roaches stuck to mouth

[Eamon]

when i give my guy his discoid roaches they get stuck to his mouth, he will bite it and half will be sticking out and the other half in his mouth, he will try to bit the other half but the part in his mouth is sticking and he isn't able to get it. after a couple minutes he is able to eventually get it but i'm wondering if the roaches are to big or if im doing something wrong? also he refuses to eat out of the dish i made to put them in and will only eat one if i give it to him by hand. the dish is a tupperware thats connects to the screen im wondering if it might be to deep (6 inches) or in a bad spot. finally, he will only eat one roach no matter how hard i try to get him to eat more he will come over pretty quickly and snap it up but when i try to give him a second he has no interest and will sometimes even put on a threat display, cuz of that i give him one roach and some crickets but i want to switch to mostly roaches. why does he do this? is it just cuz he doesnt like roaches?

 

[Eamon]

also it seems like he really hates me now. i think its from when i was giving him shots but he hasn't gotten any less scared of me sense then. could he still be acclimating to his new enclosure?

 

[MissSkittles]

They are usually able to manipulate their food in their mouth, so I wouldn’t worry about any sticking. I’ve noticed it only with my panthers that they will take a feeder, usually a discoid, and hold it in their mouth for what seems like a long time (is probably less than a minute). No idea why they do this, but I haven’t seen my veileds do it. I haven’t had any picky eaters until my male veiled Lucky. He does not like roaches at all and tolerates crickets and bsfl. It’s a great day if I can get him to accidentally eat a roach. I don’t worry much about it. For many chams, it seems that roaches are an acquired taste. Keep offering them and maybe eventually he’ll decide they aren’t bad. In the meantime, maybe try other feeders, like silkworms, grasshoppers, bsfl. Always try to sneak at least one roach in if possible to help him get more used to them.
Young veileds are/can be somewhat ‘friendly’. Once they start reaching maturity though, that changes and they develop their stereotypical attitudes of wanting nothing to do with us aside from food. It’s the rare one which will want to willingly come out to us and not be hissy or bitey. While I’ve had experience with only 4 veileds (2 of each gender), I have noticed my males are more shy and just want to avoid or get away from me. Both girls stood their ground and hissed and gaped at me and the one I still have, Stella (my old lady) has always been very bitey. I still work on maintaining trust with them thru hand feeding and brief gentle touch/handling and they do trust me. They just don’t want anything to do with me.

 

[Eamon]

They are usually able to manipulate their food in their mouth, so I wouldn’t worry about any sticking. I’ve noticed it only with my panthers that they will take a feeder, usually a discoid, and hold it in their mouth for what seems like a long time (is probably less than a minute). No idea why they do this, but I haven’t seen my veileds do it. I haven’t had any picky eaters until my male veiled Lucky. He does not like roaches at all and tolerates crickets and bsfl. It’s a great day if I can get him to accidentally eat a roach. I don’t worry much about it. For many chams, it seems that roaches are an acquired taste. Keep offering them and maybe eventually he’ll decide they aren’t bad. In the meantime, maybe try other feeders, like silkworms, grasshoppers, bsfl. Always try to sneak at least one roach in if possible to help him get more used to them.
Young veileds are/can be somewhat ‘friendly’. Once they start reaching maturity though, that changes and they develop their stereotypical attitudes of wanting nothing to do with us aside from food. It’s the rare one which will want to willingly come out to us and not be hissy or bitey. While I’ve had experience with only 4 veileds (2 of each gender), I have noticed my males are more shy and just want to avoid or get away from me. Both girls stood their ground and hissed and gaped at me and the one I still have, Stella (my old lady) has always been very bitey. I still work on maintaining trust with them thru hand feeding and brief gentle touch/handling and they do trust me. They just don’t want anything to do with me.

thank you! he seems to be a very picky eater, he absolutely won't eat bsfl or wax worms until they pupate then he loves them. around a month ago i completely removed mealworms from his diet cuz i noticed that he only wanted to eat them and since then he hasn't been food motivated at all, he used eat anything immediately and even tried to eat my finger nails sometimes thats until i stopped with the mealworms. i've read that they can get like that but i didn't expect it to last this long, should i expect his appetite to come back or will he be like this from now on?

 

[BleuSaphir]

I wonder if Chameleons are like humans, enjoying a good meal. I tend to eat slow if I found a taste so satisfying. LOL

 

[MissSkittles]

I wonder if Chameleons are like humans, enjoying a good meal. I tend to eat slow if I found a taste so satisfying. LOL

That’s been what I’ve wondered when my panthers hold a bug in their mouth and don’t chew right away. Are they savoring the taste? Maybe they like the feel of the little legs kicking inside their mouth? Maybe it’s the opposite and they’re like, “Ugh! This is gross! Now I suppose I have to chew and swallow it.”

thank you! he seems to be a very picky eater, he absolutely won't eat bsfl or wax worms until they pupate then he loves them. around a month ago i completely removed mealworms from his diet cuz i noticed that he only wanted to eat them and since then he hasn't been food motivated at all, he used eat anything immediately and even tried to eat my finger nails sometimes thats until i stopped with the mealworms. i've read that they can get like that but i didn't expect it to last this long, should i expect his appetite to come back or will he be like this from now on?

Give him time. I think their tastes change, like ours. Of course their diet is much more limited. I do wish there were a broader variety of feeders. You did have him checked for parasites when you took him to the vet, yes? Mealworms aren’t a good feeder for chameleons. I don’t know how closely they may taste to superworms (not about to find out either), but many chameleons can become ‘addicted’ to supers and go on hunger strikes until their human worries enough to give in and give the supers.
It might be a veiled thing, that they think fingers look like food. It took him a minute, but now my male veiled will go to eat a finger. My female has always tried. Gotta love our little green weirdos.

 

[BleuSaphir]

That’s been what I’ve wondered when my panthers hold a bug in their mouth and don’t chew right away. Are they savoring the taste? Maybe they like the feel of the little legs kicking inside their mouth? Maybe it’s the opposite and they’re like, “Ugh! This is gross! Now I suppose I have to chew and swallow it.”

That’s how I imagine when I see Namul eating his Hornworms. I know that’s his favorite bug. Haha