Buying feeders vs Raising them

Joy Leaf

Joy Leaf

New Member
How many people buy their feeders versus raising their own. What factors do you consider when making that decision?

The reason I ask is that we have a Mellers and a veiled, and will be picking up a third chameleon (still undecided which kind) at the first part of the year. We want to start offering feeders other than crickets, and it seems that its hard to find med-large silkworms and hornworms on a consistent basis (on the east coast) in the quantity that we need. We've done the reading in regards to raising and keeping them and its no big problem for us, we also have two daughters that love helping with this kind of stuff to take some of the work load.

So in the end, we just wanted to get people's opinions on the subject as we weighed our options. Thanks! :)
 
I would recommend calling Rob at Greatlakes Hornworms. He has excellent quality hornworms for a great price. The hornworms start out small, but grow very fast and very large. Tell him Tom Kilgour sent you.
 
So far, I've bought (for the past 6 years), but that's with one panther and a leopard gecko most of the time. Now I have pygmies and baby pygmies, and I'm going to the pet store every four or five days. I know I spend a whole lot more than I would raising (or even ordering wholesale), and am beginning to make tentative stabs at raising dubias and silkies. If you've got the space and the time, raising is going to be a lot more economical than buying; buying is just that slightest bit easier, which is the only reason I'm still doing it.

(RE silkworms - I bought a bunch of smalls because that was all that was available; got them a week ago Wednesday and many of them are already in the medium to large range.)
 
I think it depends on the number of chams you have. I only have two but my daughter has tons so if I have excess, whether bought or raised, I can always share with her. To give the chameleons the variety of feeders they need it's hard to keep that variety, buying or raising witout having to many and you don't want to over feed because that's bad, too.

The only thing we raise are Dubia and Turkestan roaches. Both are easy but multiply very fast. Dubia get big and are great for Melleri.

I buy Silkworms, Phoenix Worms and Hornworms form Coastalsilkworms.com in Jacksonville. My daughter has used them ever since she got into chameleons about 6 years ago and they are great. We buy crickets and superworms from Luck Lure Cricket Farms.
 
Check the east coast site now. The UPS just delivered mine this morning and I just checked their site and they have hornworms.
 
I checked the east coast site last week and called the guy. I used to literally live 6 houses down from him when we lived in Jacksonville. FIgures we wait to buy chameleons until after we moved to St Augustine :D Now that you mention the HW's though I remembered he did have a few left, he was just out of Silks at the time.
 
Well I know the options of feeders, but back to my question. Do you raise/hatch your own, or do you just buy as you go/need?
 
raising them is better because you know what they are gut loaded with and buying means you have to pay for shipping or gas to go to the local pet store and get the feeders and same food you would feed them if you were raising them
 
I tried doing the raising/breeding with dubias. lobsters, superworms, and turks.......just cant get it down.........
Im not a very consistent person and having to feed them all the time with the right foods isnt something that I am good at........
I buy from various sources depending on who can get to me the fastest and the better quality.
 
I made a roach mix with crix crack, dried egg white and bran. They ate it and I only gave them bits of apple or a leaf of lettuce from time to time. They just didn't care for them enough but preferred my mix. I kept them watered with water crystals. It takes about 6 months to get a good colony going and I didn't like picking them up to feed. I always kept them in a bowl during feeding time. ECK that's just me.

I much prefer supers. They are easy, but take awhile to establish a process where you have ongoing worms big enough to feed to adult chams. I have directions for raising supers on my blog.
 
Howdy,

If your chameleons will eat hem, Dubias have got to be just about the easiest feeder to raise and keep going on and on. You'll never have a colony crash like other feeders. Adults are supposed to live at least a year. I feed mine Cricket Crack and misc. veggies like cantaloupe rinds and (A-B-C :eek:) corn cob among others. I feed-off medium-sized ones and I pull off the two back legs to slow them down when feeding them to my chameleons. I'll put one on the inside of the screen near the chameleon and he'll usually shoot it within seconds. My adults eat 2 (rarely offered 3) feeder items (mostly silkworms, dubias, hornworms, superworms) every other day. They've been maintaining their weight for years.

