balanced diet?
- Thread starter jermpool
- Start date
Ashley
New Member
They absolutely love a change in their diet. I would stick with a more nutritious food for most days like gutloaded crickets (Feeding them fruits and vegetables before feeding them to your cham) or silkworms which are high in protein and calcium.
I would treat mealworms, waxworms, and butterworms like they are candy. They are high in fat and low in everything else so I wouldn't feed those to your cham more than 2-3 times a month. They do love them though.
If you are very well versed with your neighborhood you can catch bugs outside like roaches, crickets, i've found a few praying mantis too. You must make sure that there are no pesticides being used. I also would not use pill bugs or potato bugs as we used to call them, they live for years and who knows what they have gotten into in their lifetime. Just stay away from them, oh and no spiders or monarch butterflies!
I would treat mealworms, waxworms, and butterworms like they are candy. They are high in fat and low in everything else so I wouldn't feed those to your cham more than 2-3 times a month. They do love them though.
If you are very well versed with your neighborhood you can catch bugs outside like roaches, crickets, i've found a few praying mantis too. You must make sure that there are no pesticides being used. I also would not use pill bugs or potato bugs as we used to call them, they live for years and who knows what they have gotten into in their lifetime. Just stay away from them, oh and no spiders or monarch butterflies!
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
They absolutely love a change in their diet. I would stick with a more nutritious food for most days like gutloaded crickets (Feeding them fruits and vegetables before feeding them to your cham) or silkworms which are high in protein and calcium.
I would treat mealworms, waxworms, and butterworms like they are candy. They are high in fat and low in everything else so I wouldn't feed those to your cham more than 2-3 times a month. They do love them though.
If you are very well versed with your neighborhood you can catch bugs outside like roaches, crickets, i've found a few praying mantis too. You must make sure that there are no pesticides being used. I also would not use pill bugs or potato bugs as we used to call them, they live for years and who knows what they have gotten into in their lifetime. Just stay away from them, oh and no spiders or monarch butterflies!
Good answer from Ashley.
It is ideal to offer the most variety you can to your chams...however, they often dictate their own diet by choosing certain feeders and ignoring the rest.
The most important thing you can do is feed the feeders that are being accepted the most nutritious diet you can and follow a good supplementing schedule.
One of the main reasons I keep a bit of variety around is to battle boredom.
My veiled will eat the same feeder for a long time (refusing all others) then one day have nothing to do with them. This is when I introduce an alternate feeder for awhile.
Crickets, roaches and superworms are the easiest when it comes to gut-loading. He loves silkworms too!
-Brad
dodolah
Retired Moderator
i change the feeder every 2 days.
So in a week, he'll get 3 different feeders.
with one surprise insects special event.
Sometimes, he will ignore the different feeders on a certain day.. in that case, i usually resort to my special insects or silkies.
Crickets M-T
silkies W-Th
Phoenix worm (not yet tried) F-Sat
and Sun, he gets a treat such as Moth (if i have one), House Flies, Superworms, etc etc.. basically, Sunday is a "test a new staple feeder" day.
So far, he loves Sunday.
Every 6 am he perch in front of his feeding cup to see his new surprise..I admit I spoiled him a bit.
PS: my cham has never seen wax worms.. (I don't think I will introduce him that feeder ever.. i don't want him to be addicted to it )
So in a week, he'll get 3 different feeders.
with one surprise insects special event.
Sometimes, he will ignore the different feeders on a certain day.. in that case, i usually resort to my special insects or silkies.
Crickets M-T
silkies W-Th
Phoenix worm (not yet tried) F-Sat
and Sun, he gets a treat such as Moth (if i have one), House Flies, Superworms, etc etc.. basically, Sunday is a "test a new staple feeder" day.
So far, he loves Sunday
.Every 6 am he perch in front of his feeding cup to see his new surprise..
I admit I spoiled him a bit.PS: my cham has never seen wax worms.. (I don't think I will introduce him that feeder ever.. i don't want him to be addicted to it
)
Last edited:
dodolah
Retired Moderator
yes you should
now for gut loading, should I use this or somthing else http://www.cricketfood.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=38 ?
davider
Avid Member
I use that, throw in some carrots, apples, and grapes as well. You will definitely see some results in just a couple days.
David
dodolah
Retired Moderator
yes. i use that one. so far it's amazing!
PardalisGirl
Avid Member
Variety in Feeders.....
Chams in nature have a wide variety of things in their diet. We should try to get as close to that situation as we reasonably can. I usually feed two different feeder types each day. Crickets, silkworms and hornworms are the staples. Roaches are another good staple. I just don't have a big enough colony to feed that many out every day with the number of chams I have. These four items are very nutritious and low in fat.
Superworms should be fed sparingly. A couple of times a week. They are very low on the nutrition scale. They are a treat food for me. Butterworms are another nutritious food I don't hear enough about. High in calcium, low in fat and relatively cheap. They also require zero care. Phoenix worms are great but too small for anything but babies. I've recently started using houseflies again as a feeder for juvies. I got them for my Bradypodium Uthmoelleri pair. You really have to gut load them though. I am working on a good recipe of goo to smear on the plastic container they are kept in. It also takes some effort to keep them from escaping into the house. My little Uthies love them though and it's fun watching them stalk the flies.
Chams are funny with their food. My favorite big male Ambanja, Solarius, had not eaten a single cricket in the two years I have had him. He would eat hornworms, silkworms and butterworms. Nothing else for two years. He would starve before he would eat one. He always lives with a female in his big cage. He is very unhappy unless one shares his cage with one. He is very gentle with them and never bothers them. He will breed with them and then leave them alone completely. They even sit on his back to bask. I put crickets in the cage for the female he lives with, but have never seen him eat a single one in two years until this week. Out of the blue he started eating them this week. He seems to love them this week. I keep wondering how long this new habit will last...........
Chams in nature have a wide variety of things in their diet. We should try to get as close to that situation as we reasonably can. I usually feed two different feeder types each day. Crickets, silkworms and hornworms are the staples. Roaches are another good staple. I just don't have a big enough colony to feed that many out every day with the number of chams I have. These four items are very nutritious and low in fat.
Superworms should be fed sparingly. A couple of times a week. They are very low on the nutrition scale. They are a treat food for me. Butterworms are another nutritious food I don't hear enough about. High in calcium, low in fat and relatively cheap. They also require zero care. Phoenix worms are great but too small for anything but babies. I've recently started using houseflies again as a feeder for juvies. I got them for my Bradypodium Uthmoelleri pair. You really have to gut load them though. I am working on a good recipe of goo to smear on the plastic container they are kept in. It also takes some effort to keep them from escaping into the house. My little Uthies love them though and it's fun watching them stalk the flies.
Chams are funny with their food. My favorite big male Ambanja, Solarius, had not eaten a single cricket in the two years I have had him. He would eat hornworms, silkworms and butterworms. Nothing else for two years. He would starve before he would eat one. He always lives with a female in his big cage. He is very unhappy unless one shares his cage with one. He is very gentle with them and never bothers them. He will breed with them and then leave them alone completely. They even sit on his back to bask. I put crickets in the cage for the female he lives with, but have never seen him eat a single one in two years until this week. Out of the blue he started eating them this week. He seems to love them this week. I keep wondering how long this new habit will last...........
dodolah
Retired Moderator
wow.. that's one unique chameleon...
