Emergency baby food.

[reptoman]

I bought what I thought were pinheads at a local pet store but i dont think these are small enough for my new panther hatchlings to eat. The crickets I have are very small, less than 1/8" for the most part, but I have not seen any of the babies eating these. I have seen one of them catch a gnat that was flying inside the tub i have them in. I have ordered fruit fly cultures but dont have any idea how long it takes to get flys from that. Anyone got any advice on what I can do to get by for now? They started hatching yesterday and I was completely caught off guard and now am stuck. I have 4 that have come out of the egg with a possible 5 more on the way very soon. thanks

 

[sandrachameleon]

Ask around for anyone in your area that breeds mealworms or silkworms and get some tiny babies from them

Ask around for anyone in your area that keeps dart frogs and would thus have flies

Buy a very ripe bananna, peel it, and put a piece in with the babies - it will attract wild fruit flies.

 

[Warrix642]

Get some "already producing FF cultures" and pinheads shipped to you fast! Some babies wont eat for a few days but others will eat right away. Look on here in the for classifieds/food section. Regular FF cultures can take weeks to get producing good.
Dustin

 

[reptoman]

I bought fresh cultures. I imagine those wont be producing fruit flies for a while?

 

[ajacobson]

at Petco (at least here in Vegas) they have the flightless fly cultures in store. You could check with them or other locale pet stores.

 

[Warrix642]

I bought fresh cultures. I imagine those wont be producing fruit flies for a while?

I made that mistake once.... it does take a while to start producing. But who knows you may get lucky. DO NOT feed off the few flies that it comes with, let them breed and feed the next wave of flies to your chams or it wont work right.

Dustin

 

[sandrachameleon]

You only need about 12-20 flies to start a new culture. So if the one you get arrives with more than that (I should hope so) you could feed off a few.

 

[reptoman]

at Petco (at least here in Vegas) they have the flightless fly cultures in store. You could check with them or other locale pet stores.

The petcos here do not carry them.

 

[Warrix642]

You only need about 12-20 flies to start a new culture. So if the one you get arrives with more than that (I should hope so) you could feed off a few.

When I bought two 32oz "fresh cultures" (from a site sponsor) they only had around 15 flies combined.... and took about 10 days to do anything. I may have got some slow ones but idk. Just telling you guys to be on the safe side

Dustin

 

[draetish]

How about nymph small dubias, I can hook you up!

 

[reptoman]

When I bought two 32oz "fresh cultures" (from a site sponsor) they only had around 15 flies combined.... and took about 10 days to do anything. I may have got some slow ones but idk. Just telling you guys to be on the safe side

Dustin

I just talked with Tim at Champhibians through a PM. He is sending one culture that is already producing along with the 2 fresh cultures so I should be ok until the others are ready once they arrive. I also hit Dendroboard and found a local guy that says he can spare a culture. Great ideas from you and Sandra. I already stuck the chunk of banana in there so they should have something to munch on in the morning. Thanks a bunch!

 

[xanthoman]

pinheads vs hydei

fresh melongaster cultures will take about 2+ weeks to produce and hydei will take three plus weeks (of course depending on several factors like temp, nutritional value of the media, and the vigor/strain of the flies used to inoculate the culture with). so what ever you get you need to specify "already producing cultures" personally i wouldnt even bother with the melongaster, even a tiny .5g cham is capable of eating hydei. true pinheads are about the size of a grain of table salt, and they can be really hard to deal with . ffs are easy just punch a 1/4" hole in the lid and put in a bamboo skewer (point first), the flies will walk up the skewer a few at a time and hang out at the top of the skewer where they are easily picked off. see my public album https://www.chameleonforums.com/mem...neonates-need-high-concentration-feeders.html (the picture is actually sideways, note the orientation of the plants lol ) it also provides a reliable place where young chams can learn to rely on food. to stop feeding just pull the skewer and put a piece of blue tape over the hole. pinheads often escape feeding cups and get all over the cage where they can be hard for tiny chams to see and find , plus they will get through the tiniest voids in your cage. pinheads can walk right through most cham screen, as can melongaster, fully developed hydei cant, a few may get through but most will be stuck in the cage. jmo

 

[reptoman]

The scewer stick is a great idea. I am going to try that this morning. Thanks!
BTW, I was able to find plenty of fruit flies locally so the 2 cultures I ordered online arent needed yet. Babies are eating and drinking well!

 

[sandrachameleon]

When I bought two 32oz "fresh cultures" (from a site sponsor) they only had around 15 flies combined.... and took about 10 days to do anything. I may have got some slow ones but idk. Just telling you guys to be on the safe side
Dustin

crappy. Mine always arrive with at least 50 flies in the starters.

 

[sandrachameleon]

... ffs are easy just punch a 1/4" hole in the lid and put in a bamboo skewer (point first), the flies will walk up the skewer a few at a time and hang out at the top of the skewer where they are easily picked off.

This is a great idea, if you're not dusting the flies.
Dont you dust any of the flies you feed off?