Terrified of my Chams food

I love my Chameleon Ranger so much, but his food is starting to scare me..


As of right now I have a lot of little insects/bugs for my Cham Ranger to eat these include are are not limited to:

Crickets
Mealworms
Superworms
Hornworms
Silkworms
Waxworms

His diet is mainly Crickets and on occasion I treat him with worms, but lately I have become terrified of his Hornworms and Silkworms, I don't feed them to him often but when I do I am thoroughly creeped out and or terrified, so I leave the treats/care of hornworms and silkworms to someone else, but I'm also not afraid to handle the mealworms, super worms and waxworms.

Should I just use tongs every time I feed them to him, or try to "man up"
I'm just wondering if anyone else has their issues with their Chams food on occasion or often or am I just the only one?

Me and Ranger say thanks in advance.
 
I mean bugs bother a lot of people so you're definitely not alone. Personally I don't have any problem with them except for the supers, because I've heard they can really bite when they want.
 
Tweezers can be your best friend! When I got my first cham 5 years ago I couldn't even hold a tub of crickets, that's how bad I was. But you find ways to cope (I put the crickets in the fridge for a few minutes first to slow them down). Its amazing what you can do and overcome when you want something badly enough! :D You could use a pair of tweezers to place the horns or silks on a branch so your cham can zap them from there.
 
Worms freak me out too. I am now able to just about deal with a meal worm (not for my chameleon but my leopard gecko) and I am slowly getting there with crickets. Locusts I really don't like but tweezers are the best thing ever. :) You are not alone in your dislike of bugs. I have just got some new crickets today and they are currently chilling in the fridge so they don't move too much when I put them in my cricket keeper. You find ways of dealing with them. I have ordered my 1st lot of roaches today so I will see how I am with them when they arrive. Oh the things we endure for our animals :)
 
It used to be an issue for me... but now there is nothing I don't handle by hand. I got so tired of trying to catch things with tongs as I just didn't have the patience for it. It was much quicker to just scoop things up by hand or fingers. With crickets you can try a cricket tube or toilet paper/paper towel cardboard insert. The cricket crawl in them and then you just tap them in a cricket dusting cup and again shake them into the feeding cup.

Now bugs are so easy for me if I am out somwhere away from home and I see a good juicy grashopper I will grab it and stick it in my purse or pocket until I get home! :eek: Drives my family nuts!
 
I actually think silk worms are kinda cute :D

Roaches used to bother me, but I am used to them now.

Those huge super worms do bother me a bit, so I don't buy them any more.
They do bite too.

Horn worms are cool, but I don't buy those very often because they get so
messy and gross.
 
My husband is terrified of bugs! it took me 3 months to convince him to let me us roaches. But is theres a spider or anything else he calls for me. So guess who gets to feed the reptiles!
 
There's no reason you have to get over your fear completely, no one is forcing you to touch them. I have a collection of tongs that I use when moving bugs around or offering them as food. I'm not afraid of most feeders (except roaches) but I still rather not handle them if I don't have to, even crickets iritate the skin on my hands if I mess with a lot of them.

I must have 4-5 tongs of varying sizes and styles (rubber tipped and not), and I love them. Plus my hand-eye coordination has improved, I'm like a ninja now catching a loose cricket/roach with tongs.
 
I had to laugh when I read this- I was SO freaked out by the roaches, I was even told they would jump in my mouth- :eek: !!! ( that was a big fat LIE :p ) I had nightmares about them, felt like they were ALWAYS on me ! in my socks, shirt - you name it- but in time, I have grown to be able to be around them - I have even touched one now and then - lol :D

silks are nice, no need to fear them - but we are taught growing up - DO NOT TOUCH BUGS ! but you will get used to all of them in time- I have only been bothered by the roaches, everything else we used to go hunt down for fishing bait ~ :p so the rest never bothered me , hang in there - you will get used to them ;)
 
I can't touch the feeders...that's my boyfriends job, but I've found ways around actually touching them...my cricket keeper has 2 black tubes and I wait till there's a cricket in it and shake it into the cage (yes it's as graceful as it sounds) The things we do for our chameleons :)
 
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