wont eat dubias

[fuzzhc]

Hey there.

A few months ago or so I started a dubia colony and now I probably have around a few hundred odd, only 5 adults though. But my question is has anybody had a hard time getting their chams to eat them? My 2year old veild had a few adults and went off them and my 11month or so old female panther used to eat them no problem but has since went off them. I wasnt feeding them off on a daily basis either.

I have tried various things such as take away food for a couple days, leave the bugs in for a few days (in a cup), mixed them with other feeders but to no prevail. Has anyone any other tricks?

Besides the few dubias my veiled hasnt touched any crickets, Brown or black in over a year which im thinking could be he doesnt find dark colours very appetizing lol.

 

[steppedinds]

I had the same problem. I'd leave a cup full of dubs in there and they would just stay until I took them out. I eventually tried just throwing them in the cage. Maybe the thrill of the hunt, or just boredom, finally got my guy to take a bite. Ever since I've had no problems

 

[fuzzhc]

Cool ill try that when the lights are on and hopefully thatll work!

 

[Seiryu]

Oops, I see you tried that, missed that sentence. I would say try sticking some around in the enclosure. Mine too like to hunt and it usually gets them going. Dubia are terrible climbers though, even on screen.

Is the veiled addicted to worms? Sometimes once they've had worm insects, that's all they'll want.

 

[Deevo]

Hmm.. I was having a hard time cup-feeding dubias. Ill try free ranging them

 

[pssh]

Use a tub (shoe-box sized works well) instead. It allows the bugs to run all around to stimulate the chameleons, but still keeps them contained. Round is better for dubia since they tend to stop moving after they find a corner. Also, try feeding white/grey dubia or flipping them onto their backs so they kick around (plastic spoon works well if you hand feed them.)

 

[Psychobunny]

I had same problem, my guyz didnt know what they were, never seen one before!
I had to hand feed it to them, making sure I get a lot of 'kicking and screaming' from the roach, to get their attention.
Once they saw the movement, and zapped it, they could recognize them as a food item from then on, as long as I dont wait too long to use them again as a feeder. Chams seem to forget after a while if dont keep repeating stuff all the time.
Then, I have to show them all over again

 

[fuzzhc]

Haha! Thanks for the tips ill try a round bowl aswell then. Ive tried thw frshly moulted white ones aswell as coating the Brown ones with alot of calcium to make them more appealing maybe but nothing lol. Theyre not addicted to worms either, the female will usually eat any bug espacially spiders but the veiled normally wont eat anything other than adult locusts

 

[browncofan]

Stick Feeding

I got an idea from the forums of glueing a stick vertically coming out of the feeding bowl in the center. This allowed the Dubia to climb up and down the stick but not escape. Once they start climbing they are easier to see. It has worked great for me, even the Supers are climbing the stick.

 

[javsto]

I purchased a pair of dubs that were nymphs and threw them into my vieleds cage like I do with all his feeders and I think that since they were so small, he didn't find them or eat them until, a few weeks later I see him practically running around his cage but not in a "hunting" style but running for his life. Where ever this giant roach was he was on the exact opposite side of his cage. I eventually had to catch them and drown them in RAID to make sure that they didn't get out and breed in my house. Worms and crickets he will devour to his hearts content but roaches makes him turn into a wimp.

 

[fuzzhc]

Great thinking about the stick ill definitely have to try that thanks!

Glad to hear he was hunting them down. Lol roaches breeding in the house would be an absolute horror story! I must have thrown in a pregnant female before cause a couple days later I found a tonne of nymphs roaming around the bottom of the cage just hopefully I managed to squish them all before any escape

 

[Hibiscusmile]

I purchased a pair of dubs that were nymphs and threw them into my vieleds cage like I do with all his feeders and I think that since they were so small, he didn't find them or eat them until, a few weeks later I see him practically running around his cage but not in a "hunting" style but running for his life. Where ever this giant roach was he was on the exact opposite side of his cage. I eventually had to catch them and drown them in RAID to make sure that they didn't get out and breed in my house. Worms and crickets he will devour to his hearts content but roaches makes him turn into a wimp.

that was funny!