cup feeding, free roam feeders, hand feeding

Hello,

I just had a question regarding feeding. In my opinion, I feel my female veiled has been getting lazy. When I first received her 3 months ago she was pretty active basking, chasing feeders, moving and grooving (leaf walk)...etc. she seemed pretty happy and healthy. After browsing these forums I began hand feeding to help her associate my hand as a "good thing" and hopefully keep her less stressed out in the long run. When I am not hand feeding I try to cup feed so I can keep track of her diet, supplementation, and the variety of feeders consumed. Its been about a month now and I've noticed she has been less active. She typically sleeps half way down the enclosure at night in the Umbrella tree then moves up in the morning to bask. She stays on her basking vine pretty much all day and waits for feeding time. She eats about 3 crickets out of my hand and then I usually give her either a superworm or hornworm as a snack. I remember when I let the feeders free roam she move around the enclosure more regularly (obviously in search of food). So my question....

Do you think the type of feeding you use will determine/influence how active a chameleon will be through out the day?

Maybe its her personality or the way the enclosure is set up. She seems pretty healthy so I don't consider it a problem. I just wanted to hear other opinion on this.

Thanks

I would be lazy too if some one hand fed me JK

You order BB flies they will get her moving and it is fun to watch

Try free ranging some food and see if she gets more active. If she doesn't, she could just be getting older. As chams get older they tend to chase less and just let the food come to them.

I agree, flies will usually get them to move though.

I have never tried cup feeding. I usually hand feed the first one or two feeders that I give my chameleon for the same reason you do and then free range the rest. I choose to free range the feeders because I feel like its more natural and gives them exercise as well as helps them build muscle. My cham eats everything I put in pretty quickly, so I don't need to monitor what he eats because he eats everything I put in This is just my experience, I know a lot of people only cup feed.

I find that when any cham is offered a different species of prey other than their staple, it really piques their interest. There have even been several studies on prey preference switches - it may be one mechanism by which chams can ensure they are getting proper nutrition.

So, if you have a lethargic cham, first try letting it search for free prey items in the cage. If they just sit and wait, try a different prey item and hopefully that will get them moving.

holmesese said:

I find that when any cham is offered a different species of prey other than their staple, it really piques their interest. There have even been several studies on prey preference switches - it may be one mechanism by which chams can ensure they are getting proper nutrition.

So, if you have a lethargic cham, first try letting it search for free prey items in the cage. If they just sit and wait, try a different prey item and hopefully that will get them moving.

Click to expand...

Yes, when I offer a Hornworms she freaks out and really gets excited moving towards her meal but...

I also noticed that since I began offering a variety of feeders it appears to have contributed to her lack of interest in crickets and this might be why she doesn't move around the enclosure in search of food anymore. She knows where I place her worms so she waits for them there.

I guess it doesn't really matter as long as she eats properly and seems healthy. I just wanted to know how feeding habits have effected everyone elses cham's personality.

Try mixing it up a bit. Make her hunt the first bug, then put the others in the cup.

Try to free range some crickets to get her on the move.... but now that she is 'settled' into her cage she prolly doesn't feel the need to patrol or inspect her cage as much as before.

I have a melleri that basically does the same thing. He won't handcup feed from me unless it's crickets... other than that he just makes it clear he rather I not be around. But mostly because I don't interact with him much.

Although she does eat out of my hand...if i don't have food then I am food (shes a biter).

Today I just placed a hornworm on a branch and watched her. She immediately recognize it and leaf walked within 1.5-2inches of it. Since the hornworm wasn't moving to much she just stared at it with her head turned and neck/body puffed up. The hornworm continued to play dead or whatever and she continued to watch it for another min or so. Eventually, the hornworm made enough movement and she shot it 1.5-2inches away. Makes me think she has eye sight problems, but she shoots superworms almost instantly 5-6 inches away. Chams are so fun to watch...