Dubia recipe: Darkened 10 gal glass aquarium, heat tape set to 90F using a dimmer, egg crate, Cricket Crack, water. Let simmer for months :D.
 
Joy Leaf said:
Well I know the options of feeders, but back to my question. Do you raise/hatch your own, or do you just buy as you go/need?
Click to expand...
its all about quality control , the problem with buying feeders is that you never REALLY know what they have been eating , sure lots of suppliers claim to feed only healthy stuff , but how would one really know, i mean they can claim any thing, but i suspect if we saw the conditions they were raised in , in most cases we would be appalled , the ONLY way to REALLY, GENUINELY know, is to raise them yourself
 
The need to have a consistant supply of food for lizards is probably a major factor, along with expense. I dont know about the states, but here, unless you buy bulk or breed your own, the only choice is those small chinese tubs of commercially bred bugs, that never have many, and cost around $10 each.

Given a single large lizard may eat the contents of one of those in a day or so, you need to account for how many animals your feeding and what species.
For me its a no brainer ,having quite a few, but even so, with just a few lizards still, its great to not have to be concerned because your local store has run out or suppliers get behind etc etc.

Where you are spoilt for choice like most of you, consider the nutritional value of, and frequency of feeding of, certain types of feeder, and which are expensive because they
are not cost effective to breed commercially. These will be types you might consider having a go breeding.

I raise my own roaches and now supers too. Crickets I buy in bulk weekly because I have a reliable supplier and because crickets are so time/space consuming to raise to feeding size for what I feed them to. When I have clutches of babies, ok, I buy bulk in appropriate size, but I dont have the patients or space to raise crickets.

Roaches and supers too, pretty much breed themselves and its simpley a matter of feeding.

The problem here is that seasonal supply fluxuates like the stock market. Right now (spring) you cant gety them for trying, because everyone has clutches and they all want them. Not enough big breeders to meet demand. By the fall, hardly anyone has them either since nearly everythings brumating. So in between , you may or may not suddenly be able to get them, no prob if you breed your own.

:)
 
breeding your own

Breeding your own is superior to buying. When you breed your own you can control quality and you know what they are getting. Also there is a certain sense of satisfaction in knowing you are feeding what you produce. Much like people who grow their own vegetables feel when they eat what they produce. There is a sense of fulfilment when yor animals breed for you and grow up on the foods you have raised for them. Also it makes it much easier to have the sizes you need on hand and you are not subject to the vagaries of the marketplace as far as availablity.

Waiting 6 months to get a colony going is ridiculous. It means one didnt purchase a sufficient amount to begin with. In fact many of our clients came to use after buying 500 or a 1,000 elsewhere and realizing it wasnt enough. I can also say no one has ever said to us they got too many.

To determine how many you would need you must first determine how many feeder insects you are using a week and go from there. I am basing these statements on Blaptica dubia roaches.

Digby Rigby [email protected]
 
Digby Rigby said:
Breeding your own is superior to buying. When you breed your own you can control quality and you know what they are getting. Also there is a certain sense of satisfaction in knowing you are feeding what you produce. Much like people who grow their own vegetables feel when they eat what they produce. There is a sense of fulfilment when yor animals breed for you and grow up on the foods you have raised for them. Also it makes it much easier to have the sizes you need on hand and you are not subject to the vagaries of the marketplace as far as availablity.

Waiting 6 months to get a colony going is ridiculous. It means one didnt purchase a sufficient amount to begin with. In fact many of our clients came to use after buying 500 or a 1,000 elsewhere and realizing it wasnt enough. I can also say no one has ever said to us they got too many.

To determine how many you would need you must first determine how many feeder insects you are using a week and go from there. I am basing these statements on Blaptica dubia roaches.

Digby Rigby [email protected]
Click to expand...

I go threw 1500 superworms, 1000-1500 crickets a month or more sometimes...........How much would I need to start a good colony of supers???
 
Turn a few hundred adult worms and spread over a few tubs, you'll be up to your eyeballs in 3 months. :)
I wouldnt begin to count mine, but they all came from about 40 worms.
According to all the buzz, each beetle can potentially lay up to 500 eggs.
 
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