Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey everyone,its been awhile..my cham has been acting crazy stubborn about food these days..he never has had a problem ever until i introduced super worms to him..hes now obsessed with superworms and has really stopped eatting everything else..hes still eatting butterworms and sometimes phoenix worms,but nothing other then that..i really want to get him back on crickets but he won't eat them anymore..in the last month hes only eatten 1 cricket..hes only been on 1 hunger strike in his life and its because of super worms..i was wondering if anyone has any ideas of how to get him back on crickets??i did try only offering him crickets during his hunger strike that lasted 2 weeks,but he wouldn't give in so i had to give in to him since it had been 2 weeks and he did lose some weight,but hes always been in very good health..hes actually shedding his front and back legs and his stomach now too..i just want him to had a better diet so he can live as long as possible(hes alittle over 1.5 years old now and i've owned him for 1.5 years)..i have always fed him a wide variety of feeders,but now its seems like hes stuck to super worms and butter worms now..i hope someone has some ideas..thanks alot
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Jonny Blaze
1.0 Nosy Be Panther
1 Bearded Dragon--sex not determined yet
0.1 Yorkshire terrier Brandy,10 years old
1.0 Golden lab-Dusty R.I.P May 16,2007,14.5 years old
1.0 Black lab "wiggler",2 years old
s136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/jonnyblaze_04/?sc=3

Chams often do this...decide on one food for a while. If you gutload your superworms well with fresh dark leafy greens, fortified cereal grains and fruit they will still be nutritious. He may eventually get tired of superworms and want a variety again. Hard to tell. There is only so much you can do to fight this...leave him alone for now, and if he gets a bit less enthusiastic about superworms let him fast and THEN offer him something new that is very active.

>>hey everyone,its been awhile..my cham has been acting crazy stubborn about food these days..he never has had a problem ever until i introduced super worms to him..hes now obsessed with superworms and has really stopped eatting everything else..hes still eatting butterworms and sometimes phoenix worms,but nothing other then that..i really want to get him back on crickets but he won't eat them anymore..in the last month hes only eatten 1 cricket..hes only been on 1 hunger strike in his life and its because of super worms..i was wondering if anyone has any ideas of how to get him back on crickets??i did try only offering him crickets during his hunger strike that lasted 2 weeks,but he wouldn't give in so i had to give in to him since it had been 2 weeks and he did lose some weight,but hes always been in very good health..hes actually shedding his front and back legs and his stomach now too..i just want him to had a better diet so he can live as long as possible(hes alittle over 1.5 years old now and i've owned him for 1.5 years)..i have always fed him a wide variety of feeders,but now its seems like hes stuck to super worms and butter worms now..i hope someone has some ideas..thanks alot
>>-----
>>Jonny Blaze
>>1.0 Nosy Be Panther
>>1 Bearded Dragon--sex not determined yet
>>0.1 Yorkshire terrier Brandy,10 years old
>>1.0 Golden lab-Dusty R.I.P May 16,2007,14.5 years old
>>1.0 Black lab "wiggler",2 years old
>>s136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/jonnyblaze_04/?sc=3

Maybe your chameleon is trying to tell you something - Ditch those nasty crickets! LOL
I'm with Carlton on this (hey buddy!), no harm in letting him have a superworm fix for a bit. Perhaps your friend is simply telling you that he does *NOT* like crickets-
No nutritional value in themselves
Low calcium
Loaded with internal parasites
smelly, stinky, noisy, and short lives.
Have you tried roaches? Much better than crickets.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi@yahoo.com

hey guys,thanks for the replies..i actually have been going to school in the city for the last few months and right now my mom is taking care of my chameleon..i come home on weekends sometimes to come see him..i don't think anyone likes him as much as me besides my mom..shes just as attached to him as i am..its pretty crazy cause when i first got him she hated the fact i was going to be feeding him bugs but now shes doing it and doesn't mind it as long as hes healthy..shes been doing a good job too..i don't know if she'd be able to deal with roaches though,also they are way more expensive..he doesn't eat too much anymore,he eats about 1-3 bugs a day..normally 1 though..so maybe roaches wouldn't be too bad if its possible..he just shed a week ago too so obviously 1 thing a day is enough for him..i hate superworms for doing this to him..hahaha..he never was picky before..let me know if anyone has any ideas on other things to feed him..thanks again for the replies..
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Jonny Blaze
1.0 Nosy Be Panther
1 Bearded Dragon--sex not determined yet
0.1 Yorkshire terrier Brandy,10 years old
1.0 Golden lab-Dusty R.I.P May 16,2007,14.5 years old
1.0 Black lab "wiggler",2 years old
s136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/jonnyblaze_04/?sc=3

>>i don't know if she'd be able to deal with roaches though,also they are way more expensive

Hrmm... don't know what to tell you about this 'thing with roaches' thing. Personally, I *LOVE* my exotic roaches. Can't stand crickets, they actually give me the creeps. I think it's because I see crickets as disease-ridden, full of parasites, and lacking in nutrition. In my mind, feeding crickets gut loaded crickets to your chameleon is akin to feeding, I don't know... raw pork fat stuffed with dog food to your dog.
Maybe you can work the nutrition angle on your mom. Convince her that roaches are much better, longer lived, and are quite nutritious in themselves.
Anyone here have the nutritional values of feeders?
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi@yahoo.com