How often do you rotate your feeder variety?

[PTCham]

Hello, I'm new here.
I have everything set up for bringing home a Jackson's Chameleon except for the food. I see a lot of people suggest no less than 6 different types of feeders. My question is, should those 6 different feeders be offered weekly or would it be ok to use Crickets, Superworms, Hornworms one month and then use Crickets, Dubia roaches, silkworms, mealworms the next month?

My concern is that if I were to order all 6 varieties every month I would end up with half of the feeders dead since I only needed about half the smallest order size.

I suppose a follow up question is, how often do you find yourself re-ording feeders for a single chameleon (assuming adult jackson or early adult veiled)?

 

[CJ's Exotics]

Hello, I'm new here.
I have everything set up for bringing home a Jackson's Chameleon except for the food. I see a lot of people suggest no less than 6 different types of feeders. My question is, should those 6 different feeders be offered weekly or would it be ok to use Crickets, Superworms, Hornworms one month and then use Crickets, Dubia roaches, silkworms, mealworms the next month?

My concern is that if I were to order all 6 varieties every month I would end up with half of the feeders dead since I only needed about half the smallest order size.

I suppose a follow up question is, how often do you find yourself re-ording feeders for a single chameleon (assuming adult jackson or early adult veiled)?

Breeding feeders is a lot easier, and cheaper than people think. I just feed a variety of feeders every feeding, except the ones that are not a nutritional, or higher in fat, like waxworms, and hornworms. Don't feed mealworms, they can cause impaction. You can also feed orange head roaches. What subspecies of Jackson are you going to purchase? Make sure you do tons of research, and be prepared. Make a new thread, like "Preparing for a Jackson's, tips apreciated" so that you can get more advice, and provide the best care that you can give. Happy Chameleon Keeping!!! Happy Holidays!!!

 

[PTCham]

Happy Holidays to you as well! I will be getting purchasing a xantholophus. Thank you for your tips!

 

[NickTide]

I get where you are coming from PTCham. Feeding 6 feeders every day would be preferable but not practicle for most people. I generally go in streaks. I raise my own dudias and stick bugs (starting super worms, orange heads, green banana roaches, blue bottle flies and a small cricket colony) and do a bug order every few weeks. Last order had crickets which I fed off quickly, small black soldier fly larvae (bsfl) and blue bottle fly spikes. They are mostly crickets for 9 or 10 days until they were either fed off of died. I then went to dubias with a few bsfl. A few days later the blue bottle flies started to hatch into adults so I have flies, bsfl and dubias. Will be adding stick insects in to the mix soon. I would like to have a steady supply of 6 items but that would get pricey with shipping every week.

Few ideas for you....
Roaches are easy. I'd suggest orange heads. Too many chams don't care for dubias. Green bananas are a bit more difficult to keep but would be excellent also.

Buy or collect mantis ooths. Keep in fridge until needed.

Blue bottle fly larvae can keep in the fridge for several weeks.

Buy small bsfl and keep them in a cool part of the house of basement. They last longer.

Small super worms should last a long time with minimal losses. Give them oatmeal and a piece of vegetable for moisture and gutload.

Silks and horn worms grow fast. Buy the size smaller than what you need. This will give you extra time.

 

[nightanole]

Keep in mind, there is no point in having 6 feeders, if they all get the same gut load.

Silkies get mulberry leaves/chow
meal worms get a bedding that doesnt contain the same stuff as the dubia chow
dubia get a lower protein mix than the crickets.

etc etc. There is no point in having crickets and dubia if they get the same gut load.

 

[JacksJill]

Some feeder companies offer combo packs. Take a look at Rainbow mealworms and some of the feeder companies on the market page.

 

[PTCham]

Ok, thank you all!

 

[kinyonga]

@nightanole said "Keep in mind, there is no point in having 6 feeders, if they all get the same gut load"...I have to disagree with this in part. If I'm feeding crickets and roaches and superworms all greens and veggies and such the roaches may select different veggies out of the mix than the crickets chose or the superworms. Taking a human example...goats, sheep, cows can all graze on the things growing in the same field selecting what they like from the field ...and yet we eat all of them...isnt it because they taste different? To me those insects fed the same diet still add variety to the chameleon's diet. This is not to say that other insects fed different diets shouldn't be part of the diet too of course.

 

[nightanole]

@nightanole said "Keep in mind, there is no point in having 6 feeders, if they all get the same gut load"...I have to disagree with this in part. If I'm feeding crickets and roaches and superworms all greens and veggies and such the roaches may select different veggies out of the mix than the crickets chose or the superworms. Taking a human example...goats, sheep, cows can all graze on the things growing in the same field selecting what they like from the field ...and yet we eat all of them...isnt it because they taste different? To me those insects fed the same diet still add variety to the chameleon's diet. This is not to say that other insects fed different diets shouldn't be part of the diet too of course.

What do you get from goat meat that you dont get from sheep and cow? At best you might get tired of hunting cow, and switch to dragging goat to cave cuz easier.

Your point agrees with mine, If each feeder is eating different foods from the same mix, then its increasing the health of the chameleon. On the other hand if all the insects are just eating wheat bran and carrots for moisture, its not going to increase variety of nutrition.


And of course the main reason for all of this, chameleons get bored from only eating one kind of feeder

 

[kinyonga]

Just pointing out what I thought!

 

[nightanole]

Just pointing out what I thought!

I like the folk with picky hissers, they have to feed them a sampler pack to figure out what the little buggers want to eat. As you said, they will only eat what they are deficient in.

 

[Bush baby]

I used no more than 3-4 feeders. Crickets, snails, superworms with the occasional wax, butter or horn worm. The key really is gut loading. And i agree with the comment above with feededing different feeders, different gut loads, so that your cham gets the gut content variety from the different food items.

 

[PTCham]

I used no more than 3-4 feeders. Crickets, snails, superworms with the occasional wax, butter or horn worm. The key really is gut loading. And i agree with the comment above with feededing different feeders, different gut loads, so that your cham gets the gut content variety from the different food items.

How do snails work? Are they live? Is the shell removed? I have used shell-less snails (not slugs) and garden snails for Caiman lizards, but they have much stronger jaws than does a chameleon.

 

[JacksJill]

Yes, you feed live snails when they are less than the size of a dime and their shells are still thin and apparently deliciously crunchy. The common brown garden snail, Helix aspersa is the species I use. The wild ones should not be fed because of parasites but if done properly their eggs can be hatched out cleanly and then fed off.