I've been feeding my chameleon crickets for as long as he has been alive. I tried mealworms once but they weren't appetizing to him at all. (they smell horrendous too) Now my chameleon is large enough to be eating adult crickets, hes about 10-12 inches overall length and is quite healthy. today he has been displaying an extremely light color today, i think its because he's very calm and happy in his current situation. I was wondering first if i should change it up every now and then? and which feeders are the easiest to deal with? also, how many crickets a day do you think i should feed him? i dust w/ repcal calciumw/d3 in it every feeding that i do, (when i work, my mom just throws the crickets in...) so at least 3-4 times a week. i've used the herptivite 2-3 times, like once every 2 weeks or so.
My crickets, i keep them in a sterlite container w/ the top lid cut out to have screen @ the top. It has a little ridge around the perimeter of the box that alot of crickets die in.. its about 8-10inches high but here's my problem. Some of these crickets are turning DARK BLACK when they are dead. also, some are dying with red swollen coloration in certain areas of their bodies. I buy my crickets at about $5 worth at a time so i get about 50-60 for the week, soemtimes i have to get more earlier than expected. I just bought some on tuesday the 4th from petsmart, full grown ones. i have about 10-12 dead ones that are just dark dark black inthere. what causes them to die? say for instance theres one thats dead in there in which the hind leg is quite red and swollen to the point that it is extended... What is that? I'm concerned because i think its infection that has been spreading. I have two theories: one is the dark black ones are dying due to aphixiation (sp?) i only have the top part cut out and that shit stinks, i think there isn't much air flow to supply the crickets. I think the ones that have the red swollen bodyparts are ones that have been bitten by other larger crickets and its an infection from that... I also see that the crickets like to pull legs of each other and stuff so that seems plausible
i have been buying this product called 'cricket yummies' that is a gutload mix for the crickets to eat... its green in color and a box comes with about 9-10 packets. I think its been working well because my chameleon looks very healthy.
I believe my chameleon is 3months old, maybe 4, he doesn't show alot of colors, but they are there and they are faint but not as extreme as other chameleon colors i've seen. sometimes they color out. I noticed that when hes stressed/pissed the white spots he has on him turn brown/black and thats it, the rest stays green, however my friends sub-adult veiled turns dark all over when hes pissed off.... but to the point... i'm wondering about feeding habits, handling and training the chameleon....
My chameleon runs like hell from me when i open the reptarium, he sprints at full speed across to the otherside, so normally to catch him i open both sides and he runs to the other where a pothos is, and i pull the pothos out and kind of make him run to escape one hand and he ends up onto my other hand to get him out of the plant, i never try to pull on him or anything like that... when should i try to start hand feeding him? My chameleon is so skidish i don't understand why, he's out in the back porch/lanai in the sun for about half of the day with all the anemities he needs, hes probably bothered maybe 2-3 times a day, and sometimes more than that when my siblings go into the pool, but a shade is pulled between him and the pool to protect him and so he can't see the kids. he's more concerned with my presence than taking care of his bodily needs. I have yet to see him eat, he never eats when i'm around. One time i fed him and i was lookin around the cage to see where he was at, when i walked around i saw he was stretched out with his mouth open, about to shoot, and his eye caught me and he immediately retracted close to the branch and was watching me not the cricket he was about to eat. he doesn't really drink when i'm around either, he's always 100% focused on me and what I am doing and where i am in relation to the cage, if i'm getting crickets and stuff he goes to the opposite. I used to use a misting hose that was seperate from the pump, but due to time and the pump not working too hot with it (too much pressure) i use the nozzle that is attached to the pump to spray him down, i used to see him drink when i had the hose insid ethe cage spraying on him, but now i rarely see him drink, i wet the plants and everything in the cage pretty well, with alot buildup on the outside and hope that he drinks some... my mom has seen him eat though, i don't know how... she's seen him a few times, its not fair! haha
I wrote alot so here's a recap:
What makes crickets die when they have food/water? particularly turnign dark black/swollen red body parts
Should i switch up the feeders, if so which are good?
