Help with feeding crickets, please!!

[missnickie]

I am having such a hard time feeding my female chameleon crickets. She just moved into a bigger cage which makes things worse. She was in a smaller cage, and when I changed her over, tons of crickets were in the small cage, left over. What is the best way to feed them? I have heard of the cup feeding but don't really understand it i guess, because I can't get the silly things to stay in the cup. She loves her mealworms and I give them to her by hand and in a small dish with no problems. But now I have all these crickets just sitting there because I'm not sure the best way to do it. They are very good hiders and now there is so many more places for them to hide, I'm not sure what to do. Please help!!

Nickie

 

[GooglezNvincent]

I am having such a hard time feeding my female chameleon crickets. She just moved into a bigger cage which makes things worse. She was in a smaller cage, and when I changed her over, tons of crickets were in the small cage, left over. What is the best way to feed them? I have heard of the cup feeding but don't really understand it i guess, because I can't get the silly things to stay in the cup. She loves her mealworms and I give them to her by hand and in a small dish with no problems. But now I have all these crickets just sitting there because I'm not sure the best way to do it. They are very good hiders and now there is so many more places for them to hide, I'm not sure what to do. Please help!!

Nickie

Cup feeding helps alot because it helps you regulate and know how much the cham is eating, plus the cham knows where to go when they are hungry. To solve your problem i would say get a bigger cup lol

 

[missnickie]

Sorry to sound so ignorant, but those things can jump pretty high. Is there a trick to getting them to stop or use some sort of lid with a hole?? Or an I really going to have to use a 12in. cup/holder lol Just want to avoid having crickets all over my house..again lol

 

[Miss Lily]

Use a deeper cup, or remove the 'hopping' legs. Once you remove those back legs they can't get out so easily! I've always removed the back legs and never had a problem with any getting out of the cup. It's not good for the cham to have loose feeders in with it at night - the feeders may in turn feed on your cham (especially the crickets). Mealworms should not be fed as staple diet as they are very high in chitin which is difficult for chams to digest. Superworms/Kingworms are better if your cham is big enough. Lily loves mealworms but she only has a couple occasionally and I only give her the white, newly moulted ones.

 

[BigR]

I use 9inch high deli cups. Same ones that my chams came in when I picked them up at a local expo.

 

[Maestro]

you can twist their legs...that usually works

 

[Murrdox]

Take a look at the cup in this picture of my enclosure. That's cup-feeding. Basically a plastic cup you can put bugs in that they won't be able to escape from.

Other folks I've seen have come up with far more inventive methods, but that's the basic.

If you REALLY have trouble getting the crickets to stay in the cup, then remove one of the back legs of the cricket. He won't be able to jump out. Honestly with the right kind of cup you shouldn't have to do this though.

Stay away from mealworms is my advice. This is just one person's opinion, but I don't think they're good chameleon food at all. They're crunchy but have almost no nutrition in them... they're all shell.

 

[missnickie]

You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for all the advice