Crickets and Chameleon - The Odd Couple!

So I recently bought a tiny little baby veiled chameleon.
My setup is a potted arboricola inside of a cage with a substrate of paper towels. I don't like the fact that it's in a pot, but I also can't see any conceivable way of taking the plant out without A) causing a mess, and B) killing the plant.
I wrapped and secured screen mesh around the entire pot so that the little guy could climb to and from the plant to the cage floor whenever he wants.

The problem is this: the crickets never climb the plant...even when I dump them right on the top branches, they eventually find their way down to the cage floor and then never climb back up.
And the chameleon, of course, hasn't climbed down from the plant at all, with the exception of his initial exploration when I first bought him.

Last night I tied a few small orange slices up in the tree to see if it'd tempt the crickets into hanging out up there. It hasn't worked at all.

I also tried putting him into a smaller container with some crickets, and he was too busy freaking out over the sudden change of scenery to even bother with them.

I've only had the chameleon for two days, so I expect that he's probably going to be nervous and not want to eat for a little while.
He very well may have eaten a few while I wasn't looking, but part of me highly doubts that.

So my question is: How long can a baby chameleon go without eating before I should worry?
And secondly, any advice on how to get the crickets up in the plant, or vice versa?

Thanks everyone.

Cup feed them Just get a little cup and put the crickets in their and the cham will eat the crickets out of the cup Just make sure it's a not a see through cup or the cham will shoot it's tongue on the side of the cup.

I put the crickets in a cup and dust them.

Then I hold the cup up to the screen and they climb that up to the top. They like to sit near the basking area. I have not had a problem with this method.

You can also cup feed. Place the crickets in a small cup and place it in an area they can get the crickets.

A baby chameleon should be eating everyday.

For comparison, Norman has eaten 30-40 crickets a day since I got him at around 1 1/2 2 months. Might try going to petsmart and getting some baby bio vine to hang in his area that he can climb up and down. He should hang upside down and snipe them eventually