crickets roaming or cup

[alan23]

i will b getting a 2month cham or bit older wht size crickets shall i get and do u think i shud let em roam or cup feed?

 

[Electric]

i'd say let them roam, in the wild chams don't get cup fed lol

try giving some by hand too for fun

for size probably half size crickets or less depending on the size of your cham, these are only my opinions though wait until the pros answer

 

[Julirs]

Hey Alan-I would start out with 1/4 size crickets-they are the right size and they last longer when you buy them in bulk when they are younger. I have always let my Chams hunt for their food-it is good exercise. I also hand feed sometimes.

 

[Marc10edora]

yep, as the last two said, I prefer to free roam it when it comes to crickets. I toss them in the cage early in the morning. That way my cham has all day to catch them all. Any survivors usually drown from all the misting by the end of the day. But if you see any in the cage before the lights go out, try to catch them and but them in the gutload tank again. If they are left in there overnight they can bite your cham or chew through the screen. They also lose the gutload in them. I only hand feed with worms ex. silkworms, wax worms. That's because I can lay my hand out flat when giving it to my cham. When you hand feed, make sure you stay really steady so you don't accidentally pull your chams tongue when it shoots at it. Also position yourself directly behind the feeder. Your cham will be looking at you and the feeder at the same time.

 

[alan23]

thanks peeps will b cool to c em free roam and c the cham hunt too.wht do u keep ur feeders in?

 

[DraftDayz]

This kind of goes along with something ive been thinking. I've read you dont want to use certain types of substrate because of impaction problems. However, when you have live plants you need to use soil as a potting substrate. When allowing the crickets to roam the cage, do they stay mostly on the solid floor? One of the main concerns with allowing crickets to overnight with a cham is that they'll pick at them. This makes me assume they can crawl up the pot and plant to the cham. Does potting soil not cause impaction like mulch, etc.? I guess i'm just kind of generally confused. Luckily i dont have chameleon ... yet

 

[alan23]

what cham r u getting?

 

[kinyonga]

The soil in my plant pots is covered with something to prevent the chameleons from ingesting it. It just isn't worth the risk of a chameleon becoming impacted IMHO.

 

[alan23]

what do u use to cover the soil?

 

[dragonbreeder]

I used to use paper towels to cover the soil, and replaced them regularly. However, plain soil should not cause an impaction if it is sifted, but bark, dried leaves and other organic debris can...

 

[kinyonga]

I have used stones that are too big for the chameleon to ingest....but there are other things that can be used too.

 

[chameloman72]

Here is a combination of both!! I used a plastic shower curtain from the family dollar and made a cover for the pot and used large stones in the center where the plastic can't get around the tree!! This also keeps the plant from getting to wet between mists!!

 

[DraftDayz]

I like that It takes care of some of the questions i was wondering about like over watering, etc. So feeders are just left to roam anywhere in the cage then? Or do they mostly end up in or around the plant?

I'd have to say the Chameleon i'm most interested in is the Sambava Panther. I just love those reds, oranges, and yellows on some of them.

 

[chameloman72]

I like that It takes care of some of the questions i was wondering about like over watering, etc. So feeders are just left to roam anywhere in the cage then? Or do they mostly end up in or around the plant?

I'd have to say the Chameleon i'm most interested in is the Sambava Panther. I just love those reds, oranges, and yellows on some of them.

YES, they just free roam and I guess they don't like the plastic cause they don't even get on it or under it for that matter just hang out on the screen until eaten!!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I am going to be the sole advocate ( so far) for cup feeding.
Particularly with a new or young chameleon.
It is, in my opinion, the best way to monitor how much is being eaten.
Additionally it allows you to remove uneaten feeders easily and having an enclosure that is not "bug proof" becomes less of a problem.
Utilizing a feeder with a screen up the back, allowing the feeders to climb up and down, creates the illusion of free-roaming insects for your chameleon and pretty much eliminates "cup-training".
Occasionally I release an insect into the plants for my cham to hunt down.
This is more of an enrichment activity than status quo, and he gets very excited about the pursuit.
There is nothing wrong with "free-range" feeders in the cage.....I'm just a bit more of a control freak

-Brad

 

[DraftDayz]

That Feeder cage is nice. I always hated unnatural feeding settings like cups and such. It doesn't stimulate the animal. Hunting is natural and acts as an enrichment activity, which is very important to the mental well being of animals.

Brad: Do you use a misting system? If so, how are the holes at draining any excess water? Can the crickets jump high enough to get out?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I occasionally have an escape.
I don't have drain holes in my feeder....I do all my misting by hand and can avoid water getting in there.
Crickets don't jump out too often. If they have something to climb on they don't seem to think about jumping much.....although they certainly could jump out if they were smart enough to asses the situation.

-Brad

 

[drnkjunglist]

Ive been using this method and it works best for me, just a blastic soda bottle with a peice of velcrow up the back so they can cilmb up it. some of them jump out but most dont and everytime i put it in there he knows its time to eat. free roaming crickets fall into water more often and die.. stupid crickets..

I occasionally have an escape.
I don't have drain holes in my feeder....I do all my misting by hand and can avoid water getting in there.
Crickets don't jump out too often. If they have something to climb on they don't seem to think about jumping much.....although they certainly could jump out if they were smart enough to asses the situation.

-Brad

 

[itskuhmeeleeyuhn]

You aren't alone, Brad! I like cup feeding for several reasons.
I have a few babies who eat VERY small pinhead crickets. In the beginning I would let them loose in the cage, but they would seem to just get lost. The chameleons would never even see them. So I worried that the babies weren't eating anything. So I tried using a cup and the babies climb right onto the cup and dig in. It's nice to see your teeny cham pigging out.
If I knew that they ate the same amount with the free-range method, I would use it. But for now it's much more convenient, and gives me a bit less to worry about

 

[DraftDayz]

Hey drunk, have you noticed the crickets chewing on the velcro any? (I assume its the soft loop side, not the hard hook side.)