Baby Panther Cham Not Eating-Cup or Roam

[zlew]

Hi, my panther ambanja cham isnt eating very much. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the cup feeding. I am cup feeding him right now, and he doesnt seem to like it and he's eating the bare minimum. On the other hand, when i let the crickets roam he seems to respond to it more but i have no way of seeing how much he's eating and the bottom of my viv is frequently wet and they fall to the bottom and die.

 

[sharp229]

Based on your last post, I would add more foliage and then try and release the crickets in the foliage if he does not like eating from the cup. This should help prevent the crickets from dying on the bottom.

Are the crickets smaller than the space between his eyes? Does he seem to have any trouble eating them? How old is he? It is possible you may have better luck with fruit flies if he is very young.

 

[zlew]

the crickets are smaller than in between his eyes, and also, i did add lots of more foliage, trying free roam tomorrow. thanks.

 

[crazychamzoo]

Viv? Do you have him in a glass vivarium? You really shouldn't have free standing water in the bottom of his enclosure, this can lead to serious issues, such as URI from the stagnant air, and he really should drink from the water in the bottom that could be contaminated from decal matter, dead feeders, etc.. Cup feeding maybe stressing him out if your holding the cup up to him. If he is in a glass vivarium, you should highly consider a screen enclosure, if you have a screen enclosure, you should highly consider drainage, there shouldn't be standing water in the bottom. This would allow you to free range feed the guy without issues. On another note, something we have had luck with in the past on a few picky eaters, is taking a plastic bowl or Tupperware container large enough to contain the crickets to where they can not jump out and placing it at the bottom of the cage just under the plant (we use hibiscus) or just under the foliage, and dropping a branch or vine down to access. We pretty much just consider this a hybrid cup feeding, alluring the chameleon to go to his food at the bottom and yet still containing the feeders to allow for an accounting of his intake.

 

[zlew]

Hi, i have a glass/screen combo tank and when i say cup feeding, I mean the hybrid cup feeding. I hang it in the vines towards the bottom. Is there any kind of non-harmful substrate to use for the bottom? how do you recommend draining it?

 

[crazychamzoo]

I honestly wouldn't have a answer for you on the substrate, we have never used a substrate for any if our Chameleons, Panther or otherwise. We like to keep a clean white plastic bottom. We even use large rounded Mexican beach pebbles to cover the dirt in the planters for the hibiscus plants we use, just to make sure the chameleons can not ingest the planter dirt. As far as drainage we have drilled holes in the bottom of the cages with 1" PVC pipe running to buckets for our inside cages, fairly cheap set up. I have seen people use plastic funnels like you would use to add oil to a car, mounted under the cages to funnel the water to buckets or even rain gutters under multiple setups. You really want to make sure not to have standing water at the bottom, even though most Panthers will not drink from the standing water it's a breeding ground for bacteria, fecal matter, and will kill your feeder bugs.