Over-grown hornworms/dish feeding issues.

[sagemoon2004]

Okay, so I have 3 gigantic, overgrown hormworms. I do not have the heart to put them outside to freeze, it is getting cold here in Michigan. I understand they will turn into moths, but, my Saki has a non-shooting tongue, ( dish fed only before I got him), so will moths be of any use to him? Also, how many hornworms are too many? Trying to feed him properly is proving difficult, without good hunting skills. Even the crickets are hard for him to get and I worry that any dusted supplements are not staying on long enough for him to get benefits. Anyone with experience with Chams that have tongue issues, I would love some insight.

 

[pssh]

You do cup feed right? You can try to get him used to hand feeding so that you can just pop a few bugs in his mouth whenever you need to. Then you dont have to worry about supplements falling off (though they do stay on for a pretty long time!)

You can let them turn into moths and pull off a wing and let them loose in his cage. They wont be too hard to catch since they wont be able to fly, but it might be a little harder than them being in a cup.

 

[sagemoon2004]

He is getting much better with me, no longer puffs up at me, so yeah, I think I should be able to get him used to hand feeding. Good idea! I am constantly stressing about him. Unfortunatley, his previous owner must not have really cared about him, he has had a lot to adjust to in only 4 wks or so with me. He had wrong lights, glass tank, 5 inches of substrate, wrong supplements and wrong lights. Good thing these guys are hardy. Still hoping proper supplementing and gut-loading, and a good enclosure will eventually make a big difference. This is worse then having a baby, the stress.

 

[pssh]

Have you taken him to a vet yet? his tongue problems may be because of the supplements. A chameleon experienced vet may be able to help you much more.

 

[KCcham]

I have an adult male panther that is blind in one eye. Because of that he can not focus in on the prey item to shoot his tongue on target. I started had feeding him awhile back. It took some time, but he eventually got used to it. At first he would shoot his tongue and I would have to try and move the food into his one of fire now he sees me coming and just opens his mouth and I put the food in

 

[sagemoon2004]

Everything else about Saki is great, good grip, moving around a lot more, now that he figured out the new cage, colors are good, urates, etc.. I can check vets in the area, but I don't think any are Cham experienced. I don't feel it is a health issue, just a mom being overly-concerned. I have an entire bug colony going on in the house. (In containers, of course) I manage a private pet supply store and have access to anything i need. Absorbing all the info I can on here, thanks guys!

 

[sandrachameleon]

You could trim the wings of the moth, so it flutter-walks around the cage rather than flying, and thus can be more easily grabbed by mouth