, so I personally err on the side of caution and ‘mother hen’ people.

 

[Arabella2424]

Very few figure out that they can, at least with the shooting gallery that I use. The most escapes that I’ve witnessed were - bsfl squirming their way out the bottom, small roach nymphs squeezing their way thru between the feeder and the screen and me ‘flicking’ the screen (to get a feeder out of the corner where it’s trying to hide) propelling a feeder out thru the opening.
I forgot to ask…have you had your guy tested for parasites? That’s always a good thing to check and potentially rule out anytime there’s any feeding issue.
It’s next to impossible to know what people know and don’t know, so I personally err on the side of caution and ‘mother hen’ people.

Thank you! I haven’t but it’s a good idea