DIY Cricket Feeder - Bottle and Chopsticks Version

BigBossInc

New Member
I was having trouble feeding Snoop Doggy Dog my Panther Chameleon. Purchase of a cricket feeder was not possible where I am living now. I didn't have the time to sit there holding a cricket on a stick all day long and wait for Snoop to snap it up. Tried using clothes pegs to try and clip them around the enclosure, but that usually just ended up in disaster with crickets breaking legs to escape the clasp of the pegs, then being disabled when they fell to the floor. I tried a few other other ideas, which I will keep to myself, as they were quite silly and ineffective.

So as always, you do a quick Google and try to figure out a suitable solution. I found quite a good idea, however it required tools and materials I just didn't have handy and seemed to more complicated then it should be. So I that night I had a brainstorm. It took me about 5 mins to fully complete the job and the next morning I placed it in the cage with 3 crickets. To my delight Snoop immediately turned around, got into position, aimed and started devouring all the crickets that were travelling up and down the chopsticks. It was like watching him shoot fish in a barrel.

So here is how its done for anyone who is looking for a quick, easy and cheap cricket feeder. :cool:

Bottle and Chopsticks Cricket Feeder

bf1.jpg

Materials Required

- Suitable Plastic Bottle (I picked a random 600ml bottle from the recycle bin and it worked perfectly. Just keep the labeling on or make sure its not see through as it might hurt the chameleon if he accidentally tries to shoot through it)

- Takeaway Disposable Wooden Chopsticks (Preferably new and unsnapped with both sticks still joined together. It will probably still work with just one though)

- Sharp Kitchen Knife (Remember safety first)

- String or Rope (length as required to hang as per your requirements)

Step 1

Get your bottle and place it on the table. Start to carefully plan to cut out the front section from the top, just a bit below the neck where it starts to straighten out, all the way to about 3 cm to the bottom of the bottle. Refer to picture below to get a better idea of what i mean.

bf2.jpg

The idea is that the crickets can escape cause its too slippery and can't jump cause there is no flat ground to launch from.

Once your understand the concept, start to make the cut carefully.

Step 2

Make a small incision with your knife at bottom of the bottle, just big enough to slip your string/rope through. Then slip it through and tie a knot or two at the end. This will allow you to hang the bottle as required. Refer to picture below.

bf3.jpg

Step 3

Take the cap off your bottle and put the chopsticks through. You may want to BlueTac the chopsticks to the back of the bottle. Mine didn't require this as its length was exactly as long as the bottle so stuck in perfectly when I placed the lid back on. If you want you could drill a small hole through the cap so that when your misting the water can drop through and prevent any accidental drowning of crickets. I don't need to cause i just avoid spraying into it or if water does seem to get in i just take the cap off and let it all out.

bf4.jpg

Step 4

Place the completed feeder as required in your enclosure, using the string to hang it up. I just placed it near the front so I can easily drop in crickets. As for for the location for your chameleon i really don't think it matters as they will eventually find it. Only other thing is just make sure no leaves or branches sneak there way close to the feeder cause the crickets could use this as an escape route.

I recommend placing a max of 3 crickets in at the same time, However this is depending on what type of bottle you are using. The reason being, I once dropped in 5 crickets and they all teamed up and used each other like some sort of cricket ladder and 2 of them escaped.

So now the crickets can walk up and down the chopsticks however can't escape.

bf5.jpg

I really recommend this to anyone who is looking for a cheap and effective way to feed there chameleons. Hopefully somebody finds this information helpful.

Let me know what you guys think and if you try it how did it go.

Cheers!

PS. It was just coincidence that Snoop was next to the feeder when I took the photos. He has that "comon man, im trying to get some sleep, get that camera out of my face" look on his face. lol. So cool. :D
 
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