Food options for hatchling chameleons besides Hydeia fruit flies and Pinheads?

[kelly_girl199]

Looking for other options to add variety. Also what to expect on amount of food to provide around 17 babies?These are Ambilobe Panther Chameleons. First Clutch is due to hatch anytime

 

[Tony_S]

I believe people feed silkworms to newly hatched chameleons.

And you already know about the flightless fruit flies and pinhead crickets.

 

[coastal_chameleon]

bean beetles

 

[jamest0o0]

There are really so many if you want to go the extra mile..
Baby snails, tiny worms of all sorts, roach nymphs, kenyan roaches, stick nymphs, katydid nymphs, grasshopper nymphs... really the baby version of many feeders could work.

 

[jannb]

I usually buy praying mantis ooths and let them hatch in the baby bins. The babies love them.

 

[mkeBob]

Dwarf isopods, springtails, rice flour beetles.

 

[jamest0o0]

I've wondered if baby chameleons raised on small roaches, makes them more likely to readily eat dubia and others when they're older. All the problems with refusing dubia, maybe it's because they're usually raised on crickets.

 

[JacksJill]

I think of bean beetles as the dubia roach starter kit.

 

[Hashtag ChamLife]

I've wondered if baby chameleons raised on small roaches, makes them more likely to readily eat dubia and others when they're older. All the problems with refusing dubia, maybe it's because they're usually raised on crickets.

Could be. But I know my male panther wouldn't touch roaches of any kind until I forced them on him a few months back. As of now, my youngest female (4mos) wont touch roaches. I've left her nothing but roaches and still she doesn't touch them.. but I usually will cave after a few days and give her silks. I hate to try and "force" the change during the growth phase...

I just have rotten luck getting chams started on roaches. I've always had silks growing in all phases and those turn into everyone's favorite...

 

[jamest0o0]

Could be. But I know my male panther wouldn't touch roaches of any kind until I forced them on him a few months back. As of now, my youngest female (4mos) wont touch roaches. I've left her nothing but roaches and still she doesn't touch them.. but I usually will cave after a few days and give her silks. I hate to try and "force" the change during the growth phase...

I just have rotten luck getting chams started on roaches. I've always had silks growing in all phases and those turn into everyone's favorite...

Yeah that's why I'm saying, I wonder if almost every breeder using crickets while they grow up is part of the reason. I also feel like people going with dubia all the time is a little ignorant(not in the insulting way, but in the 'they don't know any better' way). They're easy to breed and sell on a massive quantity for the big companies so they market the hell out of them. Meanwhile there are much more enticing and interesting roaches out there.

I agree I wouldn't want to withhold food during the growing phase, as adults I went up to around 2 weeks for my one panther lol.