From crickets to roaches advice?

[APailthorp]

I jumped in and have what I hope will be a decent colony of Dubai roaches and I'm looking for (and searching threads for) advice on transition to staple roaches.

I suspect my pet store veiled was fed nothing but crickets and worms, and now I'm trying to get him to eat roaches. I broke down and put a couple of crickets in his cage today and he nailed one from two body lengths away right away, the other won't last long I'm sure. He seems to be ignoring the roaches I've got in a shallow cup.

My question is how long should I leave him nothing but (fresh) roaches? Putting a bit of heat tape on a cup to keep the roaches moving doesn't sound like an awesome idea for a wet environment - what advice can you offer to help us get to a roach sustained world? We've only known each other for less than two weeks, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me so far. I tried showing him the bugs while holding one with chopsticks. The roach seems uninteresting even when it crawled away on a branch, the cricket at least seemed to get focus, if not a strike.

You can read particulars of my temporary setup here, in a thread about his bump.

Meanwhile, a bunch of assorted worms are coming, and he gets his new light this week too.

 

[zhuisky45]

Going through the same problem currently. My male blue bar has never encountered roaches before and isn't sure what to do with them it seems like. He fallows them around the cage tho so he seems interested. We'll both just have to stay patient I guess.

 

[ChamDE86]

The key is to not give in and feed him what he wants. If you let him go hungry for a day or two, I guarantee he'll snap those roaches right up. Dubia roaches are my guys least favorite feeder. That's why I feed them first when he is hungry. The only down side is they don't move much for most chams to become interested. I like to put them on the screen cage and poke them with a small stick to get them going enough for my guy to see. Another method is to get them on their backs so the legs wiggle. All in all, give it time and offer them everyday. It took my cham a couple of days before he recognized them as food. Good luck

 

[Defianceofexistence]

Oh yes, the cricket to roach stand off lol. I remember this well.

When I switched Loki my male veiled to roaches he was not impressed. He preferred to free range his crickets and all of a sudden there was a dish in his territory with strange blackish brown blobs that prefer to huddle in a group then run around. It took a good 2 weeks of me being firm and not offering anything else (I would replace the roaches every few days so I could replace with freshly gut loaded ones but nothing else) and he would look into the cup and I would get excited and encourage him and at the last second he would look at me as if to say "Oh yah, that's right...I don't eat that" and walk away, then he used the dish as a bathroom a few times which was awesome lol...it was frustrating lol.

But my persistence and refusal to give in paid off and now he zaps them up without an issue. As long as your cham isn't really young, they wont starve themselves....eventually they will give in, although I have heard that some just do not like roaches and wont eat them....when I got my panther he had never seen a roach before and I had no issue with getting him to eat them...so it really depends on the cham.....good luck!

 

[APailthorp]

Okay, so the general consensus is be firm and patient. He won't starve himself to death even if I don't give him anything but new roaches for... weeks?

I'm going to be weak and give him a worm on Saturday, I already know.

 

[Zobert]

Okay I have to ask...is every SURE the chameleon won't starve and he will finally eat the roach?

 

[mvad]

Okay, so the general consensus is be firm and patient. He won't starve himself to death even if I don't give him anything but new roaches for... weeks?

I'm going to be weak and give him a worm on Saturday, I already know.

Well gut loaded dubia Roaches are a better staple feeder as far as nutrition than crickets but don't seem to attract as much attention. I was lucky my veiled liked them from the start. He still preferres crickets but will readily eat the dubias. I would say I'm 50/50 on how much I feed him of each. (I also do superworms but as more of a treat). He didn't like hornworms at any size so I'm letting them hatch into moths and see if he goes for them. So, to each their own chameleon. Some chams, I've read, will never go for dubias.

Did you try dubias before you started a colony? Also my 8ish month male veiled stopped liking dubias for a few weeks because I changed his feeding dish. When I went back to the original dish he started eating them again. So good luck and hopefully your cham "aqquires" a taste for the dubias.

 

[APailthorp]

I regret to report that I didn't try Dubais before setting up what I expect will develop into a colony.

Keep your eye on Craigs list - someone may end up getting a great deal on a passel of roaches.

 

[eat2muchrice]

My chameleon loves crickets so it was hard to get him to eat roaches, I used a feeder cup and would add both roaches and crickets together. Every day I would add less crickets and more roaches, of course he ate all the crickets first, but over time he now finishes off the roaches.

Good luck, here is a link on how to make a feeder cup. https://www.chameleonforums.com/diy-cricket-cup-135803/

 

[werecat]

Some chameleons just don't go for dubia. I've tried multiple times (dubia and green banana roaches) and my guy not only refuses, but actually has gotten upset (puffing and gaping). He does this with no other feeder item. I've tried withholding food, but it didn't work. I have tricked him into eating a few, but that did not whet his appetite for them. I decided if he is that disinterested or upset by them, it's not worth it to force the issue. I know it would be a better feeder for him (and I would prefer them to crickets), but it seems clear that its not for him. He is otherwise quite healthy, so I don't really feel he's missing out on anything.

