Anyone else got a sadistic lil guy?

[GrilledCheese]

Is anyone else’s chameleon a little sadist or just mine? I’ve come to the discovery that it’s not just movement that motivates my Cham to eat, it’s best if they struggle a little too.

Ive known that he’s not a fan of cup feeding. He likes to let the food escape his cup to go chase them. But this felt different.

I’ve recently gotten him crickets but I got sent the wrong size, ended up being bigger than his recommended but I tried feeding him anyways. While watching him eat to make sure he didn’t choke, I started noticing him watching them struggle trying to get out of the cup before munching on them with gusto. And then he’d do it again each time I’d add another cricket to his cup. Didn’t go straight for the cricket once, he’d watch them struggle for a good while before eating them.

Brushed it off as his looking at new food, but he practically REFUSED to eat the new crickets that were appropriate for his size when they were jumping all over his cup. Even when they settled down he refused to even look at them. Then he was so excited to see a cup of dusted fruit flies struggle to get out of another cup afterwards!

He’s not attracted to movement, he’s attracted to others fear That’s the skin of a sadist, Bella (don’t mind his skin, we’re shedding).

 

[Beman]

question... are you 100% sure you have a male? By your other thread baby should be 5 months now... This one has an extremely low profile casque for a 5 month old male. This is much more typical of a female. I can't see tarsal spurs to give you a confirmed gender...

 

[GrilledCheese]

question... are you 100% sure you have a male? By your other thread baby should be 5 months now... This one has an extremely low profile casque for a 5 month old male. This is much more typical of a female. I can't see tarsal spurs to give you a confirmed gender...

Should be hitting the 5month mark this week. Vet said he was a boy and I think I see a spur but now I’m concerned about the crest size. He had parasites last appointment and we should be having a fecal this week to see if the medicine worked. Now I fear they lived and they’ve been eating what was meant for him

 

[MissSkittles]

I see definite spurs, but crest size and coloring patterns say female. This was my Hammlet as he was growing, so you can compare. His male coloration and patterns began just as he was around 3 months.

2 months old. His patterns are barely visible. Casque is small, like an adult females.


3 months old. Patterns clearly defined, colors starting. Casque still rather small and could pass for female sized.


4 months old. Everything is growing and changing.


5 months old. Colors and patterns well defined, even at rest. Casque not yet fully grown, but no mistaking for female anymore.

 

[Beman]

Should be hitting the 5month mark this week. Vet said he was a boy and I think I see a spur but now I’m concerned about the crest size. He had parasites last appointment and we should be having a fecal this week to see if the medicine worked. Now I fear they lived and they’ve been eating what was meant for him

So tarsal spur yes... baby looks to be a bit underweight. How much is baby eating and how often? Very well could be male but not getting the growth needed to promote size with the parasites. What kind of parasites were found? Some males do have smaller casques.

 

[GrilledCheese]

So tarsal spur yes... baby looks to be a bit underweight. How much is baby eating and how often? Very well could be male but not getting the growth needed to promote size with the parasites. What kind of parasites were found? Some males do have smaller casques.

I don’t have a set schedule on what I feed him but his usuals are BSFL or the flies when they emerge, silkworms, and hydei fruit flies. I can’t keep silkworms alive for long so I usually feed him four a day when I get them until I run out, BSFL usually min of 12, and fruit flies are too much to count. Just started him on crickets this past month but I’ve been having sizing and delivery problems (if y’all have a place where your crickets survive delivery plz do share). He’s had bottle flies and spikes before but I’m not a fan of how fast they pupate and I’ve decided to get hornworms again when he’s bigger because those grow fast.
I’m gonna be honest and say I don’t remember what type he got, vet said that three of them where way over the normal but I can’t remember which.

 

[Beman]

I don’t have a set schedule on what I feed him but his usuals are BSFL or the flies when they emerge, silkworms, and hydei fruit flies. I can’t keep silkworms alive for long so I usually feed him four a day when I get them until I run out, BSFL usually min of 12, and fruit flies are too much to count. Just started him on crickets this past month but I’ve been having sizing and delivery problems (if y’all have a place where your crickets survive delivery plz do share). He’s had bottle flies and spikes before but I’m not a fan of how fast they pupate and I’ve decided to get hornworms again when he’s bigger because those grow fast.
I’m gonna be honest and say I don’t remember what type he got, vet said that three of them where way over the normal but I can’t remember which.

So this baby is too old for fruit flies. You can stop with those. How many insects per feeding and are you feeding every day is what I need to know? And I need to know what the parasites were that they found? Not all are the same to get rid of them especially when it comes to cleaning the cage.

Crickets.... rainbow mealworms is where I always got mine. Start working in dubia roaches as well. Dubia.com sells them cheaper.

 

[GrilledCheese]

So this baby is too old for fruit flies. You can stop with those. How many insects per feeding and are you feeding every day is what I need to know? And I need to know what the parasites were that they found? Not all are the same to get rid of them especially when it comes to cleaning the cage.

Crickets.... rainbow mealworms is where I always got mine. Start working in dubia roaches as well. Dubia.com sells them cheaper.

I really can’t tell which were found bc I don’t remember, I know coccidia was one and I want to say that the others might have been Protozoa and pinworms but I’m not too sure. I’ve been cleaning this cage tray (no substrate bc vet said it’ll cause more problems to keep) with peroxide and I’ve let it sun bleach twice in the past month.
I don’t got silkworms right now so this (pictures) is the usual everyday. Plus one or two black soldier flies. You guys said no to fruit flies but I still got them so I’m feeding them until they run out I’ll have to try rainbow mealworms, I’ve been doing Josh’s Frogs and local shop delivery which didn’t turn out well In Florida so Dubia roaches are out.

 

[Beman]

I really can’t tell which were found bc I don’t remember, I know coccidia was one and I want to say that the others might have been Protozoa and pinworms but I’m not too sure. I’ve been cleaning this cage tray (no substrate bc vet said it’ll cause more problems to keep) with peroxide and I’ve let it sun bleach twice in the past month.
I don’t got silkworms right now so this (pictures) is the usual everyday. Plus one or two black soldier flies. You guys said no to fruit flies but I still got them so I’m feeding them until they run out I’ll have to try rainbow mealworms, I’ve been doing Josh’s Frogs and local shop delivery which didn’t turn out well In Florida so Dubia roaches are out.

Ok well Coccidia is a totally different parasite to have to deal with and clean for. Re contamination is high with this parasite. I would use the forum search function to find more info on it and to know how you have to strip the cage down and keep it minimal and clean correctly to prevent re contamination.

A chameleon of this age should be getting at least 24 size appropriate feeders. For a cham this size that means insects that are 1/4 inch in size. If the bulk of what you are feeding are fruit flies and black soldier flies then it is not getting enough. Fruit flies are way too small and black soldier fly larvae often go through without being digested.

 

[Beman]

NOte this would be 24 feeders every single day.