A few questions about handling and feeding crickets...

[ksau]

I bought my Chameleon when he was 3 months old. When I got him he was easy to have out of the cage, and he liked being out. As time went on he was harder to take out, and now I can't take him out at all because he hisses, puffs up and tries to bite . (he's a year old now) I used to also leave the cage open and he'd come out on his own, but when it was time to put him back he kept running off my hands and falling onto the floor . I used to leave the cage open and he'd come out, but I was always able to pick him up when it was time. I just don't do that anymore cause I don't want him to get hurt.

Is there anything I can do to get him to allow me to handle him again?
I don't want to stress him out if it's not possible.


Second question....
I feed him meal worms. I was thinking I would like to try crickets. I'm a little worried that when he tries to catch them he'll end up eating the jungle ground that I use on the floor of his cage (it's like dirt/soft wood chips) I just don't want him to end up eating that when he tries for the cricket.

Any sugestions on either would be great.
Thanks.

 

[Sang]

i am assuming you have a male vieled chameleon.

unfortunatly as they get older they get meaner, and are very territorial, they have tempers, some are incredible lovely guys, some are satans spawn.

sounds like yours gots a little satan in him..

try offering him horn worms, or something intresting, that he doesn't get to often, lure him out with it, but treat it as a snack, never a meal. you can train them to associate you with food , and food is good.

 

[ksau]

Yeah, there's a little bit of devil in him. haha
He's so great in every other way! he even drinks from standing water.

Thanks for the suggestion! Much appreciated.

 

[panthercham]

Dont you just love the way the little blighters change as they grow up....it sounds like yours has hit his teenage years

The best thing to do about feeding is to get rid of the dirt and bark of the floor of the cage. If he misses and eats a piece of bark by accident then that can cause compaction which if not caught can lead to death and/or a very costly vet bill. Just a nice clean floor with either nothing on it or paper towel. (I use paper towel as it catches water from the dripper and it easier to clean up poop)

Meal worms are not that great as a feeder as they arent nutritious and are mainly chitin from their hard shells. If he likes meal worms try superworms.....they are easy to keep like meal worms and are easy to gut load. Depending what part of the world you are from silk and horn worms are great feeders as well and add plenty of variety.

The main staple feeder I use is crickets, I just gutload them up on leafy greens, orange, apples, carrots, bell peppers, potato, commercial cricket gutload food and they are ready to go.

I free range my crickets over cup feeding but that comes down to personal choice. Cup feeding is great for knowing exactly how much your cham has eaten (freeranging they can hide) but that is the only exercise my chams get and they seem to enjoy the hunt. Just keep your feeders gutloaded on the good stuff, dust appropriately with vitamins and have plenty of variety and you shouldnt have too many probs

 

[ksau]

Sorry, I do feed him Superworms, not meal worms.

I haven't used crickets because they creep me out. haha I worried they'll get out. How do I get them from into the cage without them jumping out?

I live in western Canada, and the only options i've come accross are super worms, meal worms, crickets, silk worms, and some other ones that have to be kept in a back container and are a lot more expensive.

Thanks for the response.



I just feel as though he's bored in there. I want him to be able to come out and explore. If he won't i'll just get him a larger home sooner. How much space does he need, ideally?

 

[Sang]

crickets jump yah, but its what i mainly use, i keep them in a ten gallon tank, and a few egg cartons, i pick up a part of the egg carton, and bump it into a cup, they fall in the cup, i powder coat, and then put them into a feeder cup within the cage... something high enough they can't get out of. works fairly well...

not garunteed that all will feed from a cup though.

 

[ksau]

crickets *shutter* haha

Yeah I put his worms in a small thing the size of a margarine container. He eats out of it with no problems.

