feeder experiment

[DAD3886]

Ok well ive decide im going to try something using all safe gutloading items.I have my cricket feeders in 4 containers.Im ord a dry gutload today which will be in all of the containers but i want to use certain items for certain crickets and see with a camera im going to try and rig(somehow) how fast etc my cham reacts to his feeders as in if a certain feeder was feed dry gutload/apples/oranges/rom let. and in another container it was dry gutload/strawberries/butternut squash/sweet tatters if they actually would favor a feeder with a certain gutload.what do u all think?

 

[jdog1027]

I just asked in your other post what your experiment is. That's cool. I have pondered this question as well. I've wondered if feeding a feeder a particular type of food would make them 'taste' better or be more appealing in any way. But I assumed that based on outward appearance, the chameleon would not be able to determine which feeder has been fed a particular food item. Good idea though. I can say this; I had an older adult Veiled go on a cricket strike a year ago, and only wanted dubias and superworms, but when I dusted the crickets and they were then powdered white, he would go for them. It was Sticky Tongue Farms Miner-All, and the label indicates 'Now with new Berry flavor'. It definitely smells like Kool-Aid, but I've stopped short of tasting it my self. So perhaps flavor plays a part in which feeders our chameleons choose. Let us know what your results are if you proceed.

 

[Hoj]

i have done this with my commercila dry gutload and my dry gutload recipe from sandrachameleon
i put in 2 dishes and within min there were prob 100 in the recipe crawling all over each otherr and maybe 10 in the commercial food.
also tried it with those orange cube things and a real orange the cube was still there 2 days later...( i hate those things )
good idea tho, be sure to fill us in on what you discover

hoj

 

[DAD3886]

thanks yea im getting really into cham life ..this is what i have planned in my head as of now.Im just saying those veggies/fruits cuz they are prob the most available for me but i will be swtiching up for variety

container #1 dry gutload/apples/oranges /rom let

container #2 dry gutload/butternut squash/sweet tatters/rom let

container #3 dry gutload/carrots/collard green leafs/

container #4 dry gutload/mango/peaches(that ok?)/rom let

i said peaches cuz we have peach orchards around my house now and im going to see if the guy will sell me a tree or two.also i have random orange trees thru out my property... that typically arent super sweet but not sour ... kind of in the middle so hope that doesnt make a difference in the feeders interest

 

[Chris Anderson]

I don't think your experiment will yield any viable results. Your chameleon is unlikely to take a cricket from one container, then one from the other and then decide which container it prefers and proceed to consume the crickets their first. Its going to select one container and consume those crickets first, and then go to the other. In order to use the time in which it takes your chameleon to react to or consume feeders fed different gutloads as an indicator of preference, your chameleon would have to be able to differentiate between the feeders fed different food items without eating them first (i.e. before it made the decision of which container it was going to feed from).

Chris

 

[sandrachameleon]

Ok well ive decide im going to try something using all safe gutloading items.I have my cricket feeders in 4 containers.Im ord a dry gutload today which will be in all of the containers but i want to use certain items for certain crickets and see with a camera im going to try and rig(somehow) how fast etc my cham reacts to his feeders as in if a certain feeder was feed dry gutload/apples/oranges/rom let. and in another container it was dry gutload/strawberries/butternut squash/sweet tatters if they actually would favor a feeder with a certain gutload.what do u all think?

I doubt the chameleon will be able to tell by looking at them which crickets ate what.

 

[Hoj]

sorry i misread the origonal post but i was seeing waht the crickets them selves perfered..

 

[DAD3886]

well there wont be 4 contaniers at once to feed from.i mean to feed the feeders certain gutloads and one day put one group in and see how quick they are gone do that two days(with two feedings each day) in a row then rotate from the 1st to the 4th container and then get back to one and see after going thru them which one he seems to respond more to the feeders...maybe it wont make a difference or show anything in my head it sounds like it makes sense... it would kind of the same with humans depending on what the animal you eat has eatten you can tell ....like eatting a farm raised animal or a wild you can taste the gameyness and tell it wasnt eattting a strict diet not specific tast... or this all could just me a overload of cham newness...

 

[clarkrw3]

I think they are right I don't think the cham will be able to tell the difference from the outside... however I have had my cham go after a cricket and take two bites and spit it back out. So, the might be able to tell once in their mouth.

 

[pssh]

I've read that certain gutload items change the taste of the insect. Apparently, if your chameleons wont take many of X feeder gutloaded on Y, it's worth a try to give him X feeder gutloaded on Z.