Diet shift from crickets to Dubia or superworm?

[Pachytriton]

When I first got my baby veiled, it liked superworm. I often pick the worms that just molt and are still softy white. It also took Dubia nymphs. But since the baby veiled shed it skin, it changed its diet to only crickets (ignores everything else).
I have a healthy colony of superworm (several generations already) and another growing colony of Dubia roaches, but have to buy crickets from pet stores constantly, which are not cheap and easily perished. They are very hard to maintain.
Does anyone know any trick to change the chameleon's diet back to a staple of Dubia/superworm with crickets as a treat?
Thanks for any advice. I really think a variety of feeder is the best.

 

[CLP]

You are correct, variety is best. There are other feeders you could try like silkworms or hornworms. Make sure what you are offering is not too big for him. Some will try to eat them regardless, which is dangerous, but some will just not even try. You said baby, so I'm not sure how old your guy is. If he's still young, he shouldn't go too long without eating, but sometimes you just have to wait them out. When they get hungry, they'll eat.

If you have been feeding mostly superworms, he could be trying to hold out for them. Many chams have been known to get "addicted" to them and refuse to eat anything else. Keep offering lots of variety, and when he's hungry enough, he'll eat. Good luck!

 

[Pachytriton]

Thanks. It is at around 3 months. I breed superworms so I have baby superworms to feed. But he only likes crickets and I am running low on my baby cricket supply. I bred the crickets once in the summer. I am just trying to persuade it to try something different, like baby dubia or back on some baby superworms.
I will do consider baby silkworms. I bought and breed dubia because people said it is the best food for chameleons. But my veiled just even don't look at them.

You are correct, variety is best. There are other feeders you could try like silkworms or hornworms. Make sure what you are offering is not too big for him. Some will try to eat them regardless, which is dangerous, but some will just not even try. You said baby, so I'm not sure how old your guy is. If he's still young, he shouldn't go too long without eating, but sometimes you just have to wait them out. When they get hungry, they'll eat.

If you have been feeding mostly superworms, he could be trying to hold out for them. Many chams have been known to get "addicted" to them and refuse to eat anything else. Keep offering lots of variety, and when he's hungry enough, he'll eat. Good luck!

 

[sandrachameleon]

offer the dubia and the superworms for a couple days, without crickets. Being young and growing, it should get hungry quickly and have to eat whatever its is offered. You could also experiment with different ways of offering the alternate prey (sometimes changing the location and/or colour of the big bowl I use for certain prey types makes mine more interested).

If it takes more than a couple days, at that age, I wouldnt force it. Maybe try again in a couple months.
Crickets are a good feeder, when well gutloaded and lightly calicum dusted. It would be more concerning if your animal was stuck on superworms or something else less healthy

 

[AndrewBrian]

my chameleons dont seem to like crickets and i have a hard time breeding them they die so fast and cannibalize each other.. Are crickets better and more nutritious than dubian roaches? I treat my chameleons with green hoppers from pesticide free areas that seems to be their favorite... all of them actually... i feed this around 3pm in the afternoon after they've eaten their dubias

 

[sandrachameleon]

dubia roaches are a good feeder prey choice, easily gutloaded
of course variety is important, so its good if you include the hoppers (I assume you mean grasshoppers/locust) and crickets and other prey as well.

 

[nightanole]

my chameleons dont seem to like crickets and i have a hard time breeding them they die so fast and cannibalize each other.. Are crickets better and more nutritious than dubian roaches? I treat my chameleons with green hoppers from pesticide free areas that seems to be their favorite... all of them actually... i feed this around 3pm in the afternoon after they've eaten their dubias

Dubia have about double the protein per weight as a cricket. Other than that they are about the same unless you can get one to gut load on something the other wont touch.

 

[Pachytriton]

Thanks. Will try this. The problem with Dubia is that they don't move too much once in the food bowl, unlike crix or superworm. Ideally, I would love my veiled to have Dubia as its staple and others as treats.
For grasshoppers, it is hard to know if one is toxic or not. Some have red spots flashing when flying. So I will stay away from those unless it is a green katydid.
Btw, just FYI, my Jackson loves moth. So I set a trap at night and got a lot during the summer.

offer the dubia and the superworms for a couple days, without crickets. Being young and growing, it should get hungry quickly and have to eat whatever its is offered. You could also experiment with different ways of offering the alternate prey (sometimes changing the location and/or colour of the big bowl I use for certain prey types makes mine more interested).

If it takes more than a couple days, at that age, I wouldnt force it. Maybe try again in a couple months.
Crickets are a good feeder, when well gutloaded and lightly calicum dusted. It would be more concerning if your animal was stuck on superworms or something else less healthy

 

[sandrachameleon]

Thanks. Will try this. The problem with Dubia is that they don't move too much once in the food bowl, unlike crix or superworm. Ideally, I would love my veiled to have Dubia as its staple and others as treats.

I encourage you to delete the word "staple" from your chameleon vocabulary. Instead, aim to have constant variety, letting no single prey type make up more than 40% of the animals monthly diet.
So ideally, your chameleon will be eating 5 or more different types of feeders/prey every month.

Try putting dubia on their backs. Takes them a couple seconds of wiggling to get themselves turned back over. Which should be long enough if your chameleon is hungry. You could also cut the heads off the dubia, as this tends to make them walk around (until they die)

 

[Shaunny]

well i have the same problem. my guy only eats crix that are gutloaded on veg and bug burger. i offer him dubais, locust, mario worms but will leave them all but the crix.

 

[AndrewBrian]

hahaha chameleons are sooo complicated! my mom is making a fuss about all the bugs in the house im just lucky i live in a tropical place where i dont need heating lamps or lights... so hard to breed crickets i have about 800 adult dubias now enough i guess for 3 chameleons to eat their nymphs

 

[Pachytriton]

Thanks! Will take the lesson.

I encourage you to delete the word "staple" from your chameleon vocabulary. Instead, aim to have constant variety, letting no single prey type make up more than 40% of the animals monthly diet.
So ideally, your chameleon will be eating 5 or more different types of feeders/prey every month.

Try putting dubia on their backs. Takes them a couple seconds of wiggling to get themselves turned back over. Which should be long enough if your chameleon is hungry. You could also cut the heads off the dubia, as this tends to make them walk around (until they die)