crickets fight back

[dodolah]

i felt so horrible today...
the cricket that i put in the enclosure fights back and bite my baby chameleon's lips (and perhaps other parts)..
and it was only about 3/8" size.
I was surprised when i see my baby cham (3.5 months) moves like crazy as if he's trying to shake things off..
When I saw him, there is this darn cricket chomping him.

I don't know exactly where this nasty cricket bite him..
Would it cause problem later on for my baby?
He seemed fine for now and start basking in the sun.
any signs that i should be aware?

Thanks guys.
PS: I am still new to a chameleon.. so be gentle, k

As for the nasty cricket, i just catch him and feed it to my nastier pet 'a Venus Fly trap' (this plant always get my cham's leftover)!

 

[ChameleonsTree]

Crickets bites have the potential of causing an infection but in most cases they just annoy the frig out of your chameleon.

 

[dodolah]

is there any signs that i should be aware off this infection thing?
hopefully i can catch it before it gets out of control..
any preventive action i should do?

he seemed quite shocked today..
He does not even touch the smaller crickets that kind off prancing in front of him..
Usually those crickets will be gone by seconds..

 

[herpluva]

use roaches, they are better for them and dont bite them!

 

[ChameleonsTree]

is there any signs that i should be aware off this infection thing?
hopefully i can catch it before it gets out of control..
any preventive action i should do?

he seemed quite shocked today..
He does not even touch the smaller crickets that kind off prancing in front of him..
Usually those crickets will be gone by seconds..

swollen and red at the site of the bite

 

[dodolah]

swollen and red at the site of the bite

if i saw it, what should i do (besides going to a vet.. hopefully i don't need it)?

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

but they're hungry!

Best way to avoid this is to make sure that they have something to eat before placing them into the cage
IF I notice uneaten food running around the cage I usually toss a little bit of something
for them to nibble on (small fruit slice /grape) other than my friend.

 

[dodolah]

use roaches, they are better for them and dont bite them!

for that i have to get over my fear of roaches first...
Do they really not bite?
their head structure looked exactly like crickets..
I am guessing these dudes bite too..
shudder shudder.. sorry i just can't stop shaking when i think about roaches..

 

[AdamJB]

Lol I second that dodolah for some reason I can handle any other bugs or creatures but for some reason to me roaches are just way to nasty for me! Even though I wanna a cleaner feeder.....

 

[ChameleonsTree]

I wont do roaches. They give be the hee bee jeebees...and if they ever got loose they dont die like crickets do.

 

[dodolah]

I wont do roaches. They give be the hee bee jeebees...and if they ever got loose they dont die like crickets do.

yes.. and they multiply fast too.. soon your room will b infested by them...
Dubia or not.. I will die of fear knowing that thousands of them are lurking in the shadows in my bedroom.
ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

 

[rmhuey]

Yeah, roaches give me the creeps. BigAppleHerp has some "new" kinds that are supposed to be good. I was thinking of ordering some....still, creepy. About the cricket biting, I have noticed a few wild crickets. Make sure to keep them fed well. Also, my cham has a kind of confidence issue , if a cricket walks on her or if she misses one with her tongue, she seems a little confused and will let some walk by. She gets over it pretty quickly though.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

The fear of any of these non-pest, forest floor dwelling, tropical roaches infesting your home is pretty irrational.
The exception (in my opinion) would be Blatta lateralis, which look like a pest species to me and have actually infested in warmer climates....I'd stay away from them...they're fast too!!!
Blaberaphobia is best treated and corrected through de-sensitization. My recommendation is that you aquire some roaches as soon as possible and start the healing. You've already taken the first step by admitting the problem.
You have my love and support....Good Luck!

-Brad

 

[dodolah]

The fear of any of these non-pest, forest floor dwelling, tropical roaches infesting your home is pretty irrational.
The exception (in my opinion) would be Blatta lateralis, which look like a pest species to me and have actually infested in warmer climates....I'd stay away from them...they're fast too!!!
Blaberaphobia is best treated and corrected through de-sensitization. My recommendation is that you aquire some roaches as soon as possible and start the healing. You've already taken the first step by admitting the problem.
You have my love and support....Good Luck!

-Brad

hahaha thanks for the support
I have experience traumatic event with roaches..
and When i say roaches, I mean LOTSA roaches flying, chasing, and crawling on me.

 

[TRI0N]

Victoria does the Huff and Puff thing too.. I think she is just pretenting to be a leaf being hit by a gust of wind in attempt to get them off her so she can eat it. She doesn't change color and on Huff & Puff about every 10 seconds but usually the first one will get them moving along. Then she will turn and snatch that sucker right up. Looks more like a natural way of hunting them so they can make a move. Rather then running away they make them move off so soon as they got their backs to her Zip!

 

[ChameleonsTree]

The fear of any of these non-pest, forest floor dwelling, tropical roaches infesting your home is pretty irrational.
The exception (in my opinion) would be Blatta lateralis, which look like a pest species to me and have actually infested in warmer climates....I'd stay away from them...they're fast too!!!
Blaberaphobia is best treated and corrected through de-sensitization. My recommendation is that you aquire some roaches as soon as possible and start the healing. You've already taken the first step by admitting the problem.
You have my love and support....Good Luck!

-Brad

lol of course its irrational..i also cant sleep if i saw a spider in my bedroom and it gets away before i can kill it.

 

[CammieNLeno]

Man you all would really struggle here in hawaii!! We have "american cockroaches" - Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus) here EVERYWHERE. We call em b-52's becusae they are HUGE - the American cockroach is the largest of the house-infesting roaches.

I have woken up numerous times with them on my face, in my bed, etc. No matter what you do, you cant get rid of em. People even go to the extent of totally bug bombing their houses it gets so bad. Its crazy.. they wrap your house with circus tent looking materials and gas the heck out of it for like 2 days straight. 3 months later yer re-infested.

The biggest one i have seen was close to 2.5-3 inches.

 

[dodolah]

Man you all would really struggle here in hawaii!! We have "american cockroaches" - Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus) here EVERYWHERE. We call em b-52's becusae they are HUGE - the American cockroach is the largest of the house-infesting roaches.

I have woken up numerous times with them on my face, in my bed, etc. No matter what you do, you cant get rid of em. People even go to the extent of totally bug bombing their houses it gets so bad. Its crazy.. they wrap your house with circus tent looking materials and gas the heck out of it for like 2 days straight. 3 months later yer re-infested.

The biggest one i have seen was close to 2.5-3 inches.

trust me, i know how it feels..
ughhh
b4 i live in CA, my home is in Indonesia (Perfect place to take care pretty much all of chameleon, BTW. you don't even need misting as the humidity is always high. To think of it, i never mist my cham enclosure when i was there and he's alive for 8 years).