Layla is fascinating to me because her behavior is so hard to understand. I got a fresh batch of Hornworm cups from Mullberry Farms last week. The worms were pretty tiny so I had to wait for a week before they were big enough to make them worthwhile as a feeder.
Yesterday I took a big fat juicy hornworm to Layla's cage for feeding. I opened her cage door and she started getting her Bumble Bee outfit on. I held the Hornworm out to her so she could see it. She assumed a position on her big basking branch like this:
Flattened out, front legs up in the air, tail tightly curled up.
Then she started to move her body forward and backward slowly while perched on her hind legs. I've seen other chams do this but not Layla. Every time the Hornworm did a whipping movement in my fingers she would flick her lobes at me and open her mouth.
I set the hornworm on a branch and she immediately shot at it with her tongue. It was strongly attached to the branch though and she could not get it off the branch. After a couple of tries I pried it off myself and held it up to her. She did the whole moving back and forth/lobe flicking thing again. I put the hornworm back on the branch and she immediately shot at it with her tongue. Once again she could not get it off the branch.
I pried the thing off again and put it upside down in a "Y" section of the branch so that it was held in place but could not really attach itself. Then Layla was able to zap the thing and get it into her mouth.
Maybe this is boring to other people. I just find it interesting that she can be so wigged out by my holding the Hornworm in front of her and then immediately go after it on the branch. She obviously knew it was good to eat. I also find myself wondering if any of her moving back and forth while in that particular stance says anything about her actual sex. Is this behavior something females will do? Or is it more of a male thing? I hope other Melleri keepers can answer that question......
Yesterday I took a big fat juicy hornworm to Layla's cage for feeding. I opened her cage door and she started getting her Bumble Bee outfit on. I held the Hornworm out to her so she could see it. She assumed a position on her big basking branch like this:
Flattened out, front legs up in the air, tail tightly curled up.
Then she started to move her body forward and backward slowly while perched on her hind legs. I've seen other chams do this but not Layla. Every time the Hornworm did a whipping movement in my fingers she would flick her lobes at me and open her mouth.
I set the hornworm on a branch and she immediately shot at it with her tongue. It was strongly attached to the branch though and she could not get it off the branch. After a couple of tries I pried it off myself and held it up to her. She did the whole moving back and forth/lobe flicking thing again. I put the hornworm back on the branch and she immediately shot at it with her tongue. Once again she could not get it off the branch.
I pried the thing off again and put it upside down in a "Y" section of the branch so that it was held in place but could not really attach itself. Then Layla was able to zap the thing and get it into her mouth.
Maybe this is boring to other people. I just find it interesting that she can be so wigged out by my holding the Hornworm in front of her and then immediately go after it on the branch. She obviously knew it was good to eat. I also find myself wondering if any of her moving back and forth while in that particular stance says anything about her actual sex. Is this behavior something females will do? Or is it more of a male thing? I hope other Melleri keepers can answer that question......
