How often should I dust my crickets and mealworms?

[Marlet_the_destroyer]

I have a veiled chameleon that is about 1 month or so old. I use ZooMed Repti calcium and ZooMed reptivitenreptile vitamins with d3. Some said that I should use d3 twice a month and calcium evry other day, but I would like other opinions. I generally gut load my crickets but not always my superworms.

 

[JacksJill]

Here is the standard supplement schedule.

"Supplementation:
Calcium and other vitamins are very important to your chameleon's health. Feeder insects should be lightly dusted with powdered supplement before being fed to your chameleon. Many keepers successfully use calcium (without D3 or phosphorus) at nearly every feeding, multivitamin once every 2 weeks, and calcium with D3 once every 2 weeks".

I'm glad you meant superworms and not meal worms. Superwormas are a very poor feeder and more trouble than they are worth.

 

[bloftis1]

What are you gutloading with? I gutload my supers with potatoes, they go insane for them and seem pretty thick and happy, I use potatoes as well with crix ^ I'm also glad you meant superworms, mealworms have no nutritional value, and can be hard to digest for your chameleon due to their shell.

 

[Syreptyon]

What are you gutloading with? I gutload my supers with potatoes, they go insane for them and seem pretty thick and happy, I use potatoes as well with crix ^ I'm also glad you meant superworms, mealworms have no nutritional value, and can be hard to digest for your chameleon due to their shell.

Why potatoes? They are #1 on our list of "avoid these ingredients," offering next to no nutritional value whatsoever. Also, superworms don't gutload very well to begin with. They eat readily, but don't store the contents in a useful way like crickets do. For your reference, here is the exact quote:

"Avoid These Ingredients

Avoid these gutloading ingredients because they are low in calcium, high in phosphorus, goitrogens or oxalates: potatoes, cabbage, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, corn, grains, beans, oats, bread, cereal, meat, eggs, dog food, cat food, fish food, canned or dead insects, vertebrates."

 

[bloftis1]

Why potatoes? They are #1 on our list of "avoid these ingredients," offering next to no nutritional value whatsoever. Also, superworms don't gutload very well to begin with. They eat readily, but don't store the contents in a useful way like crickets do. For your reference, here is the exact quote:

"Avoid These Ingredients

Avoid these gutloading ingredients because they are low in calcium, high in phosphorus, goitrogens or oxalates: potatoes, cabbage, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, corn, grains, beans, oats, bread, cereal, meat, eggs, dog food, cat food, fish food, canned or dead insects, vertebrates."

Oh man really?! Thank you so much for that, the breeder I bought my cham from said that's what he was using for his feeders hm, thank you a lot I'm going to be changing that now dang!

 

[Syreptyon]

Oh man really?! Thank you so much for that, the breeder I bought my cham from said that's what he was using for his feeders hm, thank you a lot I'm going to be changing that now dang!

No worries!! What to and to not gutload with isn't exactly intuitive, which is why the forums exists Leafy greens like collards/mustard/turnip are my favorites for the bulk of my gutload (and then I use cricket crack as an addition)

 

[bloftis1]

No worries!! What to and to not gutload with isn't exactly intuitive, which is why the forums exists Leafy greens like collards/mustard/turnip are my favorites for the bulk of my gutload (and then I use cricket crack as an addition)

Going to be heading out to our local publix and pick up all three of them lol! I'm so surprised thank god for the forums lol, but yes I have used cricket crack before I may order some more to as another gutload just in case I run out or want to use it!

 

[Marlet_the_destroyer]

Here is the standard supplement schedule.

"Supplementation:
Calcium and other vitamins are very important to your chameleon's health. Feeder insects should be lightly dusted with powdered supplement before being fed to your chameleon. Many keepers successfully use calcium (without D3 or phosphorus) at nearly every feeding, multivitamin once every 2 weeks, and calcium with D3 once every 2 weeks".

I'm glad you meant superworms and not meal worms. Superwormas are a very poor feeder and more trouble than they are worth.

Ok thank you! And just to be sure you meant mealworms are worse right?

 

[Syreptyon]

Ok thank you! And just to be sure you meant mealworms are worse right?

