New feeders

[OwenPowell]

I'm trying dubia roaches for the first time with my 6 month old panther chameleon. He's been eating crickets up until this point, but a local shop started selling dubias so I thought I'd give them a shot.
They're small enough for him to be able to eat easily and theyre being placed in the same food dish, but he doesn't seem to keen on trying them out.

Any ideas about how long this may take him or how I can coax him into trying them?

 

[Devokid]

Panthers are funny when it comes to dubias. Some like them, others tolerate them, and some just refuse. I would try feeding him just the dubias. It may take a day or so, but hunger can be a powerful motivator.

 

[OwenPowell]

Sounds good.
I just introduced them yesterday. Earlier that day he had been eating crickets so I'm sure he's got a good bit of stubborn left in his gut before hunger takes over.

 

[sandrachameleon]

are the dubias holding still in the container? the panther may need them to be moving around more, at least until he associates them with prey. Especially if he's not used to a large range of prey/feeder choices previously, and so may be somewhat fixated on the movement and shape of crickets at the only thing that registers as food. If the dubia don't move much in the bowl, try adding a tiny mealworm and terrestrial isopod to the bowl. Having those moving around will likely keep the dubia moving. putting dubia on their backs can sometimes help. removing the roaches head may help

 

[Montium]

I take it he doesn't hand feed? If you can make the switch you will love them, I do not miss crickets at all.

 

[OwenPowell]

I picked a pretty active batch of them and they are moving around the bowl a good bit. He definitely sees them and almost seems a bit nervous about them, switching between his two favorite basking spots more than usual, one close to the dish, and the other a bit away from it. I also see him turning his head and looking at them a lot, but still not taking any bites.

I've been working on getting him to hand feed, but he isn't consistent about when he will or wont yet.

 

[OwenPowell]

I got him to eat one by showing it to him with my hands and letting him check it out, then set it on the branch a bit in front of him. It only took him a few seconds to run over a snatch it up, but he still hasn't taken any from the food cup yet.
I did give him a few crickets loose in his cage the day prior to buying the dubias, and he seemed to really like hunting them down, but the crickets were moving around the cage a good bit which caught his attention.
Would the roaches be as active if let loose in the cage or would they all just find places to hide and stay there?
I wouldn't be opposed to taking the food cup out if these are good for releasing in the cage with him, as long as they're active enough for me to keep some kind of track of how much he's getting to eat.

 

[sandrachameleon]

they will hide if he doesn't eat them right quick

have you tried different bowls - larger, different (dark) colour, etc
(will he eat crickets from the bowl?)

 

[Deevo]

I found if I put a leaf of lettuce on the bottom of a deli cup my Cham was able to see the feeders better

 

[OwenPowell]

Well it turns out he and I have conflicting opinions on interior design..

I moved the feeding up back where it was and almost immediately he ran over and started snatching them up.

It's going to make it a little tougher for me to keep the dish clean, but that's a small price if it means he's happily eating again.

 

[OwenPowell]

Well it seems I spoke too soon.
He ended up eating one from the cup early afternoon yesterday and hasn't touched it since.

Any ideas why?

Seeing the roaches in the dish shoukdnt be a problem considering it's white, so I may let things stay as they are for a couple more days before changing things up again, but if he doesn't start eating from this cup, I'll try different dishes as suggested and see if that helps.

 

[dnallivah]

My little girl will only eat them if I hold them. I am not keen on holding them - I'm sure eventually they won't creep me out so much. If they're in the cup she'll come over and take a look at them crawling around, basically shrug her shoulders and leave them be.

 

[OwenPowell]

That's about the reaction my cham is having.
He went all day with out eating anything so I decided to try hand feeding again. He didn't take it from my hand but didn't seem to want to run away either. Just kind of checked it out.
As soon as I set the roach on a branch he snatched it up.

I don't get it haha..

 

[Montium]

I think some of it has to do with them locating the head of the insect. Trying to eat some roaches backwards would be difficult at best. This is my theory at least

 

[OwenPowell]

Who knows. That could be.
It would explain why he has no problem picking them up once they're headed off in a direction.

Still no progess, though, on his eating.
I decided to feed him a few roaches one at a time on a branch in his cage yesterday. he ate everything I put down, and I left one in his dish a couple hours ago on my lunch break so we'll see if it's gone when I get home. Still won't really know if he ate it or it climbed out though.

I'm thinking a wider dish might help. Thoughts?
I'm just grabbing at thin air for ideas now haha.

 

[codiwatkins]

When I introduced dubias to my chams it took them a couple weeks to really start eating them. I would always out a few crickets and a few Dubia..

 

[OwenPowell]

That's reassuring to hear. And a good idea. I was considering that or the other suggestion to introduce a mealworm to keep things moving. I'm leaning more toward the cricket though, considering he's already used to them.

In the mean time, I switched up dishes to see if that does anything for him. This ones a square glass dish with about two inch vertical walls. It seems to keep them in and looks a lot more like the dishes I've seen other places. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[SSimsswiSS]

I have a new feeder too

 

[codiwatkins]

I have a new feeder too

Nice shot!

 

[OwenPowell]

I have a new feeder too

Haha so that's what it looks like from a bugs perspective.