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will be appearing live at...oh wait...wrong forum for that....
...sleep deprivation is a terrible thing.

Anyway...I got the silkworms from the evil petshop on Friday. I was supposed to get them on Thursday, but they "misplaced" them and to find them for me.

They are each about 2 inches long. I don't know if that's considered large or medium or what. But...they sure aren't pretty!

I stopped and grabbed a huge bunch of mulberry on the way home. These things eat like maniacs! I couldn't believe how fast they went through all that mulberry!!!

Zoe is afraid of silkworms!! I'm sure if chameleons could scream he would of. I put the silkie in with him, on a branch, about 6 inches away from him. So he could check it out, and get a good look at it. He checked it out for about a hot 5 seconds and then B-lined it up into the top corner of his cage...cowering, with his back to the silkworm. He wouldn't budge until I moved the silkie.
When I picked it up, and brought it closer to him he hissed violently at me, and actually made the motion to lunge at my hand. Usually he hisses but turns his head away from me.
I took the opportunity to drop the silkie into his mouth during one of his hissing fits, he immediatly spit it out.
We went through this routine a couple more times, until he finally ate it. I tried with a second one, and he spit it out over and over, so I quit.
The next day, I tried again...just putting the silkie in with him, which brought about the same fraidy cham behaviour.
During his hissing I tried to get him to eat another silkie...but he wouldn't. He mangled two of them, but spit them out rather than swallowing them.
Today, we tried yet again. Same routine. He did eat TWO during his hissy fit...but the second caused him to gag and retch quite a bit. So I dont' know if that's due to the fact that he doesn't like them, or if it was going down the "wrong way" or what.
I even got the spirolina and tried that on them to see if he'd be less afraid of them being in his cage...but...nope.
If I leave a silkie in with him he goes down low in his cage, the spot where he usually goes to the bathroom, and just stays there. I hate stressing him like that, but I don't know if I should just leave the silkie in with him so he realizes that it won't hurt him.

Man oh man...he's a difficult, fussy chameleon!
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Kim

You crack me up! Now that I have one of my own, it is even more hilarious as I have seen the many "colors" of Luna in the few short dyas we have been together!

Isn't it funny how picky some of these chams are??? Everyone raves about how much they like silkies yet Zoe hates them? Masterplan trying to get rid of roaches b/c his cham won't eat them (I a getting some of those so I will let you all know Luna's response) but others love them - well, at least their chams, do! LOL!

I have to say that of the herps I have known the chams truly do seem to have the most distinct personalities. I am sure beardie, gecko and other herp keepers will say the same about theirs, but I have anoles, geckos, tarantula and Luna - Luna wins, hands down!

later,
lele

>>will be appearing live at...oh wait...wrong forum for that....
>>...sleep deprivation is a terrible thing.
>>
>>Anyway...I got the silkworms from the evil petshop on Friday. I was supposed to get them on Thursday, but they "misplaced" them and to find them for me.
>>
>>They are each about 2 inches long. I don't know if that's considered large or medium or what. But...they sure aren't pretty!
>>
>>I stopped and grabbed a huge bunch of mulberry on the way home. These things eat like maniacs! I couldn't believe how fast they went through all that mulberry!!!
>>
>>Zoe is afraid of silkworms!! I'm sure if chameleons could scream he would of. I put the silkie in with him, on a branch, about 6 inches away from him. So he could check it out, and get a good look at it. He checked it out for about a hot 5 seconds and then B-lined it up into the top corner of his cage...cowering, with his back to the silkworm. He wouldn't budge until I moved the silkie.
>>When I picked it up, and brought it closer to him he hissed violently at me, and actually made the motion to lunge at my hand. Usually he hisses but turns his head away from me.
>>I took the opportunity to drop the silkie into his mouth during one of his hissing fits, he immediatly spit it out.
>>We went through this routine a couple more times, until he finally ate it. I tried with a second one, and he spit it out over and over, so I quit.
>>The next day, I tried again...just putting the silkie in with him, which brought about the same fraidy cham behaviour.
>>During his hissing I tried to get him to eat another silkie...but he wouldn't. He mangled two of them, but spit them out rather than swallowing them.
>>Today, we tried yet again. Same routine. He did eat TWO during his hissy fit...but the second caused him to gag and retch quite a bit. So I dont' know if that's due to the fact that he doesn't like them, or if it was going down the "wrong way" or what.
>>I even got the spirolina and tried that on them to see if he'd be less afraid of them being in his cage...but...nope.
>>If I leave a silkie in with him he goes down low in his cage, the spot where he usually goes to the bathroom, and just stays there. I hate stressing him like that, but I don't know if I should just leave the silkie in with him so he realizes that it won't hurt him.
>>
>>Man oh man...he's a difficult, fussy chameleon!
>>-----
>>Kim

Lol... That is hilarious. I wouldn't leave it in with him. Might to more harm than good. At least now he knows it will "go away". What if the wretched silkies start to take over his home. "That's MY stick!!" Lmao. I can just picture it now. You'll come home and he'll be by the door with his bags packed. Yes, yes.... Sleep deprivation IS a bad thing! lol
Anyway.... I honestly wouldn't leave it with him if he's THAT scared of it. When I first tried silkies with Orion she ate one and spit the other half out. Then a few weeks later I tried again and she liked them. Now that she's preggo she ate three in one day, and now won't touch them... They smell bad if they die! :/
I would just keep it up and see how it goes. At least you got some into him... maybe it will get easier as he realizes hissy or not it's going in. What other worms have you tried?
Hopefully he'll come around soon, but in the mean time, it's great how he has his "spunk" back! I think it's great that he seems to be doing so well
All the best
~Lindsay

Big silkworms tend to scare chemeleons sometimes...don't know why. try feeding him a smaller one. If that don't work, give him something that you know he likes. After he's eaten it, then introduce the silkworm. I "tricked" all of my chameleons(the big veild, and the three deremensis) to eat roaches by doing this. Also, holding the silkworm so that only a part of it is visible also works. Their movement and size seems to scare them, probably an instinctive reaction to a snake-like animal. Not surprising that they would be afraid of snakes, and hte silkworms movements can be snake-like. If that don;t work, I've heard green dye is great...

Eric A

i've never had a problem getting them to eat any sized silkie, just the very first one.........
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Kim-

I already made one suggestion on that other forum! You may try stimulating him by showing him another male or try breeding him with a female. This will trigger there defense response, and may trigger him to be more aggressive when it comes to eating. Best of luck!
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John W. Lucas

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