 

[Zobert]

My chameleon loves crickets so it was hard to get him to eat roaches, I used a feeder cup and would add both roaches and crickets together. Every day I would add less crickets and more roaches, of course he ate all the crickets first, but over time he now finishes off the roaches.

Good luck, here is a link on how to make a feeder cup. https://www.chameleonforums.com/diy-cricket-cup-135803/

So he does eat the dubias? I don't like crickets, is why I'm asking. They bite and they're just nasty.

 

[Chance Leon G]

same problem

At first I fed him nothing but crickets and meal worms. Then I brought in super worms. He did eat about 6 -8 crickets and a couple super worms for many months until this last few months.
I have been trying to get my cham off super worms for months because now that is all he will eat. I tried to get Chance Leon to eat Dubias and he did eat one. Then never again. I had bought five large ones and they had babies. Now I have a colony that he won't touch.
So I bought 50 silk worms last week and he will not eat them. Just stares at them. I held out for a week of trying nothing but the silk worms which are now huge. He would not eat.
So today I gave him a super worm and tried to sneak a silk worm into his mouth while he was chewing. That did not work. He just kept backing away and chewed with a very closed mouth like I have never seen before.
It seems once it got a bit colder and he got super worms he will not eat anything else. Trying all these other feeders is getting expensive.
Chance is over two yeas old and 12" long. The size of the feeder should not matter to him. He is just addicted to the super worms.
I have not the heart to starve him for mor than a week into submission.
Greg

 

[ChamDE86]

At first I fed him nothing but crickets and meal worms. Then I brought in super worms. He did eat about 6 -8 crickets and a couple super worms for many months until this last few months.
I have been trying to get my cham off super worms for months because now that is all he will eat. I tried to get Chance Leon to eat Dubias and he did eat one. Then never again. I had bought five large ones and they had babies. Now I have a colony that he won't touch.
So I bought 50 silk worms last week and he will not eat them. Just stares at them. I held out for a week of trying nothing but the silk worms which are now huge. He would not eat.
So today I gave him a super worm and tried to sneak a silk worm into his mouth while he was chewing. That did not work. He just kept backing away and chewed with a very closed mouth like I have never seen before.
It seems once it got a bit colder and he got super worms he will not eat anything else. Trying all these other feeders is getting expensive.
Chance is over two yeas old and 12" long. The size of the feeder should not matter to him. He is just addicted to the super worms.
I have not the heart to starve him for mor than a week into submission.
Greg

I've read about chameleons going on a hunger strike for weeks! I would recommend not offer him anything for 2-3 days and than introduce non-favored feeders. If he denies them, continue on with no food again, and then introduce his least favorite feeders again. Your chameleon will not starve himself to death, so don't worry about that happening. You're going to have to get over your guilt of starving your pet though. That's the first step in making this work

 

[torhne]

i went through the same with mine, he ate 2 or 3 roaches off the start, so i got a colony going, pretty much caused a breakup with my ex because one escaped somehow... and then he refused to eat them after i had the colony going... oh well

 

[BMO]

I've been dealing with the same issue. I bought Dubia and started a colony only to find out that he doesn't like them. I've been trying to trick him into eating them by putting them in with the crickets but I'm still getting minimal results. Sometimes he shoots and picks up a Dubia with the crickets and will eat them that way. I have noticed half dead Dubia on the floor of his cage because he spits them out after shooting with his tongue, LoL.

 

[eat2muchrice]

I've never tried this but have read somewhere they like garlic spray.

 

[BMO]

I just ordered some off amazon and will update with results once I get it.

 

[odduc748]

Bottom line is that chams each have their own personalities, like people.

Crickets to my female Panther is like pizza, every day. It's all she wants to eat. She will go for a superworm, but will never have a second one. She used to devour dubias. Now, she turns her nose up and waits for me to hand feed her another cricket. She runs away from hornworms and has only ever had a single silkworm.

Sounds like there are a bunch of bratty chams out there.

 

[ridgebax1]

I could never get my chams to be interested in dubias. I think it is mostly because of their lack of movement. Much like the T-Rex in Jurassic Park, if it doesn't move it is not food! They do tend to huddle together and avoid the notice of the chameleon. I am reluctant to just release them into the cage. I had thought about putting a medium size critter keeper right in the cage and putting a stick or two across the top as a perch but both my boys got sick before I could do that. The beardie however loves them!

 

[Devokid]

Doe he eat the crickets from a feeder cup or are they running free?

I ask because some chameleons refuse to eat from a cup, but will eat them if they are not in a cup. As dubia's hide, I use some feeder tongs to hold them up and the stubborn eaters take them from there no problem. It is probably worth a try before scrapping dubias entirely.