Please HELP

[YogiGirl]

I'm baffled here... I can't seem to figure out how to feed my panther chameleon crickets that keep their supplements on them!

I have a 4 month old panther and I usually just put the crickets in the cage so he can free-range. I've tried putting them in a little feeder cup that hangs from a tree, but they usually just jump out and loose their dust (Miner-All). Plus he won't eat them from the cup half the time anyway! He's pretty small, so putting them in a deeper cup would make it hard for him to eat them also.

I want to make sure he's getting all the vitamins he needs (especially cuz he hasn't been looking totally healthy lately), but I'm stumped as to what to do!

 

[al2457ma]

You can try using a deeper cup and poke sticks threw it to allow it to get in and out freely and hang it close to him. another thing may be to chill the crickets down. They become inactive for a short time till they warm up again. this is short term but it would allow you to use a much shallower cup and hold it to him to eat. I know I am new here and my opinion may not be what you are looking for. I have used both. and both have worked. It all depended on the animal it self.

 

[reptilegod324]

i cut the calf off them but leave there thighs so they can jump out of my cu

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Personally, I don't think I would worry about it. The feeders will have enough supplement on them, even if you can't see it. The idea is NOT to have them coated in supplement. Just very lightly dusted. If most of the clumps of supplement are falling off the feeders, that is probably a good thing.

 

[Dave Weldon]

...The feeders will have enough supplement on them, even if you can't see it. The idea is NOT to have them coated in supplement. Just very lightly dusted. If most of the clumps of supplement are falling off the feeders, that is probably a good thing.

Howdy YogiGirl,

Most keepers usually put the feeders in a plastic bag along with the calcium dust and give it a shake until everything is lightly dusted. Then put the feeders in the chameleon enclosure to free-range or be cup-fed. As Gesang said, whatever stays stuck after that point is likely to be enough.

 

[Chameleons Canada]

What I do with small chams is put a pot on the cage with a small plant in the middle, so the cham can use it to climb down. I fill the pot with dirt enought so the crix can't climb out of it. Make sure the dirt is damped enought so it doesn't stick to the crix and the cham doesn't eat it by accident when he is hunting.

 

[YogiGirl]

Thanks for the suggestions! I rigged up a new feeding cup today that is a little deeper and put a bunch of crickets in it that did stay in there.

Only problem is: my cham went over to check it out, but wouldn't eat any of them... I think he's a little unsure of himself when it comes to shooting his tongue very far, and didn't know if he could reach the crickets in the deeper cup... He hasn't been looking as healthy lately though, so that also could be the reason though

 

[EC22]

Hi,

the problem with the cup is the ability of crix to jump out of the cup. I have a juvi ambilobe of about 5 months old and he did not like free ranging. The insects would hang at the bottom of the cage but he didn't go there too often. Another problem was that they could not reach the screen once they got to the bottom because there is a 3'' plastic tub. At 3.5 months old he was very small as he was not fed enough.

This is what I did to solve this:

I took a small, dark blue plastic pot of about 6'' in diameter (7-8'' height) and cut the front of it in a U shape. This way you can glue a piece of screen inside the pot for the crix to climb on (if you hold the cup in front of you you'll see a ''J'' cut out). The bottom needs holes for drainage. I cut holes and glued screen there as well. Use aluminum screen as fiber glass screen will be eaten by the feeders and they will escape. I hung the cup where my cham basks. The feeders were escaping at first (due to the 1'' height of the cup at the front) but I managed to find a way to avoid it. I take the crix in a small container with lid and put them in the freezer for 3 min or until they don't move. You obviously don't wanna kill them so be careful. I then cut their hind legs and dust/place them in the cup. The first time I installed the cup my cham freaked out and did not eat for 1-2 days. After that he got hungry and since then he growed so much, eating 10-15 med-large crix a day. When I first started this system he weighed 8g, he now weighs 31g.

If your cham still doesn't wanna eat from the cup maybe you can try a different color (transparent or lighter colors).

Hope this helps!

Etienne

 

[chameleon97]

I'm baffled here... I can't seem to figure out how to feed my panther chameleon crickets that keep their supplements on them!

I have a 4 month old panther and I usually just put the crickets in the cage so he can free-range. I've tried putting them in a little feeder cup that hangs from a tree, but they usually just jump out and loose their dust (Miner-All). Plus he won't eat them from the cup half the time anyway! He's pretty small, so putting them in a deeper cup would make it hard for him to eat them also.

I want to make sure he's getting all the vitamins he needs (especially cuz he hasn't been looking totally healthy lately), but I'm stumped as to what to do!

i dust the crickets, put them in a glass jar. my cham crawls inside! her tail an feet stick out, and she hangs on. its cool. you could give her the cup instead of hanging it from a tree.

 

[chameleon97]

Personally, I don't think I would worry about it. The feeders will have enough supplement on them, even if you can't see it. The idea is NOT to have them coated in supplement. Just very lightly dusted. If most of the clumps of supplement are falling off the feeders, that is probably a good thing.

i have a little bit of dust in my jar. the crickets walk around in it so their belly and legs have some. i never dust crickets.