Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,

I have a problem: if I try to feed Superworms (or mealworms) to my chams, they have to eat them immediately off the screen walls or the Superworms escape into the cage and are gone.

So far, I have had no success cup-feeding but am willing to try again.

If you are successfully cup-feeding, and previously had little or no success, please share your insights with me. I'll try anything at this point.

Thanks!

~MP
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1.0 Ambanja 11 mos. - LESTER
0.1 Nosy Be 8 mos. - KUBO
1.1 Thayeri Kingsnakes 4 mos. - UNCLE WIGGLEY & BOO BOO BUNNY

Have you tried the worms in a see through feed cup?
There's really not much you can do to get them to accept it.
My chameleons wait by the container waiting for me to toss food in which tells me their hungry.
All i can suggest is make sure it's clear container..

Chams are often worried about small containers. It seems confusing and they don't like hitting their tongues on solid surfaces. Try putting a larger plastic shoebox or container (I would not use clear...chams can try to hit the bugs through the glass and injure their tongues or give up) down low in the cage. The cham can watch the insects moving around in the bin and crawl down to shoot from the rim of the box. A larger container lets the bugs move around more and attract their attention.

I make my feed bowls kinda like small hanging plant baskets. Except that I use a small round bowl. I hook it on a small cable tie that I have attached on their favorite basking branch. I never put the bowl on the cage bottom, I always hang it.
Hope this helps,
Cricket

My chameleon also refuses to eat mealworms out of his cup. The only way he did eventually eat them is if he's on his window perch and I put a few on the window sill. Might just be that it's painted white and they stand out a lot more? So maybe try a shallow white "cup"?

You could use a traslucent cup. I do not think them shooting the cup will cause a significant injury, but that is just my personal opnion. i have been using these cups and so far have not have any tongue injuries. Anyway, after awhile they will get conditioned to sit on top of the cup to shoot their tongues, rather than from the side. But if you are still afraind that they might injure their tongues, like the other guy said, u could use bigger contaniers, and put position it lower.

But if you tried putting worms in your see through cup, and your chameleon ignores it, catch your chameleons attention by placing something in the cup that is more active, or moves around a lot more, like a cricket. You can "train" yoru chameleon to notice to food in the cup next time. i recently had to "train" my newly aquired baby ambilobe an ambanja to notice the food in the cup. Initially , i stared cup feeding them with mealworms, and they ignored it. I cahnged it to crickets to get their attention, and now they know that the cup is the place where food magically appears! It only took about two weeks or less.

Hi,

Just thought I'd share my input, as we have been feeding our veiled with a container for years and have a few experiences to share.

Using a fairly large container does work best and making sure it is fairly heavy, especially if you plan on setting it down on the floor. Chams will tend to grab onto the sides and if the container is too light, it will tip over.

What also ended up happening with our veiled is that he got lazy with the container feeding. He practically crawls right into the container and barely uses his tongue anymore to catch the food. This also causes the crickets to crawl up his back and escape into the cage. We've also noticed that when he does try to nab a bug from a distance, that he seems to have lost some accuracy, as he often misses.

We are trying to place the bowl further away from his vines so that he is forced to use his tongue, which does help a little, although he eventually still goes right over to his bowl to sit on the edge of it. We have also started letting a few crickets escape so that he can hunt them.

Just some more things to consider, as I have heard of a condition called "lazy tongue" and I think that is what is happening with Frasier our veiled. One really nice thing about container feeding, though, is that you can put some mulched veggies at the bottom of the bowl along with the feeders, this makes the feeders even more nutritious as they can munch while they wait to be munched (hee hee) and also the cham gets a bit of veggies with his feeders, too.

Hope this helps!

Julie, Justin and Frasier the Veiled.

Thanks to all for your insights.

I'm going to go with a deep, clear cup hung low on the branches. I am going to try crix in it to get their attention and then gradually add other insects.

I'll let you all know how it goes. I'm determined to make it work!

~MP
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1.0 Ambanja 11 mos. - LESTER
0.1 Nosy Be 8 mos. - KUBO
1.0 Thayeri Kingsnake Milksnake Phase 4 mos. - UNCLE WIGGLEY
0.1 Thayeri Kingsnake Leonis Phase 4 mos. - BOO BOO BUNNY