Bugs!?!?!?!?

[ChamieNewbie]

So I will not and can not do roaches, of any kind, at all, ever, not happening!!!!!! With that being said my little Yoda and my sons little Mushu are both great eaters. They both love crickets and still hunt those like crazy. I have also given them Phoenix worms and Hornworms. They love them both. What should I give them next? I want to try silk worms. Also thought about the blue bottle flys but very confused on those and how to do them....

 

[jcarlsen]

So I will not and can not do roaches, of any kind, at all, ever, not happening!!!!!! With that being said my little Yoda and my sons little Mushu are both great eaters. They both love crickets and still hunt those like crazy. I have also given them Phoenix worms and Hornworms. They love them both. What should I give them next? I want to try silk worms. Also thought about the blue bottle flys but very confused on those and how to do them....

Honestly, I see where you're coming from, but I've come to realize that roaches are much less gross than crickets. No smell, no noise, easy to contain, and better for the chameleon. You just gotta get the idea of big city roaches out of your head. Plus they don't breed or anything unless you set up the proper conditions for them to do so.

Besides, chameleons can be picky eaters, and there may come a day where you'll have to try a roach if it won't take anything else. My guy used to be fine with crickets, but he ignores them ever since he was exposed to super worms.

 

[caietaro]

So I will not and can not do roaches, of any kind, at all, ever, not happening!!!!!! With that being said my little Yoda and my sons little Mushu are both great eaters. They both love crickets and still hunt those like crazy. I have also given them Phoenix worms and Hornworms. They love them both. What should I give them next? I want to try silk worms. Also thought about the blue bottle flys but very confused on those and how to do them....

I felt the same way about roaches but I decided to get some dubia to see if my little guy would even eat them. The first week or so I was terrified of dropping one on the floor and would only touch them with tongs. After seeing them for a little while up close now though, I have to admit...they're actually kind of cute ! They've really grown on me. For all of the reasons stated above I like them much better than my crickets and I actually feel a little guilt feeding the little baby roaches to my panther. For what it's worth, I did drop and lose one early on and couldn't find it before it got away. After a few days with no food and water and an ambient temp of ~72f it died and I found it on the floor. In my opinion, phoenix worms are exponentially grosser than dubia .

To answer your question though, silkworms are great - my guy loves them. They just seem hard to get right now. I recently ordered some small ones from Coastal Silkworms; they may still have some in stock. I haven't tried blue bottle flies, but aren't they basically the same as phoenix worms (both fly larvae that will hatch into flies eventually)?

 

[MamatoElvis]

This is one way to hatch blue bottle
https://vimeo.com/137897793?utm_source

 

[Candybugs]

They eat veggies too My Seymore loves mustard greens . He sneak eats it tho. I think he feels more vulnerable when he's chewing the veggies cuz it takes a little longer than a cricket to eat. I peel strawberries sometimes he loves it. I want to try flowers but haven't yet. I just started giving my dragon the dubia roaches and it's a little sad cuz they're cute and they crunch really loud. Hef loves them tho.

 

[nick barta]

So I will not and can not do roaches, of any kind, at all, ever, not happening!!!!!! With that being said my little Yoda and my sons little Mushu are both great eaters. They both love crickets and still hunt those like crazy. I have also given them Phoenix worms and Hornworms. They love them both. What should I give them next? I want to try silk worms. Also thought about the blue bottle flys but very confused on those and how to do them....

I have a care sheet on blue bottle fly care, email me at [email protected] and I will send it to you.

CHEERS!!

Nick

 

[ChamieNewbie]

Thank you guys for all the info. Nick thank you for the care sheet. I also noticed that silk worms are hard to find at the moment. Candy I leave veggies for him and so far no luck. I'm thinking he's just still to young?? But not sure what he hasn't tired them yet.. He does nip at his plants here and there though

 

[infinityedge]

I want to try flowers but haven't yet.

We have a live hibiscus plant in our enclosure and our veiled has already eaten one flower. He seemed to like it, so I hope it keeps flowering for a while. Two buds opened up today and there are a couple more in the wings.

 

[Candybugs]

My Seymore didn't show any interest in veggies or anything but crickets and worms till he was 6 mos old. Then all of the sudden he started trying to eat his plants.

 

[carbyville]

I always said I'd never do the roach thing, either. But, last night, I ordered some. They'll be here soon and I'll see how my cham likes them before I decide if I'll order more. I did also buy some tongs, cause I'm not quite sure I'll be touching them haha.

 

[MamatoElvis]

Try it a few times and a few different ways. My guy just stared at them in the cup. I kept trying for about a week and no go. He almost seemed afraid of them. I let one loose on the screen and he would always move away when it got close.
The only way that worked was tong feeding. I guess I should try the cup feeding again now that he's been eating them.