How to feed Dubias... cup-feeding isn't working and he is free-ranged

[EvilLost]

Hey all,

So my dubia colony is now booming and I've started to switch over. I can easily handfeed Dubias and he will gladly take them from me (always has been good with handfeeding).

However, the problem is he takes a long time and I can't stand around handfeeding forever. The other problem is that he does not respond to the dubias when I cup-feed. With the crickets, he even knows where his cup is and sometimes in the morning he is waiting at it before I get up. With the dubias though, they all bunch up in the corner of the cup and don't move.....and he doesn't see them! If I jiggle the cup and lay it on the side so they start crawling out he will pick some off but that only lasts a few seconds until the dubias find the corners again. I can't keep shaking the cup cause that startles him and then he loses his feeding response.

I've been using one of those classic 16-oz Solo red plastic cups to feed crickets since I got my cham in January. Should I just get a much larger "tub" or is there some better way to feed dubias??


Keep in mind my cham is free-ranged so I can't just let them run around on the plants.

Thanks!

 

[laurie]

All I can say is I never let a dubia out of my sight while feeding. Much of a pain as it is I would be holding the cup. Do you feed every day? How old is your guy? maybe work on a different feeding schedule.

 

[javsto]

have you tried mixing his feeding between dubias and crix? let him hunt both and gradually lessen the crix until hes comfortable with just eating the roaches? maybe leave some orange slices in the feeding cup with the feeders and leave them in there for an extended period of time until he gets hungry enough to go at them him/herself? just a thought

 

[EvilLost]

@Laurie: he is about 7 months old and yea I feed him everyday. He is quite a runt so I am very hesitant to hold back on feeding him (he weighs 22.5grams and is maybe 5" S/V at most).


the problem seems to be him FINDING the dubias. I tried switching to a shallow white plastic cup and he seems to notice them MUCH more quickly in that, but as soon as they stop moving....he loses them (i had 5ish feeders in the cup and he would constantly sight one, get ready to shoot, and then it would stop moving and he'd clearly be confused, close his mouth, and go back to sighting another.....but this just happened on loop; he never ate one though) as soon as i put one on my finger, he went for it quickly (this could be because i dont let them stop moving on my hand, whereas in the cup they do)

I guess he just needs glasses lol