To cup feed or not

[MNChams]

I have two baby panthers coming, one is about 3 months old and the other is 4 months. I am buying crickets to prepare for their arival. I have to check with the breeder for size on the crickets between small and medium.

Should I set up the cages for cup feeding? Or should I just plan on dumping the crickets in the cage so they can move around and hunt them down? I like the idea of keeping them active and moving around. But then I've read a lot of posts on here about people who cup feed. I've got small cages for the babies so they can reach all their prey if I let them hunt. Which is a better method for the Chameleons?

 

[Miss Lily]

If you free range the food so they can hunt you will have to remove all the uneaten crickets at the end of the day. They will bite your chameleons as they sleep if you leave them in there.

Cup feeding definitely has it's advantages - it's easier to just take the cup out plus you can see at a glance how much food has been eaten. I have cup fed Amy from the day I got her. The next morning when I got up she was sat on the vine where I put the cup waiting for her brekkie, lol! I cup feed crix and supers and hand feed her locusts.

 

[MNChams]

If you free range the food so they can hunt you will have to remove all the uneaten crickets at the end of the day. They will bite your chameleons as they sleep if you leave them in there.

Cup feeding definitely has it's advantages - it's easier to just take the cup out plus you can see at a glance how much food has been eaten. I have cup fed Amy from the day I got her. The next morning when I got up she was sat on the vine where I put the cup waiting for her brekkie, lol! I cup feed crix and supers and hand feed her locusts.

Thanks for the info. You made some good points. I didn't realize that the crickets would bite the chams. But won't the crickets just jump out of the dish anyways? I know that I can put cricket food in the dish to keep them their but I would imagine that some would still jump out if not eaten right away. Maybe I'd have to feed fewer crickets more often throughout the day so he can catch them all each time.

 

[dragongoddess]

I recently picked up this suggestion for simulated free rage and it has worked great for my chams. Screen is attached to the back of the cut water bottle and the chams hunt them when they climb up but they do not roam the cage.

 

[nick barta]

There are advantages to both. The above milk container idea is great, as is a coffee cup for cup feeding. The cup feeding will still end up giving you some free range crickets, trust me...

Super worms, horns and silks are best hung low on the screen of the cage (or milk jug feeder), so as they climb up the motion will trigger the feeding. Blue Bottle flies are by far the most moving feeder out there, and they actually will fly within reach, no matter where your cham is.

Nick

 

[MNChams]

There are advantages to both. The above milk container idea is great, as is a coffee cup for cup feeding. The cup feeding will still end up giving you some free range crickets, trust me...

Super worms, horns and silks are best hung low on the screen of the cage (or milk jug feeder), so as they climb up the motion will trigger the feeding. Blue Bottle flies are by far the most moving feeder out there, and they actually will fly within reach, no matter where your cham is.

Nick

I would imagine the flies are a little more tricky to handle. They would probably escape from me before I can get the cage door shut and be flying all over my house. Would be fun to watch the Chams eat them though. I'll give it a try!

 

[Miss Lily]

I remove the back 'hopping' legs from my crix. They can't jump out of the cup then! I use an empty margarine tub rather than a cup.

 

[sandrachameleon]

No reason why you shouldnt do BOTH.

When you've time to watch, Put just a few crickets in free-range, let the chameleons hunt them all down. Only put in as many as they will eat within a few minutes.
On those days where you cant be there to ensure every last cricket is eaten, use an opaque bowl or cup (deep enough that the crickets or roaches cant get out) placed below a favourite perch/branch.

Silkworms wont bite chameleons, so you can set those out on any branch and walk away without worry. Same for butterworms, stick insects, cabbage loppers and the like.

Superworms and roaches could bite a sleeping chameleon, so treat those similar to crickets.

Using cup feeding half the time will probably cause the chameleons to associate that bowl with food. Which is a good thing if you later want to introduce them to a new food or slower moving prey that they might not otherwise go for. Bowl feeding also allows you to monitor exactly how much is being consumed. Plus, putting a small piece of carrot or other gutload in the bowl keeps the crickets fed and thus more nutritious.

 

[Crazy Pet Lady]

I got the whole idea down, but my question is HOW to remove the legs [from crikkies]. I've tried pulling them off but usually end up killing the cricket. (gross)and also how to catch them so you CAN get the legs off. Little buggers are way too fast for me to catch. I've been just putting some in and letting the little guy go huntin'. I've not seen any free roaming crickets at bedtime, and have not noticed any bites on Igor. Altho, I have found a few roaming in my house, No biggee. If they have the legs on they can jump like over a foot in the air. No cup is gonna contain them if they can jump. I'm confused about how the milk jug cutaway with the screen works, or rather how could it work if they have all the legs?? What gives?