Yes. You should never feed your chameleon mealworms. Superworms are fine for treats and variety, but mealworms should not be a part of any chameleon's diet because they have next to no nutritional value and cause impaction

 

[Marlet_the_destroyer]

Yes. You should never feed your chameleon mealworms. Superworms are fine for treats and variety, but mealworms should not be a part of any chameleon's diet because they have next to no nutritional value and cause impaction

Ok thank you!

 

[Syreptyon]

Ok thank you!

No problemo!

 

[JacksJill]

If you can get them dubia roaches are a good feeder that can be dusted and gut loaded like crickets. They are easy to breed.

 

[Tucklander]

I gut load mustard greens , carrots , limes, cucumbers and flukers cricket food...any good???

 

[Bush baby]

I gut load mustard greens , carrots , limes, cucumbers and flukers cricket food...any good???

The limes and flukers cricket food are not good, the cucumber not much better. The carrots and mustards are good; also try collard greens, dandelion greens, turnip greens, butternut squash, blueberries......the link below is a good reference point for foods:

http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm

 

[Char333p]

You can switch to sweet potato theyre on the good list

 

[The Oscar dude]

I have a veiled chameleon that is about 1 month or so old. I use ZooMed Repti calcium and ZooMed reptivitenreptile vitamins with d3. Some said that I should use d3 twice a month and calcium evry other day, but I would like other opinions. I generally gut load my crickets but not always my superworms.

Hi I am new to chams like you this is what I Gutload my crickets on and they are fat and juicy.
Separate the next feeders r
The day before I feed Oscar with them into a small critter box and put my gut load about 1/4 of a teaspoon in with them, by next morning most of it has been eaten and you can see the crickets are fatter.
The gut is from the highly recommended list and the very good list on the health sheet I got as much variety as the supermarket and my veggie plot has put equal amounts ( as near as you can get ) in a blender until it was like like thick soup it looked a bit wet so strained it for a couple of hours to get some liquid out of it, them using ice cube trays froze it up .
I then take one cube out a week keep it the fridge and use a small amount every days to feed the feeders, at the end of the week what is left goes in the cricket box and by the next morning they have eat the lot.
Dusting daily but am still finding my way around the supplements as if like me you read up on them there are various opinions on them ( which work ) my problem is which is the best.
Hope this helps
The Oscar dude

 

[Tucklander]

The limes and flukers cricket food are not good, the cucumber not much better. The carrots and mustards are good; also try collard greens, dandelion greens, turnip greens, butternut squash, blueberries......the link below is a good reference point for foods:

http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm

Thanks for the information, I always really appreciate the advice, I’ll take out the limes, and I was just using the flukers because it keeps the crickets alive...I was having a problem with them died before I could use them, and they’re stupid expensive. Like 10 cent each...so that adds up fast, we’ve always got a supply of butternut squash here in the south so I’ll add that, they are tearing up the mustard greens and carrots. Can anyone tell me if flukers is alright to use if you are also wholesomely gut loading? Or how else to keep crickets hydrated so they won’t die, when I put any water in there they drown...lol!

 

[Tucklander]

Wow that’s a different approach I hadn’t thought of

 

[Bush baby]

Thanks for the information, I always really appreciate the advice, I’ll take out the limes, and I was just using the flukers because it keeps the crickets alive...I was having a problem with them died before I could use them, and they’re stupid expensive. Like 10 cent each...so that adds up fast, we’ve always got a supply of butternut squash here in the south so I’ll add that, they are tearing up the mustard greens and carrots. Can anyone tell me if flukers is alright to use if you are also wholesomely gut loading? Or how else to keep crickets hydrated so they won’t die, when I put any water in there they drown...lol!

As a water supply for crickets, I use fruits that have a high water content i.e apple slices, oranges, bell peppers etc...

 

[andrearamirezo91]

The limes and flukers cricket food are not good, the cucumber not much better. The carrots and mustards are good; also try collard greens, dandelion greens, turnip greens, butternut squash, blueberries......the link below is a good reference point for foods:

http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm

I’ve been having a hard time with gutloading and remembering what ingredients are good and which arent. We constantly buy veggies here so I try to use the good veggie scraps to gutload my crickets. It’s such a pain to always have to look each ingredient up! This page was really useful. Thanks