Terrified of my Chams food

[Insanityallthetime]

I love my Chameleon Ranger so much, but his food is starting to scare me..


As of right now I have a lot of little insects/bugs for my Cham Ranger to eat these include are are not limited to:

Crickets
Mealworms
Superworms
Hornworms
Silkworms
Waxworms

His diet is mainly Crickets and on occasion I treat him with worms, but lately I have become terrified of his Hornworms and Silkworms, I don't feed them to him often but when I do I am thoroughly creeped out and or terrified, so I leave the treats/care of hornworms and silkworms to someone else, but I'm also not afraid to handle the mealworms, super worms and waxworms.

Should I just use tongs every time I feed them to him, or try to "man up"
I'm just wondering if anyone else has their issues with their Chams food on occasion or often or am I just the only one?

Me and Ranger say thanks in advance.

 

[Jupiter]

I mean bugs bother a lot of people so you're definitely not alone. Personally I don't have any problem with them except for the supers, because I've heard they can really bite when they want.

 

[Miss Lily]

Tweezers can be your best friend! When I got my first cham 5 years ago I couldn't even hold a tub of crickets, that's how bad I was. But you find ways to cope (I put the crickets in the fridge for a few minutes first to slow them down). Its amazing what you can do and overcome when you want something badly enough! You could use a pair of tweezers to place the horns or silks on a branch so your cham can zap them from there.

 

[Haze1981]

Worms freak me out too. I am now able to just about deal with a meal worm (not for my chameleon but my leopard gecko) and I am slowly getting there with crickets. Locusts I really don't like but tweezers are the best thing ever. You are not alone in your dislike of bugs. I have just got some new crickets today and they are currently chilling in the fridge so they don't move too much when I put them in my cricket keeper. You find ways of dealing with them. I have ordered my 1st lot of roaches today so I will see how I am with them when they arrive. Oh the things we endure for our animals

 

[K9Luvn]

It used to be an issue for me... but now there is nothing I don't handle by hand. I got so tired of trying to catch things with tongs as I just didn't have the patience for it. It was much quicker to just scoop things up by hand or fingers. With crickets you can try a cricket tube or toilet paper/paper towel cardboard insert. The cricket crawl in them and then you just tap them in a cricket dusting cup and again shake them into the feeding cup.

Now bugs are so easy for me if I am out somwhere away from home and I see a good juicy grashopper I will grab it and stick it in my purse or pocket until I get home! Drives my family nuts!

 

[Psychobunny]

I actually think silk worms are kinda cute

Roaches used to bother me, but I am used to them now.

Those huge super worms do bother me a bit, so I don't buy them any more.
They do bite too.

Horn worms are cool, but I don't buy those very often because they get so
messy and gross.

 

[kokom05lb]

My husband is terrified of bugs! it took me 3 months to convince him to let me us roaches. But is theres a spider or anything else he calls for me. So guess who gets to feed the reptiles!

 

[AgnesTheCham]

I was terrified of all my chams food at first! haha but I just learned to man up and face it!

 

[Olimpia]

There's no reason you have to get over your fear completely, no one is forcing you to touch them. I have a collection of tongs that I use when moving bugs around or offering them as food. I'm not afraid of most feeders (except roaches) but I still rather not handle them if I don't have to, even crickets iritate the skin on my hands if I mess with a lot of them.

I must have 4-5 tongs of varying sizes and styles (rubber tipped and not), and I love them. Plus my hand-eye coordination has improved, I'm like a ninja now catching a loose cricket/roach with tongs.

 

[little leaf]

I had to laugh when I read this- I was SO freaked out by the roaches, I was even told they would jump in my mouth- !!! ( that was a big fat LIE ) I had nightmares about them, felt like they were ALWAYS on me ! in my socks, shirt - you name it- but in time, I have grown to be able to be around them - I have even touched one now and then - lol

silks are nice, no need to fear them - but we are taught growing up - DO NOT TOUCH BUGS ! but you will get used to all of them in time- I have only been bothered by the roaches, everything else we used to go hunt down for fishing bait ~ so the rest never bothered me , hang in there - you will get used to them

 

[little leaf]

I'm like a ninja now catching a loose cricket/roach with tongs.

LOL - can you teach us oh wise one ( I still HATE to catch roaches )

 

[KingJulian]

I can't touch the feeders...that's my boyfriends job, but I've found ways around actually touching them...my cricket keeper has 2 black tubes and I wait till there's a cricket in it and shake it into the cage (yes it's as graceful as it sounds) The things we do for our chameleons