Hyokenseisou
New Member
Haven't been on here in a while, but I was just curious....
I have a year and bit old male veiled, and I'm wondering how to go about introducing new foods into his diet. (hatched aug-21 '10, had him since dec-17 '10)
I got him a couple horns and silks to try, but he could REALLY care less about them. My haitian was crazy about the silks though. I'm going to get a few more and try again.
Dubias also are out of the question, because they're illegal where I live. I did manage to get my hands on a colony of them (hush hush...) and tried that for a couple months but again, he wasn't interested.
When he was younger, I tried putting a bit of (fruit) baby food on some leaves to let him lick it up himself. Never did.
Seems all he's really interested in is kings and supers, which aside from the occasional cricket, isn't a very wide-ranged diet.
The boy is totally healthy, all is fine. His food gets dusted a little more often than recommend (and all bugs are gutloaded all the time, even before a feeding), but it's my way of making up for other other bugs. Got my uvb, heat, drinks on a regular basis, poops are just fine, sheds often, colours developing, all is well.
And while I understand compulsive dirt eating, which he does sometimes, usually means lack of nutrition, but he really doesn't show ANY signs of lacking nutrition. I just think he actually likes the taste of dirt. So I covered up the dirt at the base of the plants with rocks, but that certainly doesn't stop him from trying to get a lick of it here and there. It's like a kid and candy. It's not good for him, but at the same time not going to kill him, and he only has it on occasion, like a treat...
When I first got him, he was all gung-ho about eating the leaves of the one ficus plant I had in there. That made me super happy, so I got him two bigger ficus' and a hibiscus. The hibiscus has only bloomed two flowers so far (once when I first got it, and another a couple months after... keeping a hibiscus apparently isn't my thing, it just doesn't seem to want to bloom, and when it does, usually only one flower makes it, the rest just fall off) and he didn't care for him. The ficus', never had another bite off the new plants. (no longer that new, got them a month or so after I got him)
Once I was eating a super juicy tasty pear in front of him, and he seemed interested. So I put the pear near him, and he stared at it for a good 20 minutes deciding what to do. He then FINALLY licked it a few times, but was confused about how to go about maybe eating it. (It was half eaten by me, as I held it front of him)
Another time, I was eating grapes, same thing. So I bit a grape in half and skewered it on a branch, and went back to gaming. Few minutes later, out of the corner of my eye (set-up is beside the tv) I see him shoot for it, got it, and was happily nomming on it. Gave him another, didn't eat it.
It's not bugs I'm worried about too much, as I can just get them, leave them in a tub for him, and let him help himself. But fruits and veggies, will go bad if left alone for a few days.
So my questions is, how would you suggestion going about introducing a bit of fruits and veggies into his diet? What are some of your personal stories that I could maybe try?
Also, do they ever have a sense of smell?
While I know him eating fruits and veggies isn't a 100% MUST, and I'm quite aware that the more the better in his diet. And while I'm quite confident my horny hand-raping social brat could very well live the rest of his life how he is and be happy, I'd still like to offer him more and have him TAKE it.
And what I mean by social is, I take part in local reptile shows, and when I bring some of my herps to display, Dingo is always the star attraction. And for a cham, he takes he like a champ! He oddly enough, likes the attention. He's always his happy green colours and just loves to wonder on new people at these shows.
Him at his first outing in last feb:
Him at his second outing at a comic convention in june:
Him at his lastest outing in aug
And this was him back in march
And as always, him hiding between my blankets and my wall. He likes to walk over there, hunker down, and just stare at me with both eyes. Kind of creepy.
Any suggestions, tips n' tricks, or how-to's would be great. Thanks!
I have a year and bit old male veiled, and I'm wondering how to go about introducing new foods into his diet. (hatched aug-21 '10, had him since dec-17 '10)
I got him a couple horns and silks to try, but he could REALLY care less about them. My haitian was crazy about the silks though. I'm going to get a few more and try again.
Dubias also are out of the question, because they're illegal where I live. I did manage to get my hands on a colony of them (hush hush...) and tried that for a couple months but again, he wasn't interested.
When he was younger, I tried putting a bit of (fruit) baby food on some leaves to let him lick it up himself. Never did.
Seems all he's really interested in is kings and supers, which aside from the occasional cricket, isn't a very wide-ranged diet.
The boy is totally healthy, all is fine. His food gets dusted a little more often than recommend (and all bugs are gutloaded all the time, even before a feeding), but it's my way of making up for other other bugs. Got my uvb, heat, drinks on a regular basis, poops are just fine, sheds often, colours developing, all is well.
And while I understand compulsive dirt eating, which he does sometimes, usually means lack of nutrition, but he really doesn't show ANY signs of lacking nutrition. I just think he actually likes the taste of dirt. So I covered up the dirt at the base of the plants with rocks, but that certainly doesn't stop him from trying to get a lick of it here and there. It's like a kid and candy. It's not good for him, but at the same time not going to kill him, and he only has it on occasion, like a treat...
When I first got him, he was all gung-ho about eating the leaves of the one ficus plant I had in there. That made me super happy, so I got him two bigger ficus' and a hibiscus. The hibiscus has only bloomed two flowers so far (once when I first got it, and another a couple months after... keeping a hibiscus apparently isn't my thing, it just doesn't seem to want to bloom, and when it does, usually only one flower makes it, the rest just fall off) and he didn't care for him. The ficus', never had another bite off the new plants. (no longer that new, got them a month or so after I got him)
Once I was eating a super juicy tasty pear in front of him, and he seemed interested. So I put the pear near him, and he stared at it for a good 20 minutes deciding what to do. He then FINALLY licked it a few times, but was confused about how to go about maybe eating it. (It was half eaten by me, as I held it front of him)
Another time, I was eating grapes, same thing. So I bit a grape in half and skewered it on a branch, and went back to gaming. Few minutes later, out of the corner of my eye (set-up is beside the tv) I see him shoot for it, got it, and was happily nomming on it. Gave him another, didn't eat it.
It's not bugs I'm worried about too much, as I can just get them, leave them in a tub for him, and let him help himself. But fruits and veggies, will go bad if left alone for a few days.
So my questions is, how would you suggestion going about introducing a bit of fruits and veggies into his diet? What are some of your personal stories that I could maybe try?
Also, do they ever have a sense of smell?
While I know him eating fruits and veggies isn't a 100% MUST, and I'm quite aware that the more the better in his diet. And while I'm quite confident my horny hand-raping social brat could very well live the rest of his life how he is and be happy, I'd still like to offer him more and have him TAKE it.
And what I mean by social is, I take part in local reptile shows, and when I bring some of my herps to display, Dingo is always the star attraction. And for a cham, he takes he like a champ! He oddly enough, likes the attention. He's always his happy green colours and just loves to wonder on new people at these shows.
Him at his first outing in last feb:
Him at his second outing at a comic convention in june:
Him at his lastest outing in aug
And this was him back in march
And as always, him hiding between my blankets and my wall. He likes to walk over there, hunker down, and just stare at me with both eyes. Kind of creepy.
Any suggestions, tips n' tricks, or how-to's would be great. Thanks!
