Strategies for feeding?

Tarzanfam

Tarzanfam

Established Member
Hi again! So I have a 7 month old panther who looks and acts healthy, but is only 13 g. He is definitely small and I am trying to get him to eat more. He eats something every day and produces good poops, but he will only eat the silkworms I put out on branches. He will not hand feed and he will not eat from the cup or the shooting gallery in his cage. I have dubia's and crickets there for him! Occasionally he will eat a rogue cricket that gets out of the gallery and is just in his cage area, but I need some strategies for upping his intake! Thanks so much.
 
Great question!
I am sure others will chime in soon since many of us have dealt with similar issues.
1. Chameleons will eat only when they want to and if your watching they might not.
2. If your feeding an easy catch silkworm then why would he want to wait or try anything else?
Example: If I knew someone was bring a pizza at 5-- I probably would not even open the refrigerator. Similar but different..

The hand feeding is a trust thing and we just can't know what they are thinking. I currently have a one eye chameleon and if his good eye is watching, he will not eat in front of me. Plus the food has to be on his right side for him to see. But if he is interested it just takes a little longer to figure things out. I observe from a distance most of the time and he does fine on his own.
Hope this helps..

Can you share pictures? Thanks!
 
Last edited:
redhorse said:
Great question!
I am sure others will chime in soon since many of us have dealt with similar issues.
1. Chameleons will eat only when they want to and if your watching they might not.
2. If your feeding an easy catch silkworm then why would he want to wait or try anything else?
Example: If I knew someone was bring a pizza at 5-- I probably would not even open the refrigerator. Similar but different..

The hand feeding is a trust thing and we just can't know what they are thinking. I currently have a one eye chameleon and if his good eye is watching, he will not eat in front of me. Plus the food has to be on his right side for him to see. But if he is interested it just takes a little longer to figure things out. I observe from a distance most of the time and he does fine on his own.
Hope this helps..

Can you share pictures? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Thanks. He is definitely a shy eater, but is very personable when he is out for cleaning or to hang out on his ficus tree in our kitchen (his favourite field trip!) I feel like he won't hand feed because he just doesn't want to eat with company. I am wondering about moving his shooting gallery further back into his cage so he feels less vulnerable, even though that makes it harder for me to actually feed him and maintain it. I am also building a box to raise his cage up currently. Should be done by the weekend, so I hope that helps him as well. I let a few crickets out into the main cage (something our vet strongly advised against) and he was hunting them, so maybe he is just not a food dish kinda guy. I feel like moving his stuff might be confusing, but at the same time, he isn't using it anyhow. I will grab some pictures also.
 
Perfect! I enjoy reading about different strategies and making things different to see if it works..
Since he is still young, they do go on hunger strikes for a short period (sometimes but not all). (y)
 
redhorse said:
Perfect! I enjoy reading about different strategies and making things different to see if it works..
Since he is still young, they do go on hunger strikes for a short period (sometimes but not all). (y)
Click to expand...
Interesting. I have seen him slow down for shedding before (we have had him for 2 sheds), but he is so small for his age, I worry when I don't see him mowing down!
 
MissSkittles said:
You could try a Full Throttle type feeding station. Since he’s a shy eater, you could try hanging some fake plants on the outside of his enclosure over the Shooting Gallery.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I was thinking hiding the outside from the gallery would be a good idea. Fake plants would be perfect! I am just looking up the Full Throttle items too. I had seen them in other cages but didn't know what they were called! Thanks
 
Thanks all! I have moved his shooting gallery to the other side of his cage where it is a little harder for me, but more private for him. I have placed a fake plant on the outside of the cage to mask the outside world from his gallery view, and I ordered a different coloured cup for dubias because they never seem to climb the walls. They just stay in the bottom of the gallery! Silly things. I have also bookmarked the other feeder variety just in case this is not sufficient.
 
And in other news, he just had a really good poop...on my carpet! My kids freaked out and I just kept telling him what a good boy he is. Thank goodness my kids are old enough to know this does not mean they should poop on the carpet! hahahaha
 
Tarzanfam said:
Thanks all! I have moved his shooting gallery to the other side of his cage where it is a little harder for me, but more private for him. I have placed a fake plant on the outside of the cage to mask the outside world from his gallery view, and I ordered a different coloured cup for dubias because they never seem to climb the walls. They just stay in the bottom of the gallery! Silly things. I have also bookmarked the other feeder variety just in case this is not sufficient.
Click to expand...
You could try discoid roaches. They are almost the same as dubia, but I hear they are more active. Mine will climb the shooting gallery.
 
Tarzanfam said:
Where do you buy them? I haven't seen those before!
Click to expand...
Here is one place. https://www.thecritterdepot.com/products/discoid-roaches-for-sale
I’ve gotten mine which started my colony from various sellers on eBay and http://www.lindasgonebuggie.com/
Dubia are illegal in Florida, so discoid is what I have. I’d send you some to try, but I somewhat recently split my colony and gave half away, so am waiting for it to grow again.
You could also try Surinam roaches, which are pretty small even as adults and quite fast. They don’t fly but are adept climbers. For those you’d probably have to look on eBay.
 
MissSkittles said:
Here is one place. https://www.thecritterdepot.com/products/discoid-roaches-for-sale
I’ve gotten mine which started my colony from various sellers on eBay and http://www.lindasgonebuggie.com/
Dubia are illegal in Florida, so discoid is what I have. I’d send you some to try, but I somewhat recently split my colony and gave half away, so am waiting for it to grow again.
You could also try Surinam roaches, which are pretty small even as adults and quite fast. They don’t fly but are adept climbers. For those you’d probably have to look on eBay.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I just started raising silworms. Hatched my first set of eggs and had my first cacoon today. My husband is going to lose it or just laugh at me if I try to start roaches too! I will have to check these out.
 
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