Madagascar Chameleon DVD

[klangford]

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First let me say BUY this dvd if you haven't already - this forum has helped me so much that I want to support it any way I can. The DVD showed up in 3-days! Thanks!

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So I got my DVD and converted it to my iTouch to watch on trips, etc. This morning I noticed a discrepancy between what I have read here regarding size of feeders. Generally the advice on the forums is feed your cham nothing larger than the space between its eyes; the notion being that space wise it is roughly the size of their throat. In the DVD those chams were snagging much larger quarry. Will a cham literally bite off more than it can chew?

 

[Drone]

If I were a wild Lizard, and I was hungry, I would probably eat whatever becomes "available" with no qualms about size and would enjoy making it fit down the esophagus. That obviously could cause complications. In the wild the risk of complications probably outweighs the risk of going hungry. Something gets stuck in throat, you die. In captivity you die, or cause your owner to pay for a trip to the vet.

 

[Drone]

duplicate post

 

[nateboston78]

Would you agree that when you try to standardize husbandry guidelines, you have to be somewhat conservative (not meaning less - but err on the safe side) in your approach. This applies to feeding, supplementation, enclosure setups, and hydration. Chameleons are more resilient than one may think - but in order to establish safe guidelines for everyone, we strive to make it almost fool proof.

 

[reyesjoshuacruz]

great point nate

my thoughts exactly. most advice is generalized in the interest of providing newer keepers a baseline to start out with. That is probably one of (if not the) most generalized husbandry guideline.

 

[klangford]

my thoughts exactly. most advice is generalized in the interest of providing newer keepers a baseline to start out with. That is probably one of (if not the) most generalized husbandry guideline.

Gotcha - point well taken. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[reyesjoshuacruz]

great question by the way.
you know you're a cham nerd when you get excited about the giant bug you're about to feed your cham.

its awesome too because larger than normal feeders get a totally different reaction from chams. they perk up and freak out and hunt/chase/stalk like never before, esp bright green

 

[klangford]

its awesome too because larger than normal feeders get a totally different reaction from chams. they perk up and freak out and hunt/chase/stalk like never before, esp bright green

That settles it then; I'm going to start playing the Jaws theme music at each feeding Hmmmmm....I wonder if in fact a cham would begin to associate that music with feeding time - a Pavlovian response of sorts! Just hearing the music could start the hunt - now you've got me thinking!

 

[reyesjoshuacruz]

i have a feeling yes

i had an experiment going with 0.2 yemen.

i started out by feeding twice a day, feeding half the crix per feeding by hand.
i would clap then show the cham the crick and let them shoot.

they deff started to associate the clapping with feeding time.
but i wanted to see if it was visual, so i started snapping my finger out of sight before i would show the crick and allow them to shoot.

after months of this as a ritual every day, i was able to snap my fingers while i was out of sight, and witness the chams go to the front of the cage and wait.

it took a while for the clapping to show any signs of working on both females.

the younger more personable female took to the snapping faster than the clapping, and faster then the older female.

vibrations? soundwaves ? who knows.