Crix only!

[ayiaskepi]

My cham is totally ignoring anything I attempt to feed him, other than crickets. He goes nuts when I put a silkie in there, like he is scared of it (no they are not necessarily too big). I have only had him for 2 wks. He is only appx 5 mos. old. The breeder was feeding him crix and superworms. I can get him to eat a Phoenix worm once in a while, but he usually won't touch them. Any suggestions? I really want to introduce other feeders and I am wasting money as well.

Speaking of money, I need to buy some more cricket gutload, etc. Any suggestions on where to get a good, nutritional gut load outside of buying the well known commercial brands. I posted a request last night regarding a particular site specializing in cricket gutload, but it was deleted twice. I am not sure why the post was not allowed, so I will not be specific about the site. I am just looking for a nutritional, yet economical replacement for the commercial brands of gutload.

Thanks.

 

[Tygerr]

Sometimes it just takes time for them to get used to other feeder insects. My male Veiled woudn't go near silkies before he was 6 months old - now they seem to be his favourite food. Have you tried flying insects (moths, flies)? They really seem to enjoy hunting them down.

As for gutload, have you considered making your own?
The James / Wells / Lopéz Gutload is a great recipe. But some people complain that some of the ingredients are hard to find. You don't necessarily need to include all of the ingredients, but it was specifically formulated to provide as broad a range of nutrients to your cham as possible.
If you read an article like Dr. Sue Donaghue's Those Ingredients on the Label, it may provide some insight as to what ingredients are vital and what you can ignore, as well as possibly what substitutes you can use for ingredients.
Also, read through Jason Descamps' Gutloading Basics for some more ideas.
Making your own is not necessarily cheaper though.

 

[Dean Pulcini]

Stay with crickets and roaches they are the best feeders for your chameleon and the easiest to gut load properly also out of all the feeders they are not as high in fat as other feeders. The calcium phosphorus ratio is off but that can be fixed with proper gut loads and supplementation.

 

[BocaJan]

I give my crickets kale, dandeline, apple, sweet potato, all easily found in the grocery store. They munch it up very nicely. Then I lightly dust with calcium 3x/week, calcium w/d3 1x/wk and vitamins 1x/mo. I think everyone has a schedule, I think it is good to find one that works for you.

 

[Orchidartist]

Holy cow! That James-Wells-Lopez recipe is intense! I mean, fresh bee pollen...Monkey chow...but the DANDELIONS are optional?

 

[Cainschams]

Orchidartist. Bee pollen is pretty easy to get if you live near an all organic store. Just look in the supplement isle. I too thought where the hell am I going to find this but I did.

I use cricketfood.com and feel it is the best out there. It seems they didnt want to make the products anymore but now there site looks like they are doing it again