Habits?

Jweezy

New Member
I was just wondering that if you cup feed a chameleon all the time, would the chameleon get use to eating out of a cup and not hunt or eat the free range insects?
 
Most chams will learn to shoot feeders out of a cup, but it isn't best for everything IMHO. Sometimes they can lose muscle tone in their tongues, have problems with eye-tongue coordination, and develop problems shooting at prey. Plus, it isn't very interesting for them and doesn't permit them to carry out a natural behavior. Tongue trouble is also a sign of nutritional problems.

I've always prefered to give my chams some choice...some feeders are better kept in a container so they don't escape or hide in the cage (where they can pick up fecal matter, molds, bacteria or lose their gutload too quickly). Other feeders can be offered by hand or released in the cage while the cham is active. Hunting feeders gives your cham something to do with brain, tongue, eyes, etc. After all, one of the reasons we like chams is the amazing stalk, aim, and shoot!

I like to offer feeders in a larger plastic box set in the cage. The feeders can move around more and attract the cham's attention, I can put fresh gutload in the box to keep them full, the cham can climb down to the rim of the box, and it has to stretch its tongue to reach them. Remove the box at night. You'll also have a much better idea how much the cham is eating. A cham who doesn't have to move around to find the food can sit hunched right at an empty bowl waiting. Pretty boring.
 
I feed mine in a cup, but I strategically place the cup far enough away from a branch so that they have to shoot their tongue out. Sometimes, though, the bigger crickets will jump out and mine hunt them down quickly. I wouldn't worry too much about habit--if they're hungry, they'll chase something down. It is, however, much more fun to watch them hunt.
 
My veiled injured his tongue so it shoots crooked so he can only eat from a cup and has been for the last 2 years. He knows exactly what to do when I dump them in the cup but if they happen to escape and are running around his cage he will still try to get them. He usually can't unless it's really close and he surprises it but he still gets excited seeing a cricket running around. That's an instinct that probably doesn't go away.
 
cup

Im feeding crickets, and they seem to excape from the cup quickly. My panther has a large cage so im sure they are hiding everywhere. What size cup are you guys using and what is it made out of? He is new 3-4 months old and doesnt like me holding a cup by him or me even being around it seems.. I want to be sure he has plenty of chances to eat but dont want 50 crickets hoping around hias cage.

Mike
 
ha mine is just the opposite and wont eat out of the cup unless I hold it for him! spoiled rotten!!!
 
ha mine is just the opposite and wont eat out of the cup unless I hold it for him! spoiled rotten!!!

My Werner's does the same! She wants me to hold the cup, but not look at her -- what else yet?! I decided it was a bad (albeit cute) habit, so I now put her cup in a different place each day. She refused to eat for a few days after I stopped serving her, but she's back on track now.
 
I cup feed my Ambanja. I don't hold the cup, I attach it to the side of the cage. Most of the time at least a few crix escape, so I see him both hunting them and cup feeding. It's worked for my baby, but like some people say, the chams can get lazy. I some times hand-feed him wax worms, but I hold my hand far enough away that he has to shoot his tongue out a little ways.
 
i cup feed my cham, but for some reason she likes to shoot far away. I think she likes the thrill of seeing her own tongue flick out haha. I know i would
 
Thanks a lot! very informative just checking I normally do a little bit of both just didn't know
 
Im feeding crickets, and they seem to excape from the cup quickly. My panther has a large cage so im sure they are hiding everywhere. What size cup are you guys using and what is it made out of? He is new 3-4 months old and doesnt like me holding a cup by him or me even being around it seems.. I want to be sure he has plenty of chances to eat but dont want 50 crickets hoping around his cage.

I posted pics of my cup feeder on this thread. It's just a take out container I painted the outside of because it was so transparent he was trying to eat them through it. You can see it's just paper clipped to his branch. The trick is to find one tall enough they can't jump out, but if you can't find one tall enough then you can always pluck the back legs off so they can't jump. I got tired of doing that though.
 
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