Feeding dilemma

[Ramath]

I have a Graceful, male, about 6 months old. His name is Mushu.

I have his cage set up with a UV light on a timer, as well as a mister that mists the cage twice a day in the morning and just after noon. He has plenty of places to climb and hide as well as basking point. The temp sits right at 77 degrees, with a slight vary by a degree or two at night.

In all aspects he is healthy and alert. He is very active. He is in a different place every time I walk into the room. His eyes are round and full. He drinks regularly at the mister. He gets very happy (bright green/yellow) when the mister goes on.

However, I am having a slight issue with him eating. He does eat, a little, but not nearly as ferociously as my old Veiled (Cleo) did. I had her trained to eat from a cup which helped me keep track of her eating habits as well as keeping the crickets from roaming and dieing all over the cage. Mushu, however, seems unable or unwilling to eat from a cup. I have seen him eat the crickets that got out of the cup, so I know he isn't completely starving.

I thought about ditching the cup, but I then ran into a few other problems:

1) By the time Mushu gets around to finding/eating the crickets, the mister has rinsed off the RepCal they were dusted in. In addition,the crickets had more time to live and roam around, loosing their gut-loaded quality.

2) The blasted bugs hide in behind leaves and sit, not moving, making it harder for Mushu to find them. Which in turn leads to them living longer without food themselves and either starving or becoming not very nourishing if/when Mushu finally does manage to find one.

I thought about switching to mealworms and placing them on the branches. This would keep them from hiding and not be eaten. I don't know how to keep/prep mealworms, however.

I would appreciate any help or advice.

 

[carol5208]

do you have an actual basking light?. Not the uvb light. another for basking. 77 degrees is not warm enough. You should up that temp to about 85 or a little higher. 77 is not warm enough for him to digest his food properly I don't think.

 

[Captive Creations]

I would keep him on he crickets as meal worms are harder for them to digest. If he doesn't want to cup feed I would let him free range. can I ask how many crickets he is eating? You coul try putting cickts in aftertandry fo misting and wai for him to eat to mist again?

Also I agree with carol I think if you get him temps up to where they should be you will notice a diference in him

 

[Jbujarski]

Another thing you may want to try which has worked well with my senegals is to hand feed them

 

[Ramath]

I've been getting varying info on temp. I can crank up the temp if you all really think I should. Yes I do have a separate heat bulb which is always on.

He eats 1-2 crickets. I don't think I could hand feed him. He gets very hissy when I hold him. I can get him out of his cage, but he's not the happiest when I do. I'm trying to train him to accept being held but to minimal success.

Also, I was mistaken. I didn't get mealworms. I got super worms.

 

[TOMMYBOY72]

Hidden crickets

I try to remove all crickets at night but for the few that hide from me, I always leave a little cricket chow or collard greens on the floor to give them food. If you come back inside and turn on the lights you will see the sneaky ones munching on the greens and not you cham.

 

[camimom]

When you say the basking light is always left on, do you mean throughout the night too?

Also, you can try cup feeding, but a slightly different version.

I cup feed all of my chams. BUT, i use a a shoebox sized plastic bin.

This way the crickets cant get out, the mister nozzle doesnt get them wet, and my cham has to move around to get the bugs. sort of like free ranging the crickets but not.

If youre basking temp is not high enough, they wont eat as much, they need the heat to digest properly. so if they arent warm enough, they probably wont eat as much.

 

[Ramath]

No, I have two lights. One for UV, and a second for heat. The heat is always on. The UV is on a timer, to simulate daylight/night.

I got a hotter heat lamp (75w to a 150w) to see if this will help at all.

 

[samelgert]

Im no expert but i think ur heat needs to be higher.

 

[Ramath]

Yes, I think so. I put in a 150w bulb, but its too hot. The cage is 86 and rising, with the thermometer near the far side of the cage. I'm headed out to get a 100w bulb now.