Roaches too fast for him

[monkeymatches]

I breed lobster roaches for my tarantulas but they are too fast for my 16mo. old Panther cham. As soon as they are in the cage they scamper off and wedge themselves into the deepest darkest crack they can find. I havent found any cup that they can't crawl out of.

Any idea of how I can get him to eat these? Thanks.

 

[Marc10edora]

You can hand feed them with some tongs or tweezers. Next time, try dubia roaches. They are fat and full of moisture. They can't climb smooth surfaces or fly.

 

[Sara270]

You can hand feed them with some tongs or tweezers. Next time, try dubia roaches. They are fat and full of moisture. They can't climb smooth surfaces or fly.

I beg to differ. I raised the lid of my dubia enclosure the other night (40 gallon plastic container) and one flew off the egg crate which was pretty deep in the container and landed safely on the ground outside. Granted he did not fly far, but it was cool to see. They can fly, if they are given proper room. I don't think dubias could fly out of a feeder cup, but my comment is to get people to think twice if they have no lid on their colony.

 

[opihiman]

tossing them in the fridge for a short while before feeding will slow them down. Also placing them in a steep sided dish will keep them in one place while your cham is getting ready to eat.

Hope that helps

OPI

 

[Marc10edora]

I beg to differ. I raised the lid of my dubia enclosure the other night (40 gallon plastic container) and one flew off the egg crate which was pretty deep in the container and landed safely on the ground outside. Granted he did not fly far, but it was cool to see. They can fly, if they are given proper room. I don't think dubias could fly out of a feeder cup, but my comment is to get people to think twice if they have no lid on their colony.

True. I forgot to tell you about the males. The males can fly far if given the right condition. If it is a warm night they will take off. So feed the males by hand.

 

[sandrachameleon]

The fridge suggestion is a good one.
You can also break most of the roaches legs (yes, that's cruel, but getting eaten by a chameleon isnt a great experience either so the feeder-roach life sucks anyway)

 

[HmC]

well you can bucket feed him and put like an olive oil around the edge so they cant escape...those roaches are able to climb glass and plastic (from what i read). The easiest roaches to take care of though are lateralis roaches. my boyfriend had read that those are very healthy for chameleons and very tasty. they dont fly or climb plastic/glass!! just make sure to have food for them!! (aka blatta lateralis)

 

[monkeymatches]

Thanks everybody!

Those were some very interesting ideas...

 

[spencer k]

there is also a product called bug stop i beleive. its basically teflon paint that you can use in your feeding cup ect, and they cant crawl up it.

 

[ocdirtyjerz]

The fridge suggestion is a good one.
You can also break most of the roaches legs (yes, that's cruel, but getting eaten by a chameleon isnt a great experience either so the feeder-roach life sucks anyway)

Ehh! Whadda you from Canada or Jersey! WISE GUY

 

[ToniandGizmo]

tossing them in the fridge for a short while before feeding will slow them down. Also placing them in a steep sided dish will keep them in one place while your cham is getting ready to eat.

Hope that helps

OPI

I was going to say the same thing. I do this with my flys.

 

[sandrachameleon]

The fridge suggestion is a good one.
You can also break most of the roaches legs (yes, that's cruel, but getting eaten by a chameleon isnt a great experience either so the feeder-roach life sucks anyway)

Ehh! Whadda you from Canada or Jersey! WISE GUY

LOL. And if you remove the roaches head, you may find it tends to walk in circles and move more slowly too

 

[opihiman]

LOL. And if you remove the roaches head, you may find it tends to walk in circles and move more slowly too

I won't ask how you know this..... Too funny


OPI