Baby Nosy Be Eating Consistancy

[xXNosyBeXx]

Hi, i have a baby nosy be panther chameleon and i had a couple of questions. The first is what is a good method on feeding them? what i have ussually been doing is picking up the crickets with a pair of tweezers and setting them on the leaves of my cham's ficus. This method seemed to work for about a week when he suddenly started getting sort of freaked out by me when before i was able to just sit on a chair in from of his cage and place the crickets out. Now he will either climb up his vine away from me or just stare at me. I have been able to get him to eat little amounts of crickets here and there and occaisionally a wax worm or two but it isnt very consistant and i have heard that babies are supposed to eat around 7 to 12 crickets a day. If you know any good consistant method of feeding please share with me. And also if you know about any reasons why a baby cham would have gaps in his feeding cycle. Thanks!

 

[boj3434]

I owuld just put them in and just check later to see tha he got them all. It sounds like he is just not to sure of you so you could get him used to hand feeding. Just hold something in between your fingers and hold it out in front of him like 8 inches or so away and wait. It might take awhile sometimes a few minutes but itll be worth it.

 

[xXNosyBeXx]

ok i will try your hand feeding idea. But the problem with me putting them in and leaving them is i have no idea if he ate them because at the bottom of his cage he has a kind of bark husk looking stuff and the crickets just get lost in there..... is there a way i can attach a picture so you can see?

 

[panthercham]

In your last post which is similar you said you were cup feeding and holding the cup and having problems with him feeding with him being scared/freaked out.

Did you have any success with normal cup feeding? You have only had him for about 3 weeks so if you are trying to hand feed constantly he may still be stressed with your presence.

Have you tried to just dump a few crickets in the cage, leaving him alone and let him hunt them down? Remove the substrate as crickets love to hide in that stuff and you wont have any idea on how much he is eating.

Some chams dont take to cup feeding...most do, mine didn't and I actually prefer to have him hunt down his food. Have you tried other feeders, silk worms may do the trick as you can place them on leave and branches and they are slower.

Either way he should have more of a variety of feeders anyways.

 

[atsutane]

get yourself a feeding cup, a simple disposeable cup or a feeder that is basically a milk jug that has mostly been cut away with a strip of wire or whatever for the bugs to climb up... keeps bugs contained but lets them roam enough to catch your babys attention... plans for a feeder cup are on the feeder part of the forum

 

[xXNosyBeXx]

I did have problems with him cup feeding about two weeks ago, but thats when i switched to placing the crickets on the leaves. That seemed to go smoothly for about a week. He would eat about 8 or more a day and seemed to be fine with me sitting there. But now he is kinda nervous. I plan on getting rid of the substrate... could you possibly name me an alternative? and i have been trying to expand his diet by feeding him waxworms but he isnt as interested in those because they dont move...

 

[pssh]

You should remove the bark. If he accidentally eats it it can cause a blockage in his intestines known as an impaction.

If he will not eat with you there he probably wont hand feed. Many chams don't take just one try either, so don't be upset if he doesn't. I would try gettig a large container and hang it under the baskig spot. Put the feeders in there. It's easier to keep track of. Once he starts consistently eating you can try hand feeding.

Edit: a good alternative are paper towels (or nothing.) It makes clean up easier and you can monitor poop better.

 

[panthercham]

I use paper towel as its just easy to remove when it gets pooped on.

Mine don't really go for wax worms as they don't move much but love silk and horn worms. Give those a try and see how it goes as he may just be bored with only getting crickets. Also its easy to monitor how many silk/horn worms are eaten as they don't hide like crickets and you can give him some privacy if you feed those.

Hand feeding is great and very rewarding....give him time and build his trust for this. When the light bulb goes off that you are the bringer off food and he is more comfortable with you and his surroundings (he is still only a youngster and new to you) you will most probally have better luck.

 

[xXNosyBeXx]

thank you all for your quick and informative answers! And i have one more question... how do you avoid flooding in your cage? i kinda have a problem with this because each time i spray or have the dripper run water builds up on the bottom...

 

[pssh]

I drill a few holes then raise the cage and stick a bucket/catch of some sort under the holes. Or you can use a container with screen on top to catch the dripper water.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

How old is this cham? How big is your cage? If hes having a hard time finding his food he needs to be put in a smaller cage. No one even asked any questions about age or cage size.

 

[Leslie11]

substate



I use acrylic (not wool) felt, cut to size. You can find it in Walmart, and I choose green. It's about $3:00 a yard. It helps absorb the water. When you go to clean, take out the felt, brush off the debris, and wash in sink with no soap. Ring out the felt and place in microwave. I am guessing to cook for 2 mins. This removes the bacteria in the felt. Return to bottom of cage. Works for me. Good luck...