 

[panthercham]

Best way is to start off small....crix used to creep me out....still do but I just got over the little devil creatures. It was either them or roaches....easy choice

I started with a large Kricket Keeper which hold approx 30 crickets and they come with 4 tubes which you keep in the container and the crix crawl up into them. You just then take a tube out and shake it into the cage and shut the door fast. When you have to dust with vits I just shake them into a baggie with a very small amount of the powder, shake them up and then straight into the cage.

I now keep my crix in a 10 gallon rubbermaid tank as well with the Kricket keeper tubes in there and just grab one when needed. Crix will escape but not as much as you think. I have wild crix wandering inside at the moment from the desert so I think I am used to them and I love the chirping at night

 

[ksau]

haha Well there aren't any wild crickets around here. They can't survive the winter in Canada.

I've seen those cricket catchers. Thanks for info! I'll try one out.

 

[Sang]

to be honest, roaches, they are great, slow moving ones, full of juices, and the chams love em.

orange heads, lobesters, hissing and dubia. they make great feeder roaches.

crickets arn't nearly as bad as your letting your fear make them out to be, i promise you they are already in your house where you arn't looking.

 

[ksau]

Oh I assure you they're not. haha I'm not sure where you live but I'm in the coldest province of Canada.

I've never seen roaches available for purchase. I'll have to look into that. I've never even seen a roach in real life. haha

I'll get over it and work on the crickets.

 

[Rocky]

my best advice for crickets is to get something like this http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...ricket-containers/-/lees-mini-cricket-keeper/
with that the crickets crawl up the tubes and you can dump them into a little cup to dust them then put the cup in the cage so you never touch them.

I'm going to assume he is kinda like my guy. What i do to get him out of the cage is put a sock on my hand (clean of course ) and then just go in and put my hand under his front legs so he crawls onto me and i pull him out. My guy trys to run off my hand so you just have to make sure your other hand is there for him to crawl on until he calms down.

good luck and welcome to the forums

 

[sandrachameleon]

Hi
Im a Canadian too. What province are you in? I live in BC, and have previously lived in Alberta and in Nova Scotia.

Its great that you are thinking of adding crickets and other things to your chameleons diet. it will have a much happier, probably healthier life if you do add gut-loaded crickets and other things.

You can get a variety of feeder insects by mail, usually cheaper than at local stores. Maybe spring for one or two from the local store, see if he likes them, then try Canadian Feeders or Canadian silkworms. They have silkworms, butterworms, hornworms. You wont find roaches available for sale because their legal status is kind of in limbo. You'll ahve to strike up a friendship with someone who has them local to you Try repitle clubs or spider clubs.

Crickets arent nearly as creepy as they seem at first. By boyfriend had to use those cricket keeps or long tongs to transfer into a feeding bucket in the chameleons cages when I was on vacation once. But slowly he got over the hee-be-jee-bees and now even he can pick up a cricket. Trust me, if he can do it, so can you.

 

[ksau]

Thanks to both of you for the info.



Does your guy bite?
If you have a sock does it hurt when they bite?

 

[Rocky]

he lunges with his mouth open like he is going to bite, but with the sock he has never done anything more than hit it.

Just move slowly and be calm is the best advice i can give. Some people use sticks etc. to get them to crawl on that then pull him out. My guy is just very protective of his home and about 5 minutes after he is out he starts showing off his colors. https://www.chameleonforums.com/some-pics-moose-after-17593/ those are some pics of him when he gets out

 

[ksau]

Awe! he looks just like Henri! How do I post pics? I'll show you.

 

[ksau]

I'm in Alberta.

 

[chameleon97]

put a bowl like a flower pot in the viv. put food in there. also i heard if you pet their backs they fall asleep.

 

[ksau]

If I could get close enough to touch Henri i'd try that. Even when he used to come out the only thing you could touch was under his chin.
He's kind of a jerk. haha

 

[Clifford]

I just feel as though he's bored in there. I want him to be able to come out and explore. If he won't i'll just get him a larger home sooner. How much space does he need, ideally?

Ive been told 2' wide x 2' deep and 4' heigh is ideal for a male. or bigger