I am very interested in getting a chameleon in the future. As a result I am doing lots of research on care. One thing I would like some tips on from the pros is how to take care of insects. How to gutload certain bugs and how to keep them before feeding. Do you have to buy fresh everyday or can you keep bugs to feed over a period of time? Thank you for any tips you have!
Caring for your insects
- Thread starter Rebekah.A
- Start date
Thank you for your help! I’m so excited to get a chameleon someday!
Thehippie
Chameleon Enthusiast
good luck and hopefully u find one you like!!!
Oneofthosemegans
Member
One thing I noticed was how fast pet store crickets die. If you have something you can keep 500 or more crickets in (like a small tank) it's so much more worth it to order on line. I've been experimenting with making my own cricket gut load. Mines high in A vitamin rich foods because my chameleon unfortunately has a deficiency. But there are some great post on this site about gut loading! I'll see if I can link one for you.
Oneofthosemegans
Member
I HATE bugs. I have made it about a year with out touching one! For the crickets I use tubes from the cricket keepers but I use a 10 gallon tank now. I use tweezers for everything else.
Thank you for the tips! I use to own a pet tarantula and loved to handle him. I hate all other bugs! Lol
Oneofthosemegans
Member
I'm failing at getting the link for the gut load information to work. So if you go to the menu and select blogs you'll be able to filter by user and you want to search sandrachameleon.
blue_cham
Established Member
When I have larger bins of feeders, I'll feed them fresh veggies, and the night before I take out what I will feed in the morning and place them in a separate container with their gut load.
Honestly there are probably as many techniques and routines as there are keepers. Lol. As for the insects themselves ... I think the biggest questions to ask your self...
How much space do you have? Can you keep a huge tub of 500 crickets, or have to stick with a shoe box sized container?
What feeders will you keep? This can often depend on where you live and the availability to you, although willing to buy online will broaden your options.
Once you know what and how much you can keep at once, and if you want to breed them or just keep them in supply... atart searching the forums for husbandry ideas, like the best way to set up a 500 cricket bin
Lastly, there will be some insects you buy and feed off pretty quick. Like hornworms, they can grow VERY fast, so they are not gonna be bought in bulk
Honestly there are probably as many techniques and routines as there are keepers. Lol. As for the insects themselves ... I think the biggest questions to ask your self...
How much space do you have? Can you keep a huge tub of 500 crickets, or have to stick with a shoe box sized container?
What feeders will you keep? This can often depend on where you live and the availability to you, although willing to buy online will broaden your options.
Once you know what and how much you can keep at once, and if you want to breed them or just keep them in supply... atart searching the forums for husbandry ideas, like the best way to set up a 500 cricket bin
Lastly, there will be some insects you buy and feed off pretty quick. Like hornworms, they can grow VERY fast, so they are not gonna be bought in bulk
Lennoncham
Chameleon Enthusiast
Here’s a link to a lot of good gutloading info.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/feeder-nutrition-gutloading.75/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/feeder-nutrition-gutloading.75/
milliemayooo
Member
Just a little side note try not to get meal worms if u have access to them because they r harder for the Cham to digest 
