Can i feed my cham this?

[Comicalsteak]

okay well the closest petstore is an hour away! so its a hassle for me when i run out of crickets and worms. but i was wondering...to save alot of money and gas. i was wondering if its okay if i feed him grasshoppers too. because they come out ALOT. just asking. thanks

 

[TRohr]

okay well the closest petstore is an hour away! so its a hassle for me when i run out of crickets and worms. but i was wondering...to save alot of money and gas. i was wondering if its okay if i feed him grasshoppers too. because they come out ALOT. just asking. thanks

I would worry about parasites.... The microbiological world is a frightening place.

 

[summoner12]

Feeding wild bugs brings concern for parasites and pesticides.

 

[chamtrainer]

It is okay. Many breeders do it

 

[Syn]

Find the post that seems out of place.

It is okay. Many breeders do it

Feeding wild bugs brings concern for parasites and pesticides.

I would worry about parasites.... The microbiological world is a frightening place.

 

[Elizadolots]

Parasites are a concern with any feeder.

If you know the area has not been sprayed with pesticides for a few weeks, I would think that risk is minimal.

I would gutload the hoppers with good food for quite a while (4 hours? 8 hours? maybe even 24 hours?) before feeding them to my chameleons.

 

[summoner12]

Parasites are a concern with any feeder.

Mostly when dealing with wild caught feeders. Most feeder suppliers don't have issues with parasites. If they did, they wouldn't be operating any longer.

 

[toddmkeller]

Heres how I feel about it... If you periodically test your cham for parasites, and collect your bugs from good clean areas I would feed them grasshoppers in a heartbeat. If there were pesticides on a bug, it would be dead. I have fed off THOUSANDS of wild caught bugs and can't attribute any parasites to them. Truthfully I am more concerned about buying bugs from a pet store than I would wild caught bugs. How many employees that have cleaned out the bearded dragons coccidia infested cage then have touched your wild caught bugs?

Think about it...

Todd

 

[Jsiddens]

hmm. I know I'm new to posting but I wouldn't do it. While there are lots of bugs to catch out there there I would find an online cricket supplier ghanns or premium crickets and order some and get a colony going. I went the even cheaper route and bought a dozen adults at the bait store and put them in a 30 gallon tote in the garage. weeks later tons of pinheads now i have more then enough for my chams and no trips to over priced pet stores which probably just feed em potatos and no ordering online.
Most fields are sprayed here with roundup while it doesnt kill the bugs. It does have ingestion warnings on it. The highway dept here uses crossbow for weed control along the ditches. And the township dept has a mosquito fogger truck that lays a fog which settles as a film on stagnant water preventing the larvae to emerge. Wild insect probably drink from ponds, ditches puddles just like that.


Too many variables and worries for me. Find some crickets, breed em, gutload em , feed em to your chams.

 

[Jsiddens]

http://www.anapsid.org/crickets.html

great reference for cricket breeding.

 

[ghettomike]

I say go for it as long as you know the area has not been sprayed. I am actually going to a local conservation area this week to catch some grasshoppers as there is many of them and catching wild caught innsects is the only way my Carmie will get the variety of bugs I want her to have. Just make sure the speices of hopper is safe as I believe there are some types (lubbers) that are poisoness.

 

[VeiledOwner87]

Find the post that seems out of place.

i know i know! its A! final answer!.... did i win??

 

[Dank241]

I feed mine both wild caught food and store bought. I haven't had a problem yet. Like the few have said, try and make sure its from a pesticide free area and you should be fine.

 

[DavePope]

It is absolutely fine! Seriously people go on about parasites too much! What do you think they do in the wild?!

 

[warpdrive]

It is absolutely fine! Seriously people go on about parasites too much! What do you think they do in the wild?!

in the wild, they can and do get parasites local to the area that they come from.
Unlike when in our care, they can get parasite that are alien to them.
But I agree, its not that big of a worry.

What I worry about is all the pesticides that our local communitys use all over the place to control pests.
They might not kill the bugs we feed but it will do wonders for the health of our pets.

Harry

 

[summoner12]

Heres how I feel about it... If you periodically test your cham for parasites, and collect your bugs from good clean areas I would feed them grasshoppers in a heartbeat. If there were pesticides on a bug, it would be dead. I have fed off THOUSANDS of wild caught bugs and can't attribute any parasites to them. Truthfully I am more concerned about buying bugs from a pet store than I would wild caught bugs. How many employees that have cleaned out the bearded dragons coccidia infested cage then have touched your wild caught bugs?

Think about it...

Todd

This makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

 

[Todnedo]

I have fed wild bugs for years without any problems. If you want to know about feeding wild bugs to your chams ask someone who has, instead of taking advice from someone who has never fed wild bugs.

 

[OOOst16]

I agree. Make sure it's a clean area and your aces