Free ranging silkworms?

[Steve A]

So..... Spike won't seem to eat his silks unless they are free ranging. And he's not eating them right away. I think he might have become stuck on BSFL and crickets. He ate at least 1 silkworm that I saw yesterday, but only one of the free ranging ones. I put a few to free range today, but he hasn't eaten them yet, and I have to leave for a little while. Are there any reasons why I should NOT free range a few silkworms? I will look for them to remove once I get home and he's surely done eating. But Just wanted to see what everyones thoughts are here, especially in case I can't find them all when I get home.

The only other thing that is free ranging is hornworms which...... he isn't eating either Really surprised at this as he won't touch them. But that is just 1-2 and so far they've been pretty easy to remove.

Side note: If anyone has any tips for me to feed the horns and silk to Spike please let me know. For some reason he just wont eat them out of any dish. I even put some with the BSFL and he literally picks the BSFL around the silks/horns.

When he first arrived I easily fed him 5 silkworms by just placing them on branches. But ever since his BSFL have come and he started eating those ..... it's like he wants nothing to do with the silks. Sometimes they even crawl on/under him and he just kind of shrugs them off lol.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I give 15 minutes to eat. I place 1 hornworm and 2 grasshoppers on the cage screen (free range). After 15 minutes, I remove any feeders not eaten and place them in the feeder run.

I think you have a baby. If so, I would give him a time limit on the free range, then move uneaten feeders to a feeder run to monitor his food intake.

Free range feeders get lost in the enclosure and crickets bite. I don't know if silks or hornworms bite. Even if they don't, I wouldn't let them remain free range unless your guy is a juvenile/adult, just for monitoring purposes.

If you leave feeders free range, you would need to have a way to determine if the buggies were actually eaten.

 

[Steve A]

I give 15 minutes to eat. I place 1 hornworm and 2 grasshoppers on the cage screen (free range). After 15 minutes, I remove any feeders not eaten and place them in the feeder run.

I think you have a baby. If so, I would give him a time limit on the free range, then move uneaten feeders to a feeder run to monitor his food intake.

Free range feeders get lost in the enclosure and crickets bite. I don't know if silks or hornworms bite. Even if they don't, I wouldn't let them remain free range unless your guy is a juvenile/adult, just for monitoring purposes.

If you leave feeders free range, you would need to have a way to determine if the buggies were actually eaten.

Hes 4 months old and I don't free range the crickets. Although they do escape the feeder once in a while. I remove those though.

I can't actually feed like that unfortunately. That's my dilemma. During the week I can't wait 15 minutes because I leave for work before he even starts eating. I monitor him all day while I'm at work. So I do keep track of what he's eating for the most part. But I'm at a loss here because this is hitting me by surprise that he's not eating them really.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

JMO and experience they get addicted to particular bugs. Don't feed the favorite bugs. Limit the choices. Save those for when you are present but do a test run to see if he eats what's offered. If eats good, if not, because of his age, i would feed him what ever he will eat and still offer the other choices. Being a baby makes this issue difficult.

 

[dinomom]

So..... Spike won't seem to eat his silks unless they are free ranging. And he's not eating them right away. I think he might have become stuck on BSFL and crickets. He ate at least 1 silkworm that I saw yesterday, but only one of the free ranging ones. I put a few to free range today, but he hasn't eaten them yet, and I have to leave for a little while. Are there any reasons why I should NOT free range a few silkworms? I will look for them to remove once I get home and he's surely done eating. But Just wanted to see what everyones thoughts are here, especially in case I can't find them all when I get home.

The only other thing that is free ranging is hornworms which...... he isn't eating either Really surprised at this as he won't touch them. But that is just 1-2 and so far they've been pretty easy to remove.

Side note: If anyone has any tips for me to feed the horns and silk to Spike please let me know. For some reason he just wont eat them out of any dish. I even put some with the BSFL and he literally picks the BSFL around the silks/horns.

When he first arrived I easily fed him 5 silkworms by just placing them on branches. But ever since his BSFL have come and he started eating those ..... it's like he wants nothing to do with the silks. Sometimes they even crawl on/under him and he just kind of shrugs them off lol.

Only my veiled will eat them from a dish. But then he would eat anything.
For mellers and panther it goes on the back of my hand.Sometimes need to wiggle it.
Free range they don't move much so not enticing.And their grip is strong and could injure babies tongue if he tries to pull them off a branch.

 

[Steve A]

JMO and experience they get addicted to particular bugs. Don't feed the favorite bugs. Limit the choices. Save those for when you are present but do a test run to see if he eats what's offered. If eats good, if not, because of his age, i would feed him what ever he will eat and still offer the other choices. Being a baby makes this issue difficult.

I'm afraid to do this because I've offered dubias, crickets, bsfl, silkworms, hornworms(1 or 2 daily), superworms (1 or 2 daily).

Out of all of this, the only things he is actually eating are crickets and BSFL. the first couple days he devoured his silks. But once crickets and bsfl entered the mix that's all he wants. I'm afraid of trying this and him being stubborn and not eating then suffering.

 

[Steve A]

Only my veiled will eat them from a dish. But then he would eat anything.
For mellers and panther it goes on the back of my hand.Sometimes need to wiggle it.
Free range they don't move much so not enticing.And their grip is strong and could injure babies tongue if he tries to pull them off a branch.

