Picky or Blind?

[linklance]

So I am trying to get my baby veiled off crickets and onto dubias. I have been offering them to him the same way he gets his crickets. In a small clear shallow plastic cup. He will not eat the roaches though... I even put both roaches and crickets in the cup and when i came back he picked out all the crickets and all the roaches were left. Now I have two theories. One, I noticed the roaches DO NOT move at all. Can he just not see them? or notice them? Second, he may just be plain picky. Either way any suggestions on how to get him to eat the dubias would be terrific. Thanks!

Oh and hand feeding is out of the question at this point because he is quite young and he is still sooo TERRIFIED of me.

 

[ReptileLove18]

i would say he isnt interested in the roaches because they dont move around so he isnt associating them as food. maybe try place one on a branch in front of him so it will scuttle along the branch and see if he takes some interest in it

or he may just be picky! they all have their favorites!!

 

[camimom]

He may not get over it.


SOme chams, wont eat roaches..

I have 4 adults.. only 1 eats roaches.

 

[linklance]

I would, but like I said if i get close to the cage he will hide for like a half hour haha! so the roach will wander off. Im just going to leave them in the cup and maybe he will figure it out. How dangerous is it to do that? Will he go hungry quickly?

 

[camimom]

hell be fine.

he will either eat them, or youll give in and give him crickets.

 

[linklance]

Haha you're so right! He is a stubborn little man.

 

[ReptileLove18]

well if he refuses to eat them now you could always try again later. each cham is different they are all awesome tho!!! what other feeders have you tried so far?

 

[linklance]

Ive had him for about a week. So far he will ONLY eat crickets. I tried dubias obviously and pheonix worms. He is just not interested lol...

 

[linklance]

If he decides that he will not eat roaches, what are some good alternatives. I really dont want to house crickets because they smell and they chirp. I understand they need variety but so far he only eats crickets lol..

 

[camimom]

Silkworms. hornworms, mantids.

these can be fed, silks can be a staple, but they should get a variety of food.

 

[Lovereps]

My chams don't care much for Dubias.
They like feeders that move more.

Phoenixworms/Calciworms are excellent--very high in calcium and they wiggle a lot. You can find them in some petstores.
http://www.phoenixworm.com/servlet/the-template/comparison/Page
Blue Bottle flies are a feeder that your cham will probably go crazy for.
This place sells them--click Feeder Insects on the left
http://www.mantisplace.com/
You can order BB pupae, spikes or both. Spikes are the wiggly form and pupae are what they become next and they hatch from into flies from.
I've ordered from both places and have found them to be reliable.

 

[linklance]

Thanks for the help! Tommorow will be day 3 of him not eating, refusing roaches. I guess ill give up if he doesnt eat them tommorow.

 

[d3s5]

My cham ate Dubias for the first six months I had him and hasn't touched one now for almost a year and a half! He loves green banana and Turkistan roaches though.

Deb

 

[Vicky]

I did a little research on keeping veil chameleon...some say they dont see well, but to me i think mine has excellent eye sight...I know this is very irrelevant...So...maybe try some different feeders like the others said?

 

[Lathelia]

Green banana roaches are great! They are fast, green and can fly. All my chams go crazy for them

 

[camimom]

Veileds can see just fine. unless they have an eye injury or some genetic issue, they are just fine at hunting and finding food.

 

[reefercheefer]

try using different roaches like turkish roaches (red runners). They look more like crickets and pack a lot more protein. You chams grow a lot faster with these feeders.

 

[linklance]

I got him eating them!!!!!!!! Finally. I stole an idea from a youtube video that was mentioned on this forum a few times. It basically encourages the roaches to climb vertically, succeeding in capturing my little guys attention.

 

[Enzo Veiled]

If you have a screen cage you can put a roach on the wall a little way from your Cham so it doesn't hide, and then they may notice it crawling. I do that with crickets if I don't have time for hand feeding.

 

[Tyaeda]

If he decides that he will not eat roaches, what are some good alternatives. I really dont want to house crickets because they smell and they chirp. I understand they need variety but so far he only eats crickets lol..

I keep crickets and the smell isn't bad because I put wood chips in with them, and I clean out their cage at least once a week. I also keep their gutload in water bottle lids that I replace every day. If you do that they won't smell nearly as bad.