Tips for weening a Chameleon off superworms

[LoneBridger]

For my female Panther she was actually quite fearful of roaches when I tried to give her first ones. I had to start by (sorry to say) crushing the roach then put it inside and the dying body moves and sparks interest. I also leaned off superworms for Dubias recently. You have to be a little pushy with new foods

 

[Syreptyon]

MY CHAMELEON- Male Ambanja Panther Chameleon not sure age they didn’t know when I got him but Reptile store managers who breed ( wish I checked ) them say between 8-13 months old. I’ve had Rango since July 7, 2019.

HANDLING- Daily once or twice Rango likes to explore he will let me know by sitting right in front of the door while im in the room. Or he will see me an climb down from his basking spot right to the door. I try not to more than once thought some day I don’t at all even if he wants to come out. I used to put my hand in his cage for a minute long not touching anything to let him no I’m cool an one day he crawled up my an has been cool with handling ever since. It’s either that or he is trying to find shade because he crawls back into his cage by himself.

FEEDING- Dubai roaches medium to large occasionally 3-5 a day but am in the process of weening him off super worms. No cricket apartment manager will not allow . All insects gut loaded I switch up what feed them as well (carrots, cabbage, kale, spinach, collard greens)

SUPPLEMENTS- repti Calcuim without d3. Fluker’s Repta Calcium with d3 twice a month (last two days of each month) Herptivite with beta carotene twice a month (Last two days)

WATERING- I use a dripper made out of a water bottle ‍♂ It works. I use a pump power sprayer. The water is filtered out of the faucet through a Brita water pitcher then put into the pump sprayer which has a mist setting. I mist in the morning 30 minutes before the lights go on and 30 minutes after they go off. Also during his rainy months in Ambanja I do a afternoon shower, I try to replicate it.

FETAL DESCRIPTION- about an inch to two inches long light to dark brown, moist nothing moving with a very white tip ( I hear that’s they’re urine) usually some orange. Never tested going in for a check-up the 19th of this month.

HISTORY-NONE ‍♂ They didn’t give me any

Cage- screen the dimensions are Length 16” Width 16” height 30”

LIGHTNING- dual bulb zoomed, power sun 80 power sun bulb. Before I got the power sun bulb Daily light schedule 12 hours 7:30AM-7:30PM.

TEMPERATURE -Rango’s cage is 85-90 degrees (during the day) my setup allows multiple basking spots all the way from Top to bottom. I measured this with 4 temp gages from bottom to top. Over night Temp usually no lower than 68-72 degrees

HUMIDITY- I believe low 40%-55% during mid day I measure this with a Hygro-thermo temp gage/humidity gage I mist the cage 2-3 times for 5 minutes morning an night mid day ( during rainy seasons 3 minutes)

PLANTS- I do have 4 an one cabbage, one dandelion. And two I can’t identify.

PLACEMENT- Rango’s cage is located in my living room near the corner wall two feet right of my Living-room TV. There is an AC across the room about 20 feet infront of him the blows far away from him an barely ever runs. It’s just me an my girlfriend who he sees for maybe 4 hours a day of actually seeing us in the living room or kitchen. The cage stands 67” above the floor.

LOCATION- Warwick, Rhode Island I live in an apartment that is cool with caged lizards.

All righty, so for the most part you're on the right track! I see three main issues that are important to correct at your earliest ability:

(1) He is well beyond the age and size that he needs to be moved into his adult-sized enclosure. You'll want to upgrade to 24"x24"x48" minimum as soon as you can.

(2) You are unfortunately using the incorrect type of UVB bulb for your guy (this is one of the commonest mistakes for people newer to the hobby and it's an easy fix). The compact bulb you are using does not distribute UVB light in a way that chameleons benefit from it and if you continue using it, he will develop metabolic bone disease. What you want to use instead is a linear T5HO UVB bulb which is as long as the enclosure is wide. I would recommend upgrading the cage size and getting the correct lighting with that, so you don't waste money on an 18" UVB bulb when you will ultimately need a 24" one

(3) And lastly, your gutload for your feeders. Cabbage is not recommended to use at all and neither is spinach. Spinach binds calcium which you definitely do not want to happen, as calcium is critical to your cham's health. Kale should also only be used sparingly as is, like spinach, is a cruciferous vegetable and will bind calcium. Collard greens are an excellent choice, though! To that, I recommend including things like mustard greens, dandelion greens, escarole, sweet potato, and papaya. Check the resources section of the forum for other good options.