I've tried offering him silks, horn and bsfl by hand and he won't eat from my hand yet. I'll keep trying once in a while. But I can't feed like that during the week because he's basking before eating and I'm at work by the time he's eating.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I'm afraid to do this because I've offered dubias, crickets, bsfl, silkworms, hornworms(1 or 2 daily), superworms (1 or 2 daily).

Out of all of this, the only things he is actually eating are crickets and BSFL. the first couple days he devoured his silks. But once crickets and bsfl entered the mix that's all he wants. I'm afraid of trying this and him being stubborn and not eating then suffering.

I would definitely be afraid. They will go on hunger strikes. Can you try a test run on an off day. If he doesn't eat then you could feed him those fav bugs.

 

[Steve A]

I would definitely be afraid. They will go on hunger strikes. Can you try a test run on an off day. If he doesn't eat then you could feed him those fav bugs.

I can try that tomorrow. I won't be home for a little while, but I'll try this, and if he doesn't eat by the time I get home I will feed him what he likes. Ty!

 

[Steve A]

I would definitely be afraid. They will go on hunger strikes. Can you try a test run on an off day. If he doesn't eat then you could feed him those fav bugs.

I can try that tomorrow. I won't be home for a little while, but I'll try this, and if he doesn't eat by the time I get home I will feed him what he likes. Ty!

 

[Steve A]

I think what I am going to do, is use this shallow green dish that I have, that I was using for BSFL (but they kept getting out because it was so shallow lol). I think if I put like... 3 in there and give them each their own little piece of mulberry food, they'll probably stay put. This is how I am going to try this tomorrow. I won't give him any crickets, or BSFL. I'll put 3 silks, and 1 hornworm in there.

I think I am just not gonna bother with superworms since they're high in fat anyway. The superworms literally grew like super bugs anyway so I don't think I even want to give them to him now as it is. They do not seem practical for Spike and I.

If he doesn't take these by noon, I'll put his crickets and BSFL in there.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Fingers crossed. I'm dealing with a grasshopper addiction but I have an adult so I can wait for him to decide to eat whatever I offer.

 

[Steve A]

Fingers crossed. I'm dealing with a grasshopper addiction but I have an adult so I can wait for him to decide to eat whatever I offer.

Thank you! It's also likely he may be shedding soon which could be a factor but idk we'll see. I'll update tomorrow!

 

[FramsChams]

We always free range our silks. Put a few on the branches and usually the chams come running. Keep trying and try what you said. Offer the silks and not crickets/BSFL for a day. See if he eats them.

 

[Steve A]

We always free range our silks. Put a few on the branches and usually the chams come running. Keep trying and try what you said. Offer the silks and not crickets/BSFL for a day. See if he eats them.

I am trying them in the dishes so far. Yesterday I placed them on branches and he wouldn't touch them. I'll do that again though if he doesn't eat them from the dish, when I give him crickets and bsfl

edit: he's just basking on his side. I'll wait a little while and see if he eats some silks

 

[Beman]

He is young... Keep trying all feeders. Trust me he will learn they are all yummy. Babies tend to go for what they are most familiar with. You have to work in a few new feeders to let them tag them while eating what they know.

The only reason why I do not free range feed silks is I like to know what my cham actually eats. But once he knows he likes them they will not last long on a branch.

 

[Steve A]

He is young... Keep trying all feeders. Trust me he will learn they are all yummy. Babies tend to go for what they are most familiar with. You have to work in a few new feeders to let them tag them while eating what they know.

The only reason why I do not free range feed silks is I like to know what my cham actually eats. But once he knows he likes them they will not last long on a branch.

oh absolutely! I have no intention on limiting his diet. Although I think superworms are something I am considering not using. But crickets, silkworms, bsfl, and hornworms are definitely staying on the menu! And I am continuing to look for another feeder that is reasonable for me to get.

 

[Beman]

oh absolutely! I have no intention on limiting his diet. Although I think superworms are something I am considering not using. But crickets, silkworms, bsfl, and hornworms are definitely staying on the menu! And I am continuing to look for another feeder that is reasonable for me to get.

If you do supers just do the small sized ones. Big ones do have a bit of a bite to them so higher risk for the cham. IME all my babies took about 3 months to really start eating other things.

 

[Steve A]

If you do supers just do the small sized ones. Big ones do have a bit of a bite to them so higher risk for the cham. IME all my babies took about 3 months to really start eating other things.

Do you remember what you did for those 3 months? I'm assuming you just kept offering everything and they just ate what they wanted. But let's say this happens to me, is it concerning if he really sticks to his guns and really only eats the crickets and bsfl for a while? I mean I KNOW he loves his silks so I do think he will eat those too, at least..

I will make sure the variety is offered every day regardless.

 

[Beman]

Do you remember what you did for those 3 months? I'm assuming you just kept offering everything and they just ate what they wanted. But let's say this happens to me, is it concerning if he really sticks to his guns and really only eats the crickets and bsfl for a while? I mean I KNOW he loves his silks so I do think he will eat those too, at least..

I will make sure the variety is offered every day regardless.

I kept offering for 3 months and always in their feeder run

It just takes time though. Spike is still settling into his cage, routine, and getting used to his humans.