goldfish?

[hawaiianice99]

does anybody know if chams can eat goldfish? i havent, i just thought that it would be a change from normal feeders. and i saw that some have fed mice and just thought small goldfish in a shallow dish would be interesting to see. just curious if anybody had heard of anything like this before.???????

 

[JoshCrane1]

i think they would be too slimy to hit with tongue, not to mention having to shoot into water as well. seems a bit far fetched, but hey, im sure a good trainer can achieve anything.

 

[Vegas Chad]

Magic 8ball says no...

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

I believe that the real question here would be if the difference bacteria
and rates of digestion would cause a problem.

My gut tells me that it's not required to find another food source
especially one that is so alkaline and gutloaded with "pond scum".
It's not worth the possible risk.
secondly, goldfish "rot" quite quickly and are filled with small sharp bones
that can cause a problem for a species that's not adapted to deal with them.
Lastly,.... Goldfish are "dirty" and often carry parasites into pets (personal tank experience here)
All things considered, crickets are cleaner than your average pond raised feederfish.

 

[joefarah]

Yes, they'll take goldfish.

Vegas Chad - give that thing another shake.

JeweledChameleons - your post is full of speculative nonsense.

I don't feed my chams goldfish, btw... this was a one-time thing...

 

[mczoo]

great picture. how did the fish swim up there LOL

Sean

PS did he actually hit it, eat it and live....thats the real answer

 

[joefarah]

...
PS did he actually hit it, eat it and live....thats the real answer

He got it, ate it, and he lives!!!

 

[KevinA]

I used to have puffer fish and other predatory fish and was always told that gold fish have a poor nutritional balance. I can't remember what it was exactly, but I think it was high in fat and low in nutrients. I'll try to look it up later.

 

[joefarah]

I used to have puffer fish and other predatory fish and was always told that gold fish have a poor nutritional balance. I can't remember what it was exactly, but I think it was high in fat and low in nutrients. I'll try to look it up later.

I don't think anyone on here would suggest them as the staple of a chameleon's diet... if at all. However, I'll bet that the occaisional goldfish is loaded with a variety of nutritional goodies. Variety is the spice of life and i think chams benefit enormously from a wide mix of foods. Ever try earthworms? for some reason some of my panthers love them and others won't touch them.

Where's that new member nutritionist lady? She'd be able to shed light on whether or not a fish would be nutritious for a cham... all parasites, disease, and bacteria transmitting aside. Lets say for arguements sake there was a "clean" goldfish... would that be good for a cham?

Stacy was it?

 

[Dean Pulcini]

I don't think a chameleon can differentiate a fish from an insect or a small bird or mammal. It just goes by size ( what it can fit in its mouth ) and maybe color.

 

[joefarah]

I don't think a chameleon can differentiate a fish from an insect or a small bird or mammal. It just goes by size ( what it can fit in its mouth ) and maybe color.

They remind me of me in so many ways....

 

[dodolah]

Yes, they'll take goldfish.

JeweledChameleons - your post is full of speculative nonsense.

Joe, Ouch!

 

[joefarah]

Joe, Ouch!

Sorry jeweledchameleons, I meant, "your post is full of speculation."

 

[hawaiianice99]

just found this, but then again that cham doesnt look in the best of health. sorry if this is someones cham from here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrcAJzJzRGY

 

[wendysjungle]

Wow, I didn't realize there were so many U-Tube videos of chameleons eating!

 

[reyesjoshuacruz]

I don't think a chameleon can differentiate a fish from an insect or a small bird or mammal. It just goes by size ( what it can fit in its mouth ) and maybe color.

I think they can,...... well atleast there was an article released recently advising that a chameleon changed colors to a particular pattern only when a particular snake was spotted.

if this is true, the cham has to recognize things about that particular snake. meaning cham can tell the diff between one snake and another.

also think about all the accounts of chameleons from all walks of life taking and not taking feeders ranging from, grasshoppers, lizards, fruit, birds.

seems like they can tell they like or dont like a feeder based on phys.

also, reports of chameleons eagerly accepting small amounts of cal powder offered. powder looks nothing like insects yet a chameleon recognizes it as something to eat.

but at the same time, wont eat dead crix or feeders on the floor of the cage.

nor will they eat their own feces

size and color dont seem to be all that governs the feed

 

[desultadox]

nor will they eat their own feces

There was just recently a thread on here about somebody's chameleon who who dined on his own doodoo!

First I ever heard of it though... maybe some chameleons aren't as smart as others lol. Also, I know dogs can eat their own poop for several reasons; mothers do it to keep their dens cleaner, and some dogs who eat too much too fast and don't properly digest their food... well, their poop isn't much different from the original meal, so they'll still eat it. No idea if that applies to this instance with the chameleon, but it could be.

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

Joe, hey!

My boyfriend here just told me you were asking for me by name... OHHHH I feel pretty special right now! Thanks for the flattery. I'm not too sure about the nutritional content of goldfish in particular. I do know that they have a decent balance of the right fats, etc. As far as nutrition goes, I doubt that a goldfish would harm a chameleon, may not be the best food out there, but we don't always eat perfectly either. And hey, if you can get the cham to eat it (as I see some have), it might be considered a nice treat.

That being said, you really DO need to keep the parasite, etc part in mind. Sushi-grade fish are carefully selected from specific locations and cut very carefully as well. Offering a raw fish could potentially be very dangerous to your cham's health.

Also, as someone said earlier, there are a lot of tiny, sharp bones in fish. Turtles and some birds swallow rocks to help grind these up. While I haven't seen a chameleon swallow any rocks, that is not to say they do not have the mechanism to take care of those bones. As we established elsewhere on the forum, chams sometimes consume birds and small lizards in the wild. If they can handle these bones, I am not sure that fish bones would be too difficult.

I can say that personally, this is not something I would choose to do for my cham. That doesn't make it wrong, just not something I would go around recommending. As far as the cham who lives on: rock on, too! I think that was a little on the courageous side, but hey, the little guy lives and probably really enjoyed that little treat.

Anyway, thanks again for the flattery! I hope my opinion can shed some light here and hope you all are enjoying your chams!!

-Stacey

 

[hawaiianice99]

Also, as someone said earlier, there are a lot of tiny, sharp bones in fish. Turtles and some birds swallow rocks to help grind these up. While I haven't seen a chameleon swallow any rocks, that is not to say they do not have the mechanism to take care of those bones. As we established elsewhere on the forum, chams sometimes consume birds and small lizards in the wild. If they can handle these bones, I am not sure that fish bones would be too difficult.

-Stacey

Thats true they have been known to eat small birds and lizards, and you can find a dozen youtube vids of people feeding mice to their chams so they must have something to help digest those bones if they can eat mice.

cham eats mouse,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9CVBiDSqHo

but then there are dumb people out there that do $hit like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTy-5RSnNsU