How important is feeder variety?

[kwengkynator]

I don't want you to think you gave bad advice. The beauty of keeping thesw animals is the that there is not one set method of keeping them. Personally, I have not had good results with feeding supers as a staple, and prefer crickets.

Chase

Im fine, I love that I always learn something new about the care of these animals everyday here. It's nice that you pointed out some erroneous remarks that I stated. Now I will benefit from it too

I agree.
I try to offer no fewer than 10 different prey items during summer (including wild caught prey -done thoughtfully) and no less then 6 types in winter. Try not to offer the same prey type more than two days in a row. Try not to let only one or two types of prey form the majority of the diet.

A chameleon with a varied diet is IMHO more likely to be getting the nutrition it needs, and I suspect is less likely to get "bored" and go on a hunger strike.

10 feeders? That is quiet an investment for sure. If you dont mind me asking what kinds of feeders do you personally breed and a seasonal ones that you offer? Currently I'm stuck with supers/dubia combination as my staple. I mix it up with occasional horn worns, crickets, mealworms and wax worms. Currently testing out some mantis.

What other feeders do you offer?

 

[kplatvoet]

Feeders can get expensive - for lower cost feeders I like silks worm from eggs when the mulberry trees have leaves - bluebottle flies & calci worms- My guy/gal didn't find calci's interesting when they were younger but all the sudden seem to like them - I can pick them up at the local pet store so it's mostly saving on shipping - finding a local source doesn't always work but it's always good to try -or you can try splitting the shipping costs with other keepers who live nearby.

 

[sandrachameleon]

10 feeders? That is quiet an investment for sure. If you dont mind me asking what kinds of feeders do you personally breed and a seasonal ones that you offer?

Not really much investment. Its not hard to feed a range of prey.

I breed my own superworms, mealworms, hissers and dubia, and terrestrial isopods. These are all very cheap to breed/feed and take up very little space. That's 5 easy hcoices right there.

I used to breed silkworms, grove snails and stick insects but now I just roaches for those with others who "aren't allowed" by their spouses to have roaches in the house - this saves me a lot of time and space I highly recommend having a bug trade arrangement with people local to you who feed lizards, frogs and/or spiders. It allows an each increase in choices and gives you a support network should you need bugs in a pinch.

I buy (locally) crickets and butterworms fairly often, and less often soldier fly maggots (aka calciworms) and hornworms as treats.

In summer, I collect wild termites, moths, grasshoppers, least skippers, harvestmen, various grubs/larva, ground beetles and such - not all of these every week, more often only one of these a week.

You can see some food diary logs in my blog on this site if you want details /samples of what I do.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/food-diary/

Most people can buy /provide a range of foods easily enough if they care to. In the states you can purchase multiple types of roaches, crickets, superworms, silkworms, butterworms , hornworms and soldier fly maggots easily. That's half dozen easily available options.
Round that out with treats of painted ladies, blue bottle flies, terrestrial isopods, and other items also available to buy, and /or Termites, moths and grasshoppers available wild in many areas, some people also have access to katydid, mantis, fruit beetles and more.

 

[kwengkynator]

Interesting. I do have supers, dubias and matis right now. I'd have to look into getting more roaches and I' gonna give into some mealworms just for variety. I just wish I have more space its tough to be a college kid living alone in a small bedroom apartment. I've recently installed a few shelves just to maximize my space x)

A few roach species, supers, mealworms and occasional treats such as hornworms, repti worms other soft bodied worms will be offered. Although where do you get your pill bugs from?

 

[sandrachameleon]

Interesting. I do have supers, dubias and matis right now. I'd have to look into getting more roaches and I' gonna give into some mealworms just for variety. I just wish I have more space its tough to be a college kid living alone in a small bedroom apartment. I've recently installed a few shelves just to maximize my space x)

A few roach species, supers, mealworms and occasional treats such as hornworms, repti worms other soft bodied worms will be offered. Although where do you get your pill bugs from?

You're already offering three choices,
with a few mealworms (go easy on these) plus treats of the hornworms, repti worms and BOOM you're providing variety gutload well and you're doing good.
Take it up a notch and consider adding some crickets or butterworms from time to time.

I breed my own pill bugs. I started with wild caught ones. But you can buy them online too.

these links might be useful to people reading this thread
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/171-where-buy-feeders-online.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

 

[kwengkynator]

You're already offering three choices,
with a few mealworms (go easy on these) plus treats of the hornworms, repti worms and BOOM you're providing variety gutload well and you're doing good.
Take it up a notch and consider adding some crickets or butterworms from time to time.

I breed my own pill bugs. I started with wild caught ones. But you can buy them online too.

these links might be useful to people reading this thread
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/171-where-buy-feeders-online.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

Thanks. Im just gonna go easy on mealworms due to thier very high chitin content. Also will probably end up feeding them to my mantis. Now looking into offering black soldier flies as a flying variety of feeders! They are awesome!