Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my jackson's is evil....no matter how hard i try i can't get him to take food from a container...i've tried a clear container, a white container, a stone colored water dish but the son of a gun won't eat out of it...i have no problem letting the crickets walk about because he nails them pretty quick but i just got a hold of some lobster roaches (thank you richie the roachman) and those things hide in any niche they can find and the chameleon can't find them (neither can i)...i managed to get one on the screen and nudged it towards him and he gobbled it right up but i can't do that everytime....any tips or tricks???

I have two four month old baby jackson's and they take food out of a small cup that I hooked onto the side of their cage. I also have two full grown chameleons and what I do for them is a bit different. I hook a margin tub onto the side of their cage next to a perch and in plain sight. The chameleons usually see the food and come rushing over to it. Also don't feed you jax for a day to ensure that its hungry and then put the roaches in. once it get's one out of the bowel it should have no problem getting used to this sort of feeding. let me know if this works

i'll give it a try...i felt bad about letting him get hungry...i'll skip his morning meal and feed him at 4 (with the bowl) and see if he gives in to temptation...i'll post tomorrow afternoon and let ya know...thanks alot

I made the mistake of taking some (ha! - I've lost count!) lobster roaches off the hands of a fellow poster and wish I hadn't. I fed off the adults to Luna, who loved them, but now I have a zillion nymphs. My ONLY complaints are that they climb glass and as you have seen, they hide well. I DO NOT let them free roam! They will have babies in your cage and you will never see the end of it! The guy I got them from had a bad experience because they got into the metal frame of his cage and reproduced - sounds rather nightmarish to me - and I love bugs!

So, not to make you regret your choice here is how I have managed them. When feeding the adults I dusted them well (this slows them down a bit) flipped them on to their backs in a feed cup and held them right up to Luna. If she didn't nab it right away I would remove it. I NEVER left them unattended.

As for housing, you can buy that bug-stop stuff but it is pretty pricey (unless you have lots then I am sure it is worth it) and some folks use vaseline (messy). I have found that GOOD 2-sided tape works quite well or get storage tape and fold it to make it 2-sided. If I provide food and darkness they tend not to climb
much anyway. Keep the container covered with something that breathes (I use muslin). They are just now getting big enough to begin to feed her but she has stopped eating (gravid).

Btw, if you would like more I am sure we can work out a deal....

lele

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

thanks for the advice....the whole idea of roaches in my house is freaking me out...i use vaseline around the top of the tank and they can't get out...i put vaseline around the edge of the feeding container in his cage and they don't get out of that either...i'll see how this third food source works out...there's always silkworms

depending on where you live they may not be an issue if they escape - at least in the long run. I am in NH and it is currently -2 degrees! But I assume my book shelves, desk drawers, etc. stay more toasty! LOL! I figure worse comes to worst if I see any I will catch and feed to the herps! They DO like them! mmmmm-yummmy
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Lele,

Not sure why everyone has bad experiences with roaches, especially the lobsters. We tried them several years ago and didn't like them either. But that all changed six months ago after talking to a roach breeder. Can't find enough/buy to keep our colony going, not at a reasonable price anyway. Our chams really go for them and I now find them easier to maintain than most our other insects. Bug barrier is the answer to keeping them as you stated. Many of our feeder cups are painted with it so we can just drop just about anything in their cup and not worry about it getting loose.

We are currently working on the formula for the teflon stuff. Just about got it figured out how they make it so they can paint it on and not be toxic. When I do it will be available for a lot less.

Keep posting your creative experiences, I know they have helped many and I enjoy reading your approach to cham keeping.

Yosemite
Reptayls, Ltd

P.S. If your interested in thinning out your roach colony send us an e-mail. We are interested in buying them.

this guy is a roach nut!!!...his name is Richie Willis and i've met the man personally and he's a good guy...he's here in NY and he hooked me up with alot of lobster roaches...he's got a ton of other roaches and some funky stuff too (i've been having assasin bug nightmares since the day i saw them)...here's a link

http://www.angelfire.com/wy/roaches/index.html

Wow! I just checked out his site! What a list! Where in NY are you?? I live in NH but am originally from North Shore of LI.

I think assasin bugs (and their relatives) are VERY cool - but yes, some cousins are creepy (blood-sucking conenose?). Being both a gardener and bug nut I am happy to have them around. Have you seen a wheel-bug?? check it out...
wheel-bug

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

whoa...that wheel bug looks nasty...the wheel looks like a Ford rear drum brake adjuster (sorry, i'm a mechanic)...i am from the south shore of LI...Babylon...i have relatives on the north shore in cold spring harbor so i'm up that way alot...and in the summer i like to go to the trout hatchery up that way...i was in NH once in my life...i remember how pretty it was...i think we went to some famous person's house...maybe a x president or something...i was with my x wife so i'm probably mentally blocking it out...thanks again for all your help

>>whoa...that wheel bug looks nasty...the wheel looks like a Ford rear drum brake adjuster (sorry, i'm a mechanic)

***LOL!! Weird, huh?

...i am from the south shore of LI...Babylon...i have relatives on the north shore in cold spring harbor so i'm up that way alot...and in the summer i like to go to the trout hatchery up that way...

***We used to go there all the time as kids! My step-father and step-brothers were from Huntington. I grew up in Port Washington, then Stony Brook, then back to Port.

i was in NH once in my life...i remember how pretty it was...i think we went to some famous person's house...maybe a x president or something...

*** yup, lots of history here!

i was with my x wife so i'm probably mentally blocking it out...thanks again for all your help

sure thing
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Currently, we keep a colony of approx 40-50 jax. They all have been conditioned to eat from feeder cups.

Some of these cups are clear, but the majority are white opaque. The bugs running around inside should attract the chameleon. They eat crickets and roaches from these cups.

Roaches are kept in the cups by means of "Bug Barricade" - now sold as Bug Stop by Cricketfood.com. It is a paint-on teflon - and the roaches cannot get over it. If you are going to feed roaches in cups... this stuff is mandantory to contain the roaches. Paint a 2" wide strip around the rim of the cup.

We used to use vasoline to keep hissing roaches contained - but haven't had to use that for years now. This product will even keep flightless fruitflies contained!

Back to your jax..... train him to the cup by feeding him from it each day - don't let food go in his enclosure. Hold the cup so that he can see the food.... and wait until he takes it. If he doesn't take the food within a few minutes - withdraw the offer and wait until later. He will soon learn that the cup is the source of his food supply. Once he is readily eating from the cup - you can fasten it inside the cage.

Don't be suprised if eventually you see him sitting on the cup - waiting for you to fill it with snacks!!!!!!

Hope this helps,
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