Why would my 4-month old nosy be ignore crickets?

[RAFASTAR23]

I have a New (un-named) 4-month old panther chameleon (nosy be).
Since the day he arrived he has ignored the crikets i put in his cage to hunt.
Day one He did not eat. day two, i figured maybe the crickets were too big for him (medium crikets), so i switch them for small crickets. I decided to feed him a couple of wax worms and he quickly devoured them. Same result with super worms and small hissing roaches (about the size of the med crikets), but he still ignores the crickets!!! Any ideas on what i should do for him to eat the crickets too. He treats them like i treat my veggies (I go for everything else and throw the veggies aside)

 

[carol5208]

haha, sounds like my chameleon, Although he was eating crickets pretty hardily at 4 months old. When he got around 8 months old, he just flat out refused them and still does to this day. I keep trying but he will have no part of them. I feed my cham basically worms and the moths of the worms. He eats, silkworms, hornworms, waxworms, phoenix worms, superworms and I feed him the silk moths and an occasional hornworm moth. I don't think there is really a trick to get him to eat the crickets other than maybe starving him from other feeders to try and get him to eat the crickets, but honestly at 4 months old you do not want to do that. They need to eat everyday as they are growing like little weeds!!! Just let him eat what he wants and just try to reintroduce the crickets periodically and maybe he will take to them again.

 

[moviemanmania]

Where did you get him? Were they able to get him to feed on crickets? What happens is: when given the choice, chams prefer worms over crickets. When you feed your cham worms for a few weeks in a row they won't be interested in crickets any longer. It's best to alternate cricket then worms on different days so that they won't stop eating the crickets, if that's what you wanting to use as a staple for them. Dubia make an easy alternative to crickets for a staple.

 

[Hugh Wahl]

wow sounds familiar, my panther just did the same thing. The guy I bought him from only offered him crickets so I said let's switch it up for my man. Now he won't even look at crickets. I put a cricket right across from him on the screen and nada. With the cricket still there I put a superworm there and within seconds BANG.

 

[bighutch917]

Be careful with that. Gutloaded crickets are the healthiest choice. Anything else may be cause for concern if offered as a main staple.

 

[EvilLost]

@BigHutch: thats not entirely true. Dubia roaches are 100% acceptable and in fact BETTER than crickets for feeding

however, your point does hold true with supplmental worms

 

[carol5208]

I gutload my supers just like my crickets. My cham seems to be totally healthy eating a variety of worms and the moths. Just sayin....