Best way to feed a young panther?

Ctg

Member
I've had my little panther chameleon for about a week now. I'm under the impression she's about 2.5 months old and also a female, but I wasn't guaranteed that. During that time I only had fake plants and branches for her to climb on, so I would just dump in some crickets and it was easy for her to find them and eat them. After reading some threads on here I decided to get some live plants and added them to her cage, and now it seems like it's much harder for her to find them. I put crickets in there earlier today and they just hid at the bottom of the cage and I guess she wasn't able to see them.

I do have some dubia roaches and phoenix worms that she will eat from tweezers, but she won't take crickets from the tweezers. I tried the Sunny D cricket holder and she won't eat from it. Should I keep trying the Sunny D option, or should I put a cup where she can eat them out of it? I'm not sure what to do and I'm getting worried she isn't eating enough. She didn't have much today at all.

Here's a picture of her I snapped while I was changing her cage around. It's not a great pic though.

http://i.imgur.com/KyTiSSn.jpg
 
Instead of releasing the crickets in the bottom tried to put the cup that they are in against the side screen of the cage so that the crickets grab hold of it, Most all crickets will naturally head up to basking light where they are easily picked off.
 
She will learn how to get them, whether it's chasing them down or from a cup. Sometimes it takes them a few days to adjust. You do want to try to not let the crickets in overnight, as they can bite her. That being said, they will usually only bite if they are hungry, so if you put a little piece of lettuce or something for the crickets to eat, they most likely won't bite her.
 
i cut a large plastic cup, sides are about 2-3 inches high, i use straight calcium and wipe the inside down with my finger, that seems to keep everything in it FF included, they crawl up and fall off the crickets cant crawl up it and dont seem to jump out once in there they just walk in a circle.. i do keep a small piece of fresh fruit in there also to kinda give them a reason to stay put lol..i might lose a couple but for the most part a good 90-95% dont leave the cup, and they walk around in the calcium so theyre always kinda dusted. seems to be working for my lil baby panther girl
 
I do pretty much the same as above with my cup and they don't seem to jump out. A good way to do it is to put the crix in with veg, leave the lid on the cup for 5 mins so the crix realise the veg is in there before putting it straight in. I have an umbrella plans and Trevor sleeps right on the end just before where the leaf starts so the crix have a hard time to get to him even if they wanted too. I put about 10 in the cup and let 10 go on top of the basking spot where they tend to stay ready for trev to pick off. He prefers to hunt over the cut but generally cleans the loose ones up first so there isn't any left in at night to bit.

I have a glass viv at te mo so I have made sure there is some way the crix can get back up and not stay lingering in the bottom. Even if they do I have seen him take them from the floor so you should have a problem with her finding them. You'll be surprise how much she will move when your not around.
 
Thanks for all the help everyone. Ill try the cup method and the sunny d method and see which one is best for us.
 
One quick question. Does it matter where I place the feeder cup? I want it on this spot where it'd look nicer, but he usually hangs out on the other side of the cage
 
I like to put mine somewhere below his basking spot but that is in his line of sight from where he usually bask. Then once he gets used to it you can put it anywhere you like. I put mine up with velcro so it is easy to remove and clean, or put in a new area.
 
One last question, she still isn't eating out of the feeder I made her. I am hand feeding her some dubia roaches so I know she isn't starving. How long should I go before I should get worried and maybe give up the feeder idea?
 
Have you watched her for awhile to see if she is even eying the ones in the feeder cup? If so she will eventually go for them. Since she is young though I would continue to hand feed her as much as you can since she is growing so much right now.
 
She looked at them the first day but I don't think she did today. Ill keep hand feeding her and maybe try a different feeder device.
 
Here is what I use, they are very small and really are not designed to keep crickets in very long but dubias seem to stay in their fine. I take the bowl and spray it with Krylon Plastic paint dark green (Safe to use underwater in saltwater tanks, so safe to feed out of) this way it blends in with the plants. I then use a velcro piece so I can stick and remove it from where I want.
ziploc.jpg
 
She ate from the cup!! I had to rearrange a whole bunch of stuff in her cage but now I guess she can find it better and she's eating from it as I type this! Woohoo so excited! Haha
 
personally i would still let some go because its more natural for them to hunt them. still hand feed too as you can keep an even closer eye on how much it is eating
 
She ate from the cup!! I had to rearrange a whole bunch of stuff in her cage but now I guess she can find it better and she's eating from it as I type this! Woohoo so excited! Haha

Awesome so glad to hear that! Yes I too would still let some go that she can easily see so she still keeps that hunting instinct.
 
Thanks again for all the help. I'll definitely let some guy. I just got super paranoid reading about how they'll nibble on my baby when she's sleeping!
 
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