Cup feed, or not!!??

[Psychobunny]

Some very respected breaders (you know who you are say cup feeding makes your cham lazy.
I do like to cup feed because I can keep tract of how much they eat, and avoid escaped prey running around my house.

Some of the cricks always jump out of the cup, so my chams end up hunting them, and I give them blue bottle flies when I can, that gives them plenty of hunting excersize

so, what are your views on cup feeding?

 

[Drago]

I never cup fed. To me, a big part of owning a cham was watching them hunt.

 

[nightanole]

I cup feed just for a fail safe in case i cant be there to feed the guys(vacation, work, injured). I also screen feed, and have multi versions of cup feeders. hes always eating at diff angles, hes not just eating like a from a trough.

I always wondered how the panther and veiled owners cage feed. In a semi well planted 4ft cage, the food always ends up hiding under something. I never seen a cricket derpin along on a branch 20min after release. And it wouldnt work at all with worms and dubia. Then again it should work great with silkies and other caterpillars.

 

[Ta2Smitty]

I tend to go back and forth between the two mainly for crickets I just toss them in but I have a select few that'll eat dubias so every couple of feedings they get a cup of dubia.

 

[pigglett79]

I hand feed mostly. I do put worms on the branches and sometimes a cricket or mantis on the screen.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I free feed - they get more mental stimulation and exercise chasing down crickets in different areas of their cage from different angles and lengths imo.

 

[jannb]

I cup feed because I free range. I would also be afraid their tongue could get wrapper around a branch or vine when trying to get a feeder. My guys get plenty of exercise not being confined to a cage.

 

[Psychobunny]

I cup feed just for a fail safe in case i cant be there to feed the guys(vacation, work, injured). I also screen feed, and have multi versions of cup feeders. hes always eating at diff angles, hes not just eating like a from a trough.

I always wondered how the panther and veiled owners cage feed. In a semi well planted 4ft cage, the food always ends up hiding under something. I never seen a cricket derpin along on a branch 20min after release. And it wouldnt work at all with worms and dubia. Then again it should work great with silkies and other caterpillars.

LOL! no matter how careful I am trying to keep the cricks on the vines or climbing the walls, 90% of them end up on the floor, and most of those drown in a teaspoon of water

I have bare floors in the cages, no plant pots or anything else for them to hide.

 

[Psychobunny]

I cup feed because I free range. I would also be afraid their tongue could get wrapper around a branch or vine when trying to get a feeder. My guys get plenty of exercise not being confined to a cage.

I do that to. When they are on their free range. I use a tall clear plastic deli cup (64oz ?) with cricks or roaches, and just hold it up to them.
It's big enough for them to climb into to get the food if they want, and they are very comfortable with it.
My guys get their excercize when it's nice outside. They get to run around (supervised, of course) on the backyard lawn

 

[Olimpia]

I do a combo of hand, cup, and free feeding.

Castiel, for example, is a special needs eater since he can't shoot his tongue out so he gets a shallow cup with food or I just hand feed him. It's a shame but it's the best way to keep him healthy so it has to be done.

For the others: I will put things like roaches in a large shallow cup just because I don't want them to get loose and have me find them on my hand next time I'm cleaning the cage. Ugh! But I use a larger tray "cup", so they may still have to shoot across the tray to a roach on the far end from where they are.

If I handfeed things like hornworms (except with Castiel) I will vary the distance at which I hold out the worm, so they have to shoot maybe one worm at 4-5" away, and another at 12" away, and then back to 7", and so forth. I love hand feeding because it keeps everyone very comfortable with me, and as long as I make them work for it they are still getting a tongue work-out.

And then things like crickets, grasshoppers, mantis, dragonflies, etc., I always free feed.

So I feel that they get plenty of tongue exercise, and I get to customize what I do to depending on what I feed to make my life easier (because after all the time, effort, and money I spend on them, it's the least I deserve!).

 

[Psychobunny]

You bring up a good point Olimpia, hand feeding keeps the human/cham bond going. After all our hard, patient work getting them to just accept us, we want to continue to remind them that we are their friends.

 

[nightanole]

You bring up a good point Olimpia, hand feeding keeps the human/cham bond going. After all our hard, patient work getting them to just accept us, we want to continue to remind them that we are their friends.

Except for that one forum member with the panther that really "likes" blue eyes. "aw look hes sticking out his tongue at me"...

 

[Thezillaman21]

worse thing about CFing is that they dont fully extend there tongue. after a while they wont be able to extend in more than a few inches or if all for that matter.

 

[Kate]

I prefer to free range feeders but when it comes to crickets I like to know where they are.

 

[Randi]

I cup feed worms and roaches and free feed crickets with my adult, but my baby is cup fed. I did free feed his crickets at first but then I wasn't getting a very good gauge on how much he was eating because they would escape since they're so tiny.

 

[lovepicasso]

I just put Picasso's crickets in the encloser and let him hunt them down....being only 3 months old, he doesn't let them stay around very long, and it is good for his hunting skills and keeps him active.

 

[Psychobunny]

worse thing about CFing is that they dont fully extend there tongue. after a while they wont be able to extend in more than a few inches or if all for that matter.

With that in mind, that's why I stick some BB flies in their cages from time to time

 

[Psychobunny]

I prefer to free range feeders but when it comes to crickets I like to know where they are.

I'm that way with roaches. I dont want any way for them to escape and wander in my house

 

[Psychobunny]

Except for that one forum member with the panther that really "likes" blue eyes. "aw look hes sticking out his tongue at me"...

LOL!! yeah, I remember that if you mean Dr O

 

[coldbloodedAL]

worse thing about CFing is that they dont fully extend there tongue. after a while they wont be able to extend in more than a few inches or if all for that matter.

I have never heard of this, im curious as to where you read this....

I have one chameleon that has been cup feeding almost his entire life, with the exception of hand feeding and flies on occasion, has never had any issue hitting a feeder at longer distances...

The only way i see this is even remotely possible is if you are only giving them one branch, at a short distance to shoot and nothing else.. All my chams that cup feed have multiple locations they can get their prey from in their cages.

But as far as cup feeding as a whole goes, with the exception of my male jackson the rest only get roaches from a cup unless they are on a hungry strike and monitoring is neccesary. Chams do seem to get somewhat lazy when they never really have to work for food...