Helix aspera bees and silkworms
- Thread starter Thatcher
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MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Thatcher
Chameleon Enthusiast
Awesome I'll check those out thanks!
insectovore
Established Member
There are sometimes flightless houseflies for sale. You will have to look pretty hard to find them. I did not really like the culturing process too well so I stopped breeding them and just occasionally order some spikes.
snitz427
Chameleon Enthusiast
I stopped offering snails. I've heard a 2nd hand story of snail "snot" causing problems, but that wasn't the primary reason I stopped offering them. Some of my chams liked them, some didn't... but none of them ate them predictably. I would inevitably end up with a snail loose in the enclosure (they can be harder to find than you'd think, sometimes!) - which would leave streaks behind and lightly munched leaves. I just decided they weren't worth the hassle.
As for bees, there are solitary bees and kits you can purchase for them, however, I am skeptical about raising bees in captivity for feeders. First, you need to capture the bees w/o ticking them off when its time to feed. Upsetting them can result in stinging for you and the chams - and they get REALLY stressed when they get trapped in an enclosure (I get them stuck in my outdoor enclosures regularly and they are really agitated by then). In the wild, the bee never knows what hit them, but in captivity it seems like the bee will be stressed from the moment it enters captivity onwards.
In addition to the stress (and thus likelihood of stings), you need a plan to keep the bees alive and healthy. In the wild, they'll pollinate flowers over miles of land, which also provides the bees food. How would you supplement that in captivity?
If you haven't given them a try already, mantids are great feeders. I buy ooths in bulk and keep them in the fridge for up to 5 months. I throw one or two in each enclosure every week, sometimes more often. When they hatch - a bunch of babies while emerge. They are small but my girls find them very fun to hunt down at this size. My boys prefer to let them live in the cage for a week or two and get slightly larger. The mantids will eat any plant pests or soil gnats, which helps to keep your plants happy. They'll also eventually eat each other - culling down the numbers dramatically after the 2nd or 3rd day, and continuing to do so while they grow. The largest I've seen one get w/o getting eaten was about 2" long, but they rarely get to be more than 1" long before getting eaten! Very enriching, very beneficial in your enclosure, and also very cute. Mantids have been the easiest "exotic" feeder for me to add, in addition to the tried and tested staples of Silkworms, Dubia, Hoppers, etc.
As for bees, there are solitary bees and kits you can purchase for them, however, I am skeptical about raising bees in captivity for feeders. First, you need to capture the bees w/o ticking them off when its time to feed. Upsetting them can result in stinging for you and the chams - and they get REALLY stressed when they get trapped in an enclosure (I get them stuck in my outdoor enclosures regularly and they are really agitated by then). In the wild, the bee never knows what hit them, but in captivity it seems like the bee will be stressed from the moment it enters captivity onwards.
In addition to the stress (and thus likelihood of stings), you need a plan to keep the bees alive and healthy. In the wild, they'll pollinate flowers over miles of land, which also provides the bees food. How would you supplement that in captivity?
If you haven't given them a try already, mantids are great feeders. I buy ooths in bulk and keep them in the fridge for up to 5 months. I throw one or two in each enclosure every week, sometimes more often. When they hatch - a bunch of babies while emerge. They are small but my girls find them very fun to hunt down at this size. My boys prefer to let them live in the cage for a week or two and get slightly larger. The mantids will eat any plant pests or soil gnats, which helps to keep your plants happy. They'll also eventually eat each other - culling down the numbers dramatically after the 2nd or 3rd day, and continuing to do so while they grow. The largest I've seen one get w/o getting eaten was about 2" long, but they rarely get to be more than 1" long before getting eaten! Very enriching, very beneficial in your enclosure, and also very cute. Mantids have been the easiest "exotic" feeder for me to add, in addition to the tried and tested staples of Silkworms, Dubia, Hoppers, etc.
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