I have just adopted a chameleon that has been starved. I have had to wait a week for the pet shop to get me crickets and i have just paid 14 euros( 18 dollars) for what is maybe 30 (if i am lucky) live crickets. I am english but live in Greece and trying to explain what i want is difficult. My husband is picking olives at the moment and there are many many grasshopper in the trees. How long would i need to keep them before their systems are cleaned out? I was thrown into this rather suddenly last week and am having to learn rather quickly as Ozzy is very thin. Is there any nutrional value in the dried crickets as i can get these sent from the UK and i will pay alot less. I was given a tub a meal worms with him but he is refusing to eat these as they were half dead and i think that was all he has ever been given.
Grasshoppers...
- Thread starter ioanna
- Start date
fluxlizard
Avid Member
I don't think you want to clean out their digestive system. The nutrition from what the grasshoppers eat is passed on to the chameleon if the grasshoppers still have food in their guts.
Ozzy probably won't like the freeze dried crickets.
Get a butterfly net and go catch grasshoppers if they are available. Try and get your mealworms going so they are healthy and strong and they can be used as well, but they shouldn't be the bulk of the diet.
I'm sure others will come along with more advice- but if the grasshoppers are available, seems like a really good short term solution. Top 3 insects found in wild chameleon stomachs are bees, grasshoppers and flies...
Ozzy probably won't like the freeze dried crickets.
Get a butterfly net and go catch grasshoppers if they are available. Try and get your mealworms going so they are healthy and strong and they can be used as well, but they shouldn't be the bulk of the diet.
I'm sure others will come along with more advice- but if the grasshoppers are available, seems like a really good short term solution. Top 3 insects found in wild chameleon stomachs are bees, grasshoppers and flies...
I was more thinking of getting anything bad out and gut feeding grasshoppers for a few days. Sorry i didn't explain better.
I am going to have a go at breeding my own crickets but again it takes time and i have to get Ozzy eating. I am going to supplement him with wild caught food as the supply here is very hit and miss (and very expensive). I am also hoping to catch some praying mantis in the summer to breed.
I am going to have a go at breeding my own crickets but again it takes time and i have to get Ozzy eating. I am going to supplement him with wild caught food as the supply here is very hit and miss (and very expensive). I am also hoping to catch some praying mantis in the summer to breed.
fluxlizard
Avid Member
IMO unless there are pesticides in use in the area, what they already have in their guts is the natural gutload of the grasshoppers wild chameleons are eating, and is probably great.
But nothing wrong with your idea either- if I wanted to clean the guts and replace I'd probably fast the grasshoppers a day and then feed them another 2 before feeding to the lizard.
You can breed the grasshoppers as well as crickets and mealworms, etc. Search online for locust breeding instructions...
