Still having to force feed...

[CaptainMorgantown]

Hey everyone!

I am still force feeding my MBD rescue, and I'm just wondering how much longer I will have to do this. It has been about two months since she has been in my care, and she shows no sign of trying or wanting to eat on her own. When I put food in her mouth she will eat, but this literally takes me about an hour every day. This isn't really a long time, but I am a theater major and I have a play coming up which mean I won't get home until 11pm every night. I'm just worried that I'm going to be too exhausted to feed her, and it would just be very nice to just put a few worms or crickets in there and leave her alone.

Does anyone have any suggestions or personal experience on this problem?

 

[kinyonga]

Can she use her tongue at all?

 

[CaptainMorgantown]

If she can, I have not seen it.

 

[CaptainMorgantown]

I am mostly looking for different feeding methods that might entice her to try to use her tongue.

 

[PantherEnvy]

feeding dish?

 

[CaptainMorgantown]

I tried that already :/

 

[Cainschams]

Have you tried hornworms or silkies? Something fast moving like blue bottle flies might trigger a feeding response.

 

[CaptainMorgantown]

I have tried silkworms, and she seemed to like them, but she didn't really pay any attention to them until they were in her mouth. I am a bit afraid to try hornworms, because of how fast they grow. I feel like if I order small ones, they are going to get too big for her to swallow. I've never heard of blue bottle flies. Where can I get those?

Also, I took a video of me feeding her, and if I can ever get it to upload, I will put it on here.

 

[millerman6401]

i had to hand feed my MBD cham for a while, i started off force feeding and eventually he just started to take it from my hands without his tounge. then about one month later as i was getting some crix ready for him he just zapped it out of my fingers like there was nothing wrong, you just never know with some of these guys

 

[CaptainMorgantown]

How long total did he take for him to eat it from your hand?

 

[millerman6401]

well i fed him every day by force but tried to let him take it from me before i forced him. it took about 15-30 days to get him to take them from my hands and then another month before he shot at them. all of my chams go nuts over superworms but only if they are climbing on the screen, so maybe try that everyday too