are earthworms and grubs OK

[dectr6]

Live in rural Louisiana and there are always lots of earthworms and grubs year round. Is it ok to give them to my veiled straight out of the ground. It would be very hard to gutload these, especially the grubs since they are in hibernation now. thanks

 

[BigTex]

very interesting question, im not sure of the answer either. i would have to say first off that unless these insects are gathered from insecticide free areas it would be a no. fertilizer is also probably a no. however, im no expert so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will have something to say

 

[dectr6]

they are from an insecticide free area. I'm sure there are earthworms in the mountains of Saudi and Yemen, so it seems like it would be a safe and natural food for them.

 

[dodolah]

it might be insecticide free.. but is the ground they live use chemical fertilizer?
It can be fatal to Chameleon too..
veiled chameleon don't normally dig the ground to find food.
the only time they do so are for laying egg.

So, i disagree with your thought.
You can try feeding them with earthworm.. but i doubt he will like the taste.
My advise is not to feed them with earthworm and stick with insects, or other common worm feeder (mealworm, butterworm, silkies, etc)

 

[Chamero]

Yea Earthworms are ok... as long as they are insecticide free. They contain 84% moisture, .7 Calories kcal/gram, 26% calories from fat, and 74% calories from protein. I too want to use these as a feeder. I have a young cham and want to give lots of protein. How would you feed them? Do you happen to know about red worms? are they ok?

 

[dectr6]

Red worms are just another type of earth worm. My grandmother ran a bait shop her whole life and raised all her worms in outside beds. The red worms were just a smaller variety but bred like crazy.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Earthworms and grubs.....

The other concern I have is parasites. Parasites are all over the place in nature. I've feed earthworms and nightcrawlers to reptiles, but always used farm raised worms for the same reason I use farm raised crickets. A lot of parasites are spread to cats, dogs, birds, squirrels, etc. threw insects and worms. Just something to think about