Question from newbie - crickets roaming the cage

[Eileen]

First off, I am so glad to find you all. I am new and learning so much. I've had my female veiled chameleon for just a little over a week. The first day I fed her she ate 3 small crickets out of the homemade half gallon milk jug feeder hung on the side of the cage, plus two that had escaped and crawled up the screen.. she went right up after them. The next day my new "real" feeder came in the mail.. and it looked so much better than the milk jug, I was excited to set it up. It didn't take her long to eat out of it, she even climbed on it herself. But the day before yesterday she only ate one cricket. several had escaped into the cage, but I found them and got them out before night. Yesterday I don't think she ate any of the crickets. They all sat very still down inside the feeder, and it was like she couldn't even see them. I left the feeder in there all day and finally removed it. Only 2 crickets were in there, one was in the cage. I reached in and got it before dark. But my question is, how long should I leave the feeder in there before taking it out if she doesn't eat the crickets right away? And if one is in the cage on the screen, how crucial is it for me to get it out of there before night? I have read where the crickets will bite the chameleon at night, and I don't want that! These are small crickets. Thanks for any advice! I'm attaching a picture. And yeah, I am getting rid of those plastic vines!.. but that's another thing I have questions about

 

[MissSkittles]

She might not have seen the crickets. You want the feeder to be a bit lower than the basking area, so that feeders even at the bottom of the station can be seen. There are other reasons for not eating as well, like the bugs being too big for her (need to be smaller than the space between her eyes), still a bit nervous & settling in & parasites. It’s always a great idea to have a fecal parasite check. Pet stores don’t do them. By law, vets have to see all animals they treat, so just about every vet requires a visit before they’ll do the test. We do have a list of vets who have shown good knowledge & experience with chameleons, but any exotics vet can do a wellness visit & fecal. You just need to be aware that many have outdated or minimal knowledge & might tell you to do something like give your girl soaks or something else that isn’t right. I’m not at home or have my iPad now, so don’t have access to vet list & not fond of the tiny phone keyboard. I’ll add to this when I get home a bit later.

 

[Eileen]

Well I hope she does not have a parasite. I think there is a vet in this area that does reptiles, I'll have to call them. Maybe I'll try moving the feeder down.

 

[nightanole]

I do not leave feeders in feeder in the cage for hours. They get one-two hours, then they get taken out and offered the next day. If they eat, they do not get fed the next day unless they are babies.

If i want hunger strikes, the easiest way to trigger them is have feeders in the cage 24/7. Once mine adults i only feed them big meals during the weekend, and during the week they might get a snack or two. But if i start feeding them as much as they want in a setting, every other day, boom im back to hunger strikes and it might be well over a week before they start feeding again.

On the other hand plenty of people have success with small meals every other day. Guess its whatever works, works.

 

[Eileen]

Thank you! I'm going to give this a try before I really start to worry. She is 6 months old, so I guess this is still considered a baby?

 

[kinyonga]

I always have free ranged the insects in the chameleon’s cages. The couple of times I’ve had one bite a chameleon enough to cause a problem was when the chameleon was sick. If they aren’t sick, they will kick off the annoying insect…but it also helped was that I always had greens and such for the crickets to eat while they were in the cage so it made it less likely that they would consider the chameleon to chomp on.

 

[Eileen]

I always have free ranged the insects in the chameleon’s cages. The couple of times I’ve had one bite a chameleon enough to cause a problem was when the chameleon was sick. If they aren’t sick, they will kick off the annoying insect…but it also helped was that I always had greens and such for the crickets to eat while they were in the cage so it made it less likely that they would consider the chameleon to chomp on.

great idea about the greens. I'm learning a lot. thanks!!

 

[kinyonga]

I would use a big lid, like a peanut butter jar lid and put chopped greens and veggies and a tiny bit of fruit that I would use to gut load the insects with in the lid and place the lid on the cage floor. It kept the uneaten insects (crickets, locusts, superworms, etc) gutloaded too.

 

[nightanole]

Thank you! I'm going to give this a try before I really start to worry. She is 6 months old, so I guess this is still considered a baby?

between 6-9 months you got eggs. So no def not a baby. And with females you want to restrict feeding so you dont get early eggs. So if you over feed a female, you will end up with eggs before she reaches full size.

 

[Eileen]

really?? I had no idea. So could she possibly be looking for a place to lay eggs? Because for the past 2 days she has been roaming all over the bottom of the cage.

 

[nightanole]

really?? I had no idea. So could she possibly be looking for a place to lay eggs? Because for the past 2 days she has been roaming all over the bottom of the cage.

Couldnt hurt to place the laying bin. Some folks leave the bin in all year around.