My chameleon is skiddish as hell, when should i start trying to hand feed him and how should i go about doing it?
What are things I can do to eliminate stress he's being subject to to cause him to flee?
My setup: 65gallon reptarium w/ ficus tree, schefflera, and pothos with one 6ft strand of biovine throughout. pretty basic but i think he's happy.
i'll follow this up with some pictures i took of him today with my blackjack.
My crickets, i keep them in a sterlite container w/ the top lid cut out to have screen @ the top. It has a little ridge around the perimeter of the box that alot of crickets die in.. its about 8-10inches high but here's my problem. Some of these crickets are turning DARK BLACK when they are dead. also, some are dying with red swollen coloration in certain areas of their bodies. I buy my crickets at about $5 worth at a time so i get about 50-60 for the week, soemtimes i have to get more earlier than expected. I just bought some on tuesday the 4th from petsmart, full grown ones. i have about 10-12 dead ones that are just dark dark black inthere. what causes them to die? say for instance theres one thats dead in there in which the hind leg is quite red and swollen to the point that it is extended... What is that? I'm concerned because i think its infection that has been spreading. I have two theories: one is the dark black ones are dying due to aphixiation (sp?) i only have the top part cut out and that shit stinks, i think there isn't much air flow to supply the crickets. I think the ones that have the red swollen bodyparts are ones that have been bitten by other larger crickets and its an infection from that... I also see that the crickets like to pull legs of each other and stuff so that seems plausible
i have been buying this product called 'cricket yummies' that is a gutload mix for the crickets to eat... its green in color and a box comes with about 9-10 packets. I think its been working well because my chameleon looks very healthy.
I believe my chameleon is 3months old, maybe 4, he doesn't show alot of colors, but they are there and they are faint but not as extreme as other chameleon colors i've seen. sometimes they color out. I noticed that when hes stressed/pissed the white spots he has on him turn brown/black and thats it, the rest stays green, however my friends sub-adult veiled turns dark all over when hes pissed off.... but to the point... i'm wondering about feeding habits, handling and training the chameleon....
My chameleon runs like hell from me when i open the reptarium, he sprints at full speed across to the otherside, so normally to catch him i open both sides and he runs to the other where a pothos is, and i pull the pothos out and kind of make him run to escape one hand and he ends up onto my other hand to get him out of the plant, i never try to pull on him or anything like that... when should i try to start hand feeding him? My chameleon is so skidish i don't understand why, he's out in the back porch/lanai in the sun for about half of the day with all the anemities he needs, hes probably bothered maybe 2-3 times a day, and sometimes more than that when my siblings go into the pool, but a shade is pulled between him and the pool to protect him and so he can't see the kids. he's more concerned with my presence than taking care of his bodily needs. I have yet to see him eat, he never eats when i'm around. One time i fed him and i was lookin around the cage to see where he was at, when i walked around i saw he was stretched out with his mouth open, about to shoot, and his eye caught me and he immediately retracted close to the branch and was watching me not the cricket he was about to eat. he doesn't really drink when i'm around either, he's always 100% focused on me and what I am doing and where i am in relation to the cage, if i'm getting crickets and stuff he goes to the opposite. I used to use a misting hose that was seperate from the pump, but due to time and the pump not working too hot with it (too much pressure) i use the nozzle that is attached to the pump to spray him down, i used to see him drink when i had the hose insid ethe cage spraying on him, but now i rarely see him drink, i wet the plants and everything in the cage pretty well, with alot buildup on the outside and hope that he drinks some... my mom has seen him eat though, i don't know how... she's seen him a few times, its not fair! haha
I wrote alot so here's a recap:
What makes crickets die when they have food/water? particularly turnign dark black/swollen red body parts
Should i switch up the feeders, if so which are good?
My chameleon is skiddish as hell, when should i start trying to hand feed him and how should i go about doing it?
What are things I can do to eliminate stress he's being subject to to cause him to flee?
My setup: 65gallon reptarium w/ ficus tree, schefflera, and pothos with one 6ft strand of biovine throughout. pretty basic but i think he's happy.
i'll follow this up with some pictures i took of him today with my blackjack.