How much food, what and when??

[shazz]

I have had stewie a few days, he has eaten locust, black crickets and mealworms some by hand and some in his tub. I want to make sure he has a varied diet, I understand mealworms should be a treat. I have ordered some butterworms.
So how many meal worms, butterworms and crickets can he eat a week?

Do i need to gut load the meal worms or butter worms?

What is the best thing to gut load the crickets with?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks Stewie and Sharron

 

[warpdrive]

Hi,

well we need a bit more info such as what type of cham is it and how old is it.
male? female?

anyway, for a baby vailed/panther, you can feed about 8-12 crickets per day.
at around 8 or 9 months old you can start feeding every other day.

gutloading your crickets and locust with high calcium greens such as kale, collardgreens, and dandilion, is helpfull.
also add carrots, orange slices, and strawberries for moisture intake.
just mix it up every day or so and your chams will get most of it's vitamins and minerals by way of the varied gutload.

you wont need to feed butterworms anything.
not sure about mealworms since I don't ever use them.

I feed far less worms then crickets.
1 big hormworm will be all I feed my male for example.
if dealing with butters, I might feed him 2 large ones for that day.
yet if I only have small worms, they might get a few extra.

Harry

 

[sandrachameleon]

re what to gutload with - here are some options (the purpose is to get vitamins and minerals, such as calcium, into the insects in a balanced way, so think about what's in your gutload according to what you want in your chameleon):

The "wet" portion of the gutload, which should be your principle gutload, can frequently includes things like (switch it up with a different couple of items every other week): dandelion leaves, squash, carrot, yam, orange, collard greens, papaya, alfalfa sprouts, mustard greens, pomegranet, kale, romaine, hibiscus leaves, fresh spearmint leaves, cowpeas (blackeyes), apple, peas, blueberries, raspberries, sunflower sprouts, ... (avoid broccoli and spinach). Fruits and veggies such as these are important both for the nutrients they give (via the insect) to your chameleon, and also because well hydrated prey results in a better hydrated chameleon.

The dry portion (the lesser portion) of a gutload can include (blend/grind fine with a coffee grinder or food processor): spirulina; dried seaweed/kelp/dulse; bee pollen; dried alfalfa; organic raw sunflower seeds; unhulled sesame seeds; hemp seed; dehydrated cranberry powder; beet powder; zucchini powder; kale powder; fig powder; ground almonds; ground brazil nuts; oak leaves; small amounts of quality whole grain cereal (like Kashi or Total); small amounts of oats; small amounts of cracked rye; wheat germ; quinoa; very very very small amounts of skim milk powder; very very very small amounts of powdered egg; high quality monkey chow (read the ingredients); small amounts of avian pellets (read the ingredients, be cautious of too much Vitamin A). Avoid dog food, cat food, fish flake food and other major sources of animal protien and fat.

In my blog, there's a category that will show you what I feed my chameleons on a daily basis.

 

[shazz]

Thanks

Hi
Thanks for your help, Stewie is a male veiled chameleon he is 11 months old.

I want to make sure he has a good varied diet

 

[Miss Lily]

Shazz, mealworms are ok as occasional treats - Amy goes mad for the newly moulted white ones (these are easier to digest as the chitin hasn't hardened after a shed). Yiou could also try him with Morio/Super worms - I keep mine in an old empty icecream tub with bran in the bottom. I gutload my mealies/morios with apple and wild rocket leaves. I remember reading somewhere that chams prefer the 'silent' crickets rather than the black ones. I keep my butterworms in the fridge in a small container, again with some bran in the bottom and a lid on. I understand that these don't need gutloading.

It's best to feed them in the morning - they will be ready to eat when they've been basking after the lights come on. I try not to feed either of mine after 4pm to give them time to digest the food before lights out.