Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Jack (baby amilobe)is in a 22 gallon screen caged and it is perfect size for him. The only problem is his eating pattern. He will not eat crickets that linger on the cage side, which unfortunately is where most of the crickets are. He will ignore wondering crickets on the side of the cage, but as soon as one hops onto the ficus tree he runs after it and shoots his tongue at it. I've tried cup feeding with no success. It seems he will only respond to crickets that are on one of the plants in the cage, no where else. It is as if he does not seem them until they get on the plant in the cage. Anyone see this before or have any ideas on how to get him to eat crickets that are not on the plant? Its really hard feeding him because I have to place each cricket on a leaf of the plant and hope it does not hop onto the screen cage.

Any suggestions is much appreciated

Thanks

my advise is go with what works. he may prefer to 'hunt'. also, your cham may not see the crickets on the screen part of the cage. i'm not an 'expert' per se, but i like to think i know what i'm talking about if this is the case, then act like the mob --> break off the cricket's legs with your fingers (or use tweezers if squeemish) so that the cricket cant hop around. from there, put it on the leaf and let your chammy go wild! i haven't had to do this but i know of some people who will break the legs so that a cricket wont 'jump' while the chameleon eats (which could cut the cham's mouth and lead to infection). Anyway, that's my two cents, good luck with him/her!

PS if you can, post a picture of your chameleon, i love the pattern of a panther when they get fired up. simply beautiful.

I've tried to pinch their legs off. But when I put them on a leaf they just stumble off, and it takes about 5 minutes for me to get him to eat 1-2. And I really don't have that kind of time, especially when spring break is over and I have school.

P.S. My cham is only 2-3 months old and doesn't really have his colors yet. But I'll post a picture anyways.

Lele had a similiar situation with her leaf chams, I think. She was feeding fruit flies, but the flies were going everywhere in the tank and hiding. What she did was basically put some fruit on a stick, and the fruit flies all congregated in one location, giving her chameleon 'fish in a barrel' to shoot.
Give it a try. Put some strawberries or something similiar on a toothpick, then stick the toothpick on your ficus. Let us know if this works. I've never done this myself, but it sounds simple enough.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Hm, interesting. He's off of the fruit flies, so do you think it would work with crickets? Its really weird though!, he never notices a cricket that is twitching in my finger, or scrambling around in a cup. He use to eat from my hands and cup too, I don't know why the sudden change. I think it happened when I let a few crickets free roam to see his reaction, after that he stopped eating from my hands or cup. It takes me a good 45 minutes to make him eat about 6-8 crickets which is not enough for his size. I'm going to try using silkworms as a staple diet, they will be easier to put on a leaf and keep it there. But I wont be able to get those till next week, and I got school comming up. Anymore suggestions? Ill try the fruit but like the cup and my hand I dont think he'll go for it. We'll see!!

Thanks

I never tried it with crickets, but it may work. I used long wood skewers (very cheap) to get some height. What are the dimensions of the cage? Is it a reptarium? Is it possible that the cage is too large and the crix too scattered? You could not feed him for a day and then offer via a cup again.

As for silkworms, keep in mind that some chams will tire of them. Luna will love them for a couple weeks and then she is off for weeks. So make sure you have crix, roaches, supers and others for variety.

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

He's in a 22 gallon screen cage, not sure of the dimensions. Its approprietly sized. I was thinking about not giving him food for a day and then offering via cup, but evertime I try I get so guilty mid-day that I start giving him food lol! OK! Ill put my foot down, tomorrow I'll put crickets in his cup and leave it there for 2 days and not feed him any other way. I'll try this and let you guys know how it works out.

I am trying to reduce the frequency and size of Luna's clutches and I swore that she would have 2 fasting days...does fruit count? hahaha! I sticking to at least one "off" day but it is hard! Remember, it is for HIS own good and you will just have to suffer!!
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha