Cup Feeding

[jordanebert89]

ok so i got a new cage and i will have to cup feed her. so i was wondering how you guys got your chameleon to do so. yesterday she was trying to get them from the bottom of the cup and never went to the top of the cup so i have been hand feeding her but i would like to get her to eat out of the cup.

 

[biglittle]

try starting with a cup that you can't see through. then they can only see the prey items from the top, not the sides.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Also try putting the cup really low in the cage so it's easy for the Cham to see down into it rather than only seeing the bugs if they're at the top of the cage. You can move it higher up later when they get the concept.

 

[jordanebert89]

thank you both if i get a red cup would that be ok i dont want to get a color that will make her mad or anything

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

You'll just have to try and see if she likes that color or not. One of my chams hates orange but the others don't mind it.

 

[biglittle]

i'd see if you can find just a white one. depending on your cham red could be food, i.e. my veileds.

 

[absolutbill]

I just trained my little veiled to cup-feed in a couple of days. I started with a white mealworm cup, and filled it while I had him out of his cage. Then, while he was on my hand, I moved him over to it so he would start to eat. The next day or so I put him on the cup, and while he was eating, moved the cup into his cage where it would permanately be. Now, I just remove the cup to fill it, and by the time I put it back in the cage he's headed toward it. It's located in the bottom 1/3 of his cage, in the front corner so I can easily keep an eye on how many crickets he's eating. Hope this helps!

 

[UrbanChameleon]

ok so i got a new cage and i will have to cup feed her. so i was wondering how you guys got your chameleon to do so. yesterday she was trying to get them from the bottom of the cup and never went to the top of the cup so i have been hand feeding her but i would like to get her to eat out of the cup.

I tried with the clear Deli cups first. My cham got them the first day but I noticed he seemed to be confused as to where to shoot his tongue. So I looked around WALMART and picked up some green paper cups for kids parties. They are perfect for a young cham! They are tall enough that the crickets can't get out, yet not so tall that he can't easily reach them. I set mine on the floor of the enclosure now. But when he gets bigger I will secure it with cable ties to his vines. If you look near the kids party stuff they have plain color ones with no designs. They've got green, red, yellow, pink.. etc. I prefer green as to not intimidate him. Although you could go with the Dora and Spongebob ones if your little guy is a fan.

 

[UrbanChameleon]

By the way.. make sure to set it under his favorite perch so he can see them. My little man still has trouble with it when he is in a different spot. But he's is starting to notice that the magic cup has an endless supply of crickets. It only took my cham about three days but some take longer to get the hang of it.

 

[jordanebert89]

thank you too all i will go to wal mart tomorrow i think i green cup would look better and maybe i will get the spongbob for her bithday

 

[altitude]

I use a cleaned out lemonaid bottle, and trim it so there is a open cup at the bottom and then leave one side with a bit of a rim around it (about an inch left over from the top and other two sides). Then I hot glue a little bit of screen on the side and hang it off the side of the enclosure door. With this setup I can easily access the feeder cup, and while the crickets can't get out (except for an occasional really lucky jump), they can climb up the sides. And actually the crickets seem to prefer to climb the side screen than sit in the bottom. Once they climb the screen, they are easy for my guy to see, and easy to hunt.

Not sure if you can follow my description, but basically I make a cricket keeper that they can't escape, but they climb up the side where they are easy to see and it's a more natural shot.

 

[grimjob]

im going to start cup feeding my little veiled so thanks for the tips, ill keep it posted

 

[iwantone]

I use disposable plastic white cups that I buy from the supermarket in a large pack. Works a treat.

 

[EvilLost]

I used to use one of those red cups, then swapped to the cut in half cranberry juice bottle.


Currently though, I'm just using a 15QT plastic tub with no lid. Originally I thought the crickets would just jump right out (and they CAN) but....they dont? In the future I will probably get one with higher sides and I keep a little eggcrate in the middle only, never near the sides


My little boy did fall in twice, which is quite amusing....but with a little effort he can get himself out