Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I posted this in the wrong forum so posted it here instead.

I am new to chams (Purchased my first last night) but not knew to reptiles. My last was a bearded dragon that lived to be 9.5 years old.

If you look in the primary cham forums you'll see picts and info about my cage setup, so I won't go over that here.

What I'm wanting to know about is the feeding. I want to do free roaming at some point, but right now I want to feed the cham out of a bowl or something so that I can monitor his feeding and make sure he is getting enough.

I have placed a smooth sided metal mixing bowl that is about 3.5" deep and 4" in diameter in the middle of the cage surounded by my hibiscus so that he can climb down close and get them from any angle. Does this sound correct? I have heard that you don't want to use a clear or see-through bowl because the cham might try to feed through the bowl because they see the movement.

I'm sticking with pin-head and small crix for now as that is what the pet store has been feeding him. I have the Calcium dust for most feedings and the dust with D3 for 2-3 times a month.

Any other thoughts/hints? I did all the research I could prior to purchasing and I want to be sure I do the best I can. Thanks!
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0.1 Feline (Kelly)
1.0 Canine (Skeeter)

Some (by no means all) chameleons find shiny surfaces (like metal or bright white) difficult to feed from. If this seems to be the case, You might try a dark coloured ceramic bowl.

If you suspect the cham is not eating the insects within a few hours, you may want to re-dust andor consider including somethin for the feeder insects themselves to nibble on (I'm sure you already know all about gut loading) andor have a bit of the supplement dust in the bottom of the feeding bowl (to get stuck directly to tongue when heshe shoots for insects).

While about 50% of the time mine eat "free range", I have two or three feeding cups placed at different heights in my cages as well. I tend to use dark coloured plastic or ceramic (dark green coffee mugs near plants are a favourite). Feeding cups are handy if the cham turns out to be a slow hunter, or the insects can easily get away need to be contained.

If I recall correctly, yours is an all screen cage, but maybe you could screw a ring brace to one of the corners, to hold a cup?

Final thought: the sooner you are able to add in more variety (appropriately sized) of feeder insect the better.
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Sandra
BC Canada

Ok, I will get a non-reflective surface in order for better feeding. I let a couple free roam and didn't see them but since I didn't see him eat I really don't know.

I will get a non-reflective surface for him to eat from. I haven't yet seen him eat, but I can't find any crix in the cage and the bowl was empty.

I have already ordered phoenix worm and more crix from Mulberry farms. I also ordered crix food from there that I will supplement with other veggies.

I do have an all screen cage (other than the bottom of course!). It really wouldn't be hard to attach a cup holder but I think the location right now is just about perfect (I'll have to take a pix and post it) as it is right in the middle of the hibiscus which allows all kinds of access.

Thanks for the advice!
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0.1 Feline (Kelly)
1.0 Canine (Skeeter)

I've changed the bowl out for a plastic solid colored one I bought today.

I've still not seen him eat and this would be going on 3 days. I saw him poop the first day but I would think that was from the previous feedings (he was in a much smaller cage - about 1' by 1' by 2' with 3 chams). I have seen him drinking several times though...

Should I move him into another, smaller cage for feeding, or let the crix run free? I suppose I could modify my current cage to make it much smaller but I really would prefer not to do that.
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0.1 Feline (Kelly)
1.0 Canine (Skeeter)

that he's drinking is a good sign.
I've been away from kingsnake for awhile - I hope he starting eating
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Sandra
BC Canada