Picky Panthers

I currently have five Panther Chameleons. They are all in the appropriate setups with the proper temperatures. Four of them eat great and will eat almost any food I place in the cage. One of them, however, a large Ambilobe male, will not eat anything except silkworms. No matter what I place in the cage, he has absolutely no interest in it unless it is silkworms. Has anyone else ever had this problem? I want to break this habit because I know he needs variety for optimum health. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks~!

Yes, I've had an adult male Veiled suddenly go on a "hunger strike" - same thing, decided he wanted silkies and only silkies. Have you tried hornworms? Mantids? The hornworms broke the silkworm spell and then he went back to his staple crickets & roaches (and the worms for treats only)

Howdy Katherine,

Sometimes Panthers that get stuck on a food item may need to be witheld food for a week or more to break the habit. Once he shows interest in a new food item, you may want to try several different new items. If your Panther will take properly sized dubia roaches then definitely go with them too. Most chameleon keepers dream of findng a feeder as economical and easy to maintain as dubia roaches . I've used crickets, silkworms, hornworms, dubias, superworms, butterworms, mantids, commercial house flies, and others.

Ah, dubias! Gotta love 'em! They're no doubt the best roaches I've colonized and my chams love them.