Vinny won't eat roaches

[Spene]

So, my year and 4 month old veiled chameleon Vinny is being a total pain in the ass. He loves superworms, he would probably eat a whole tub if I let him. I'd also been giving him crickets since he was small, but decided to move over to dubia roaches recently. However, he will not eat them- I've now got 100 of them setup in a rubbermaid and I don't know what to do.

He's been trained to eat out of a deep rubbermaid dish, but I think the issue is that when I put roaches in there they don't move, just sit there motionless, so I think he doesn't notice them. He's eaten a few, but overall the roach experiment has been a disaster. Has anyone dealt with this or have some tips? I'm about ready to just let him have his way and exclusively give him superworms...

 

[Vince]

Ive heard that sometimes if the cham has had supers for a prolonged time that is what he/she will expect to be fed.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

So, my year and 4 month old veiled chameleon Vinny is being a total pain in the ass. He loves superworms, he would probably eat a whole tub if I let him. I'd also been giving him crickets since he was small, but decided to move over to dubia roaches recently. However, he will not eat them- I've now got 100 of them setup in a rubbermaid and I don't know what to do.

He's been trained to eat out of a deep rubbermaid dish, but I think the issue is that when I put roaches in there they don't move, just sit there motionless, so I think he doesn't notice them. He's eaten a few, but overall the roach experiment has been a disaster. Has anyone dealt with this or have some tips? I'm about ready to just let him have his way and exclusively give him superworms...

What do you feed your Dubias? Are they well hydrated? Keep them fed and juicy. Offer a varied diet to your roaches, and a varied diet to your Chameleon more importantly.

 

[Spene]

I'm feeding them fruits, parsnips, carrots, oats, etc- they're well fed, I just can't get him to eat them because they won't move. I want to give him a varied diet, but he's like a drug addict for superworms!

 

[sandrachameleon]

Try shaking the bin a bit to get the roaches moving. Or try other ways of offering the roaches (tongs, put one on a branch, etc)
I would think that once he figures out they are prey and tasty, he wont need to see them moving in future. Reduce how often you offer fatty, yummy superworms, so that he is motivated to eat the roaches and crickets etc.

 

[Spene]

Yeah, I've tried shaking, they move for 2 seconds then go into clandestine mode again. I left two in there for 4 days without anything else and he still didn't eat them, super annoying...

 

[summoner12]

Good luck and welcome!

I would try putting a roach on the screen near your cham and see if he is excited but it running around trying to hide.... If that doesn't work the tongs is a good idea with the legs of the roach facing your cham. the squirming will get his attention.

 

[Spene]

Thanks, I'm going to try tongs but I haven't really fed him like that, he may not be into it. I may try putting it on the screen of the cage, but there's good odds it'll get away before he gets to it, and I don't want a roach hiding, pain to find it.

 

[Vince]

My jackson wont take a roach unless it is moving either.

What i do is pinch the roach by the butt and show my cham his legs when the roach quits moving his legs squeeze harder or softer. So he will keep moving em. My cham cant resist.

As much as he loves them he wont eat them out of a cup unless he is real hungry.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Thanks, I'm going to try tongs but I haven't really fed him like that, he may not be into it. I may try putting it on the screen of the cage, but there's good odds it'll get away before he gets to it, and I don't want a roach hiding, pain to find it.

If you remove the roaches head first, it will still run about for a day or two (if it doesnt get eaten first) but will not last long enough to cause an infestation in your home if it gets away and you dont find it.

 

[sarah777]

Put the roach on it's back they'll move like crazy trying to flip and it takes them awhile. I put them in a bowl and hold the bowl near the cham.

 

[desultadox]

My chameleon wouldn't eat roaches at first either. What worked for me is to lead by example. So I let him watch me eat a roach and then he followed suit. I suggest trying that out.

 

[Zeke20]

I also notice when the feeder is motionless my little veiled wont pay attention to them. The solution I came up with was tap the cup a couple of times to get them moving. Once he notices movement he runs to the cup and eats em all up. Don't know if that will help, but it did for me so thought I'd offer my tactics.

 

[Jason4045]

My chameleon wouldn't eat roaches at first either. What worked for me is to lead by example. So I let him watch me eat a roach and then he followed suit. I suggest trying that out.

LMAO!

i had an issue with silk worms and Fonzie(4 month BB Ambilobe) He simply would not acknowledge them as food. I got home later that night and he was still sitting there stairing at them. I said " Hey! Thats food!" He gave me the evil eye and began eatting them. Tuff love for the little guy, sometimes works. But he got the point, that I can eat this or starve myself. when he got hungry enough he ate them just fine. Now we have no problems with silkies. He gobbles them down as soon as I put them in the feeder cup.

 

[Spene]

Ha, thanks for all the replies everyone- I'm still working on it. He didn't take to the tweezer idea, just thought I was coming to get him and got defensive. I'll get him to eat them somehow, he's such an obstinate little SOB- I know he's just trying to win on this so he'll only get worms...

 

[laurie]

My chameleon wouldn't eat roaches at first either. What worked for me is to lead by example. So I let him watch me eat a roach and then he followed suit. I suggest trying that out.

Please. please, please tell me you are kidding, so I don't have Knightmares tonight.

 

[summoner12]

Please. please, please tell me you are kidding, so I don't have Knightmares tonight.

HAHAHA Ryan... if your reading this, weren't you going to do this for us at a meeting once?

 

[Slofe]

I had this problem for a while. The way I overcame it was put all the roaches I was gonna feed him that day in his cup and see if he moves. If he doesn't i'd put one mealworm in there and he'd get all excited, come flying down off his perch and shoot straight for the worm. After he'd gobbled the worm down he'd move onto the roaches for dessert

 

[Julirs]

I have a few chameleons that just won't eat roaches-no matter what.