Dubais, cup feeding and other things

[DBDEAN]

Started cup feeding my Veiled because I saw him eat the other morning and he just sort of let his tongue plop out of his mouth and slowly pull it back in - missing the cricket totally. I totally freaked out.

He is a very private eater and I almost never see him eat. He mostly takes to hidding behind vines when I look at him...angling his body to blend perfectly.

So - I started cup feeding him. I put the crickets in before i go to work and they are all missing when I get home. And he leaves me a gift in the cup - poop. every day.

I feed him a dubai and saw him eat that right away. But I think worried cause it looked like it got stuck in his throat and he struggled to swollen it for a while.

I misted like crazy to give him a way to drink and swollen that thing and then watched for ever to make sure he was okay. So now I am sort of worried about roaches...

he wont touch meal worms etc. doesnt recognize them as food.

What are other things that it is okay to feed him. Can I give him pill bugs from garden or is it dangerous to feed him wild caught food. A moth flew inot cage the other day and I pulled it out, wasnt sure it was safe for him to eat.

 

[JaxyGirl]

Check out this link from Jannb. It really helpful!
http://reptileapartment.com/chameleon-feeding-beginners-guide/

 

[DBDEAN]

great article - thank you. I should have totally left the moth in the cage.

 

[DBDEAN]

I got more dubi roaches, some silk worms and fruit flies. I bought five silk worms just to see if he would eat them. He loves them. I tried feeding him meal worms again and found out why he won't eat them
..they totally fight back. I watched him try to get one several times and it would whip around and freak him out.
He is taking well to cup feeding and is really looking alot heslthier. How quickly does the UVB light make a difference in health. It's been in a week and I swear it's impactin him.

 

[junglefries]

Leave the mealworms for beardies. No real benefit for a cham. Equivalent of us humans eating styrofoam. Try superworms.

 

[DBDEAN]

Am I imaging things or is his color already looking better - more colors etc, since I added UVB and calcium to his diet and started giving him other types of food and gutloading them. He used to be brown all the time or a light green without much variety. I am now getting some great Douglas fir green patches and some almost bordering on a vibrant green blue.

 

[JaxyGirl]

I'm sure you're not imagining things. The correct lighting and good diet make all the difference between life and death when it comes to chameleons.

 

[DBDEAN]

wish I could get a picture put he hides the minute he catches me looking at him. We play this hide and seek game every morning. I turn on lights etc and cant find him. I always start to freek out, move stuff around etc and cant find him. Then I will mist the spray after about 10 minutes when temps have risen...and always suddenly find him in some corner glaring at me - normally over by the plant where the water sticks the best. So he knows I am going to water him..but he does this thing where he angles his body behind the vine so I cant see him and if I try to look around the vine, he adjusts, always keeping vine between us.

Then I dust crickets and roaches and worms and put them in his cup in the cage and he still hides. I walk out of the room. If I walk back in I will find him at the edge of the cup eating = but if he sees me he runs for it and hides. So I have to leave room for him to eat. I then mist again afte he eats because hey - I would want a drink after eating something coated in calcium dust.

He glares at me the whole time. But his color looks great.

If I try to get a picture of him he goes are dark and moltly brown colored.

 

[JaxyGirl]

wish I could get a picture put he hides the minute he catches me looking at him. We play this hide and seek game every morning. I turn on lights etc and cant find him. I always start to freek out, move stuff around etc and cant find him. Then I will mist the spray after about 10 minutes when temps have risen...and always suddenly find him in some corner glaring at me - normally over by the plant where the water sticks the best. So he knows I am going to water him..but he does this thing where he angles his body behind the vine so I cant see him and if I try to look around the vine, he adjusts, always keeping vine between us.

Then I dust crickets and roaches and worms and put them in his cup in the cage and he still hides. I walk out of the room. If I walk back in I will find him at the edge of the cup eating = but if he sees me he runs for it and hides. So I have to leave room for him to eat. I then mist again afte he eats because hey - I would want a drink after eating something coated in calcium dust.

He glares at me the whole time. But his color looks great.

If I try to get a picture of him he goes are dark and moltly brown colored.

He sounds so cute! It's amazing how they can blend in and hide Lol! Mine does the same things and hates the camera too

 

[DBDEAN]

I swear his casque is already looking less crumpled since adding the UVB light and calcium. how long does it take for it to heal from MBD