 

[Miss Lily]

I got the whole idea down, but my question is HOW to remove the legs [from crikkies]. I've tried pulling them off but usually end up killing the cricket. (gross)and also how to catch them so you CAN get the legs off. Little buggers are way too fast for me to catch. I've been just putting some in and letting the little guy go huntin'. I've not seen any free roaming crickets at bedtime, and have not noticed any bites on Igor. Altho, I have found a few roaming in my house, No biggee. If they have the legs on they can jump like over a foot in the air. No cup is gonna contain them if they can jump. I'm confused about how the milk jug cutaway with the screen works, or rather how could it work if they have all the legs?? What gives?

I put the tub of crix in the fridge first to slow them down. Then I use one pair of tweezers to hold the cricket just behind it's head, then with another pair of tweezers, squeeze their knee caps and the legs should just come away from the body. Sometimes you have to pinch the legs nearer to the body. I found that the larger crix tend to drop their legs easier. I also do the same for the locusts too. I did this when I got my first cham as it was the only way I could cope with the nasty icky things, lol! I still remove the crix legs so they stay in the feeder cup, and I hand feed Amy her locusts one by one for brekkie! The crix are left in the cup so she can snag one when she gets peckish.

 

[Damaranum]

If you free range the food so they can hunt you will have to remove all the uneaten crickets at the end of the day. They will bite your chameleons as they sleep if you leave them in there.

I really need to disagree that food needs to be removed at the end of the day. A healthy chameleon will not be bitten / die from crickets. Only animals which are sick get those problems. I always put flies/crickets/roaches free in the terrariums. Only any kind of worms are feeded by hand of from bowls.

 

[sandrachameleon]

To remove rear jumping legs from a cricket, simply hold the cricket with a couple fingers and use two other fingers (other hand) to squeeze the top of the leg. It will pop right off. Or pinch it off. Or use your finger nails to remove or even just break the leg. Or scissors. Obviously, if you havent the manual dexterity to catch a cricket, removing legs might be difficult for you. In which case, just use smaller crickets or a deeper cup.

Crickets dont jump straight up. They jump on an upwards angle, so with a deep enough cup (as opposed to wide) this means the crickets wont jump out.

Contrary to the post above, Crickets can and will chew on sleeping chameleons; the chameleons need not be ill for this to happen. Its well documented. So while it may not happen often, it is a real risk easily avoided.

 

[rmhawk]

As a noob i found this helpful

 

[lisa h]

In the brief time I had my Rudis, the female would sometimes shoot her tongue at the bottom of the cup. I worried that she'd hurt her tongue. Does anyone have a problem with this? The cup was fairly opaque, but she could still see the movement from underneath. The boy ate just fine. I'm planning on getting a couple more in the next while. Should I use a solid cup, or is the placement of the cup more important? I want my entire enclosure done before the chams come.

 

[CHAMaDdIcT]

ya, i love watching my cham hunt down and nail crix off the side of the cage and off leaves but you have to take out the ones that hide, cuz theyll come at night to ambush your cham

 

[sandrachameleon]

In the brief time I had my Rudis, the female would sometimes shoot her tongue at the bottom of the cup. I worried that she'd hurt her tongue. Does anyone have a problem with this? The cup was fairly opaque, but she could still see the movement from underneath. The boy ate just fine. I'm planning on getting a couple more in the next while. Should I use a solid cup, or is the placement of the cup more important? I want my entire enclosure done before the chams come.

yes, a solid coloured opaque cup, not at all see-through.

 

[lisa h]

yes, a solid coloured opaque cup, not at all see-through.

Thank you. I'll set that up. Where in the cage -- mid, low? How many cups can I put? Is it better to have more than one so they have to do a bit of hunting? I do plan to put a few loose crix in every once in a while.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Thank you. I'll set that up. Where in the cage -- mid, low? How many cups can I put? Is it better to have more than one so they have to do a bit of hunting? I do plan to put a few loose crix in every once in a while.

I have two in most of my cages. One higher up, one lower down. Both are below branches that I know the chameleon likes to use.

 

[lisa h]

I have two in most of my cages. One higher up, one lower down. Both are below branches that I know the chameleon likes to use.

Good to know. I'll set them up and then when the critters get here I will adjust to suit where they like to be. Thank you!

 

[DJnSoCal]

Another consideration when cup-feeding is the chameleon getting "used" to a certain distance when shooting their tongue. If you search the forum, there are a lot of instances where members believe cup feeding may have caused issues with their tongues.

There are, of course, other members who have experienced hyper extension with free-range feeding.

We free-range all of our chameleons, but I like the idea of mixing up some free-range and cup-feeding. If you're worried about crickets, either don't feed them or cup-feed them.

Keep an eye on what you're feeding and if you're concerned, take it out if it's not eaten and try again later.

A few threads on some of the topics we covered... in case you'd like some additional light reading:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/who-else-keeping-their-13878/

https://www.chameleonforums.com/cup-feed-23351/

https://www.chameleonforums.com/neccesary-remove-uneaten-crickets-24278/

https://www.chameleonforums.com/chameleon-intelligence-24591/