Zeus the panther

[l0u1ss]

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This is my new little guy, Zeus. He's a 5 month old Nosy be panther from Jim Flaherty of The Chameleon Company. He arrived Thursday happy and healthy . The experience ordering from Jim was excellent and very professional, I recommend them to anyone looking to order. He's drinking and eating like he should. The only thing is, Im having trouble getting him to eat out of container. He will eat free range insects without a problem but Id like to feed him out of a container and he seems to snub those insects. Im using a clear tupperware right now, not sure if he's afraid of it or what. If anyone has any advice or ideas for what they offer their insects in that would be great. A few pictures of his enclosure
4'x2'x2' custom build enclosure

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Plant box and drain system

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Light box I made using a garbage pail so he can get pure unfiltered uvb and him nor any critters can escape. Daylight bulb for plants and repti sun 5.0

 

[carol5208]

Some prefer to not cup feed which is not a bad thing. It is nice to be able to keep track of what they eat in the cup though.It is better not to use anything that is clear as they may shoot at the cup from the outside and could injure their tongue. Something opaque, is a better choice where they can see movement but have to go over the top of the cup to eat.

 

[Kath44]

Hes a cutie. Kath.

 

[l0u1ss]

Some prefer to not cup feed which is not a bad thing. It is nice to be able to keep track of what they eat in the cup though.It is better not to use anything that is clear as they may shoot at the cup from the outside and could injure their tongue. Something opaque, is a better choice where they can see movement but have to go over the top of the cup to eat.

thanks for the response. I didn't mean clear it is opaque, sorry. He ate a couple meal worms out of a dixie cup yesterday but seems to be much more interested in crickets I let free in the enclosure. As you said I would like to be able to monitor closely how much he eats daily and also try to keep crickets not roaming about the cage as I have woke up and found them on my chameleon in the past. The tupperware Ive been trying to use is about 4"x4" so maybe ill try to use something small and see if that works.

 

[carol5208]

Yeah it is a pain cause they hide and come out at night. They can cause injury to your chameleon by biting. Put a little food at the bottom of the cage for them and hopefully they will not bother your chameleon.

 

[l0u1ss]

Yeah it is a pain cause they hide and come out at night. They can cause injury to your chameleon by biting. Put a little food at the bottom of the cage for them and hopefully they will not bother your chameleon.

hmm thats an idea. Thanks for the help

 

[kplatvoet]

You might try something called the "sunny delight" feeder- I can never find it when I search but you cut a hole in the middle of the bottle and put screen on the back- so the crickets don't get out but climb up the back of the container on the screen-

 

[l0u1ss]

Excellent ill look into that

 

[Furcifer Brussis]

You might try something called the "sunny delight" feeder- I can never find it when I search but you cut a hole in the middle of the bottle and put screen on the back- so the crickets don't get out but climb up the back of the container on the screen-

The "Sunny Delight" feeder is awesome, especially for super worms. Crickets will jump off the screen into the cage sometimes. As for attaching the screen, i have found that melting screen to plastic with a wood burner is the way to go. It works with vinyl or aluminum screen but vinyl screen can be (and eventually will be) chewed through by the crickets or the supers. Once you melt the screen onto whatever bottle you use (i use a milk jug), its not coming off! Drill some really small holes in the bottom of the jug so if the mister comes on when there are still feeders in the jug, they won't die.

 

[Psychedelic Chams]

I use a medium sunny d jug with closeline wire that has metal in it i hot glue all ends so no rust use regular mesh screen works great my panthers love it i just got my f1 ambilobe that is 3 months old to use it. If i were you i would put like 6 crickets in the cup and 4 out of it at first and eventually lower the amount that free range to zero and they will permanently use the cup. The cap works great to put food in for your feeders

 

[l0u1ss]

If i were you i would put like 6 crickets in the cup and 4 out of it at first and eventually lower the amount that free range to zero and they will permanently use the cup.

This is basically the approach I've been using. I started this morning just trying to get him to eat out of the dish and he wouldn't. So I let a few go and he ate them ravenously. I rinsed and repeated and he wouldn't eat out of dish. He ate meal worms out of a Dixie cup which is a lot smaller than the 4"x4" Tupperware I've been trying to use for crickets so I'm not sure if he's afraid of the Tupperware? He's only been in his new home for 3 days so maybe once he adjusts a little? I dk.

 

[Psychedelic Chams]

Your correct hes just getting use to it he wont get it over night took my chams a couple weeks to completely get use to it

 

[l0u1ss]

Your correct hes just getting use to it he wont get it over night took my chams a couple weeks to completely get use to it

Appreciate the help

 

[Psychedelic Chams]

No problem good luck with your young man

 

[l0u1ss]

Snowing in NY but Zeus doesn't mind. Ive had him a little over a week and he's doing great. A lot of his colors are starting to come in, Ill have to try and get some pics of him with something other than an iPhone. Although, he is still at a stage where he thinks I'm gonna eat him when I open the cage. Also, I wanted to add, I have seen a lot of threads with people saying, "my cham is always dark and looks very stressed." I was experiencing the same thing. Im sure theres a multitude of reasons why this could be, but my experience was it was a little too cold in his room. I bought a small space heater and put it in his room and he perked right up. Showing more relaxed colors and exploring his cage when he's not basking. Prior to the heater he would spend most of the day under the basking lamp very dark. Its a good feeling to see him happy. Anyway, heres a couple of not so great pics of him having his breakfast where 3 ft through the wall its a snow storm.

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[nj011908]

I also have a chameleon from jim, he is absolutely excellent, what is your supplement schedule. also my cham cup feeds and he did it right away after nedd eating for two days...he was lost in the mail... so make sure he gets water but, maybe skip a day and he will be hungry and will definitely go straight to the cup, i also always make sure he watches me drop a cricket into thecup in front of him...smart