Hope that helps!

 

[Jhlamotte95]

For my female Panther she was actually quite fearful of roaches when I tried to give her first ones. I had to start by (sorry to say) crushing the roach then put it inside and the dying body moves and sparks interest. I also leaned off superworms for Dubias recently. You have to be a little pushy with new foods

Yeah I started with roaches when I first got mine. Then I introduced the supers and it’s been an addiction ever since lol.

 

[Jhlamotte95]

All righty, so for the most part you're on the right track! I see three main issues that are important to correct at your earliest ability:

(1) He is well beyond the age and size that he needs to be moved into his adult-sized enclosure. You'll want to upgrade to 24"x24"x48" minimum as soon as you can.

(2) You are unfortunately using the incorrect type of UVB bulb for your guy (this is one of the commonest mistakes for people newer to the hobby and it's an easy fix). The compact bulb you are using does not distribute UVB light in a way that chameleons benefit from it and if you continue using it, he will develop metabolic bone disease. What you want to use instead is a linear T5HO UVB bulb which is as long as the enclosure is wide. I would recommend upgrading the cage size and getting the correct lighting with that, so you don't waste money on an 18" UVB bulb when you will ultimately need a 24" one

(3) And lastly, your gutload for your feeders. Cabbage is not recommended to use at all and neither is spinach. Spinach binds calcium which you definitely do not want to happen, as calcium is critical to your cham's health. Kale should also only be used sparingly as is, like spinach, is a cruciferous vegetable and will bind calcium. Collard greens are an excellent choice, though! To that, I recommend including things like mustard greens, dandelion greens, escarole, sweet potato, and papaya. Check the resources section of the forum for other good options.

Hope that helps!

Yes thank you for the advice, I will try to get this set up ASAP!

 

[KobaOregonherper]

Currently I’m trying to ween my 8 month old to a year old male Ambanja Panther Chameleon off superworms, an back onto Dubai Roaches. This is l because I’ve heard/read that too many super worms for a chameleon can cause health problems (due to the lack of nutrition a superworm holds).

I have tried not offering anything but Roaches for 4 days an has not eaten or shown interest. So I caved or coarse an he ate 5 worms no problem (typical) should I just keep waiting for him to finally get to the point where he’s so starving he finally eats one? Did I just cave to early??

If not wondering if anyone on here has a technique or strategy they have used to help with this issue.

7 days. Koba went 7 days without eating before he finally ate dubias. They can be quite stubborn, just know youre cham will eventually eat if he thinks hes gonna die before you give him something else lol. If you cave he never will.

 

[RyanBRZ]

I'm at day 5. I left 2 dubia's in his bug bar feeder and when I got home from work, both were untouched. I then put them in a little bowl directly under him, still nothing.

 

[KobaOregonherper]

I'm at day 5. I left 2 dubia's in his bug bar feeder and when I got home from work, both were untouched. I then put them in a little bowl directly under him, still nothing.

I did the same. I eventually took out my full throttle feeder and the little cup I was putting them in. He'll only eat them if theyre on the mesh.

 

[Jhlamotte95]

7 days. Koba went 7 days without eating before he finally ate dubias. They can be quite stubborn, just know youre cham will eventually eat if he thinks hes gonna die before you give him something else lol. If you cave he never will.

Good advice!!

 

[Jhlamotte95]

I'm at day 5. I left 2 dubia's in his bug bar feeder and when I got home from work, both were untouched. I then put them in a little bowl directly under him, still nothing.

Good luck to me an you both haha stubborn little Lizard.