Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I received my first chameleon yesterday (2 1/2 month panther). I have the appropriate sized crickets and fruitflies, but I'm not sure how I should feed them to him. I thought that I'd be able to put a few crickets in a cup and he would just take them from there, but he is afraid of me and just tries to get away. I can't put the crickets in a shallow cup b/c they will jump out, but I'm not sure if his tongue would reach the bottom of a regular size cup if he was standing on the rim. As far as the fruit flies go, I opened up the container and they came rushing to the top and started jumping out. I need some good advice, tip, or tricks for feeding young ones. Please keep in mind that crickets or fruitflies roaming free in the cage are not an option.

Thanks in advance for your input.
Jeff

hi

i have had my first cham for just over a week now myself, a veiled , and i the same prob at first . the trick is that some chams like to hunt , mine wouldnt eat for 3 days after i got him, he is about 4 months old.a friend of mine told me to put about 5 to 7 crickets loose in his cage doused in calcium powder, and let him hunt them down. he may not eat for a few days couse he is getting used to his new enviroment. soon he should be snacking away . and dont worry their tongus are about the same legnth as their body so he can hit a cricket from afar. also make sure he is in a screened cage and not a aquarium, they need circulation of air and the glass of the aquarium will show his reflection and make him think another cham is near and stress him out plus it hold to much stale heat. try not to mess with him for about a weekso he can settle in...

I thought that I'd be able to put a few crickets in a cup and he would just take them from there, but he is afraid of me and just tries to get away. I can't put the crickets in a shallow cup b/c they will jump out, but I'm not sure if his tongue would reach the bottom of a regular size cup if he was standing on the rim. As far as the fruit flies go, I opened up the container and they came rushing to the top and started jumping out. I need some good advice, tip, or tricks for feeding young ones. Please keep in mind that crickets or fruitflies roaming free in the cage are not an option.

One way to feed your panther is dust his crix and put them in his feed cup. They are busy cleaning the dust off and not hopping around. You can place something in the front of the cage so he can't see you and feel comfortable eating..
I place adult crix in a 3 tall container and don't have escapees. For instance i put 7-8 crix in the morning and the ones that aren't eaten are still in there..
As for fruitflies someone else may be able to help you out as i never fed my babies fruitflies (need too much attention for me lol)..
Good Luck..

An idea for cup feeding is using an old platic milk jug. The handle on the jug will provide you with a place to help you hang it in you cage. I'll try to explain this the best I can. Do you remember the bird feeders you made in grade school??? You can get the general idea on how to cut out the front by the picture. If you attach screen all on the inside of the jug right up to the top, and provide food at the bottom, then the crickets will most likely stay put. The screen provides them with climbing space and allows your cham to see them moving.

Someone else had this idea first and posted a picture of it, but I cannot find it anywhere, so they may want to post the pic here to help you out better. I can't rememeber who it is.....

Anyway, hope this helps

Hi-

The feeding station you are talking about are the ones Bill Strand wrote about in the chameleon E-zine, click HERE to view it. Hope this helps!
-----
John W. Lucas

CHAMELEON PARADISE

CHAMELEONS ONLINE E-ZINE AUTHOR

Feeding Baby Chameleons
Caging Baby Chameleons

F. pardalis

Ambilobe Locale
Nosy Be Locale
Sambava Locale

Rhampholeon uluguruensis

Eggs Incubating-

F. pardalis - Ambilobe Locale

got SILKWORMS!

Photo © Chameleon Paradise 2003

n/p

n/p

Jeff,

At 2 1/2 months old don't bother with the fruit flies. Remove the hoppers off the crickets and they can't hop. A three week old cricket is large enough so you can remove thier hind legs. We remove the legs on as many as 75 to 150 crickets when we feed them. However, we prefer silk worms and roaches to crickets.

If you dust the crickets they will die quickly as they breathe through their skin. Put a little powder in the cup and let the crickets walk through it, this way the crickets will have some of the dust on them and the cham will get a small amount on his tongue when he/she gets the cricket. Put a small piece of carrot in the cup for the crickets to eat.

Tie this cup to a branch or to the screen on the door of the cage. This can be done with a twist tie. Morgana came up with a really good idea of attaching a clothes pin to the screen and using this to hold the cup in place. Easy to remove to cup to clean. Putting it on the door makes it easier for you and also dosen't disturb the cham as much as you don't have to go inside its cage.

If you are getting your crickets make sure you gut load them before feeding them to your cham. Carrots make a good gut load and clean the crickets out. Give the crickets time to digest the carrots before feeding them. You can easily tell as their poop will be orange. Pin worms are a real problem with crickets from pet stores.

Hope this helps,
Yosemite
Reptayls Ltd.