I'm looking to breed some feeders need advice.

[Kristen99]

I'm looking to breed some feeders for my male veiled chameleon at this point I have been feeding him crickets and hornworms I've tried other things like butter worms and dubai roaches but he doesn't doesnt seem to eat those at the moment..

I normally buy from rainbowmealworms
But I am now looking to breed at home for a more cost effective way of getting his variety diet. I am certainly not opposed to any of the feeders and am interested in learning how and what I will need to breed feeders such as
Hornworms( if possible?)
Dubai roaches
Crickets
Silkworms
Blue bottle fly
And possibly praying mantis
Any information is greatly appreciated.. thank you!

 

[NickTide]

Hornworms- difficult. Need to research these

Dubias- Lots of info out there but they are very simple. Under tank heater, and egg crate Fresh fruits and veggies are food and water. I use a lot of carrots and sweet potatoes. They both last a long time in the fridge and can sometimes find them for less than $.50 per pound. I also keep rabbit food in the cage to add extra protein, some people using rabbit food. This could be replaced with alfalfa blocks or pellets. Orto me they arent worth it. ange head roaches tend to be more lively than dubias and get eaten more readily.

Crickets- I buy 200 for $4.50 when I order other things from rainbow mealworms so they aren't worth raising to me

silkworms- difficult. you need to research that. too much to talk about here.

Blue bottle flies... should be easy but the two time i tried, it dried up before I got maggots. A cup of sugar water with cotton balls in it for the adults to eat and a dish with 1 cup dog food and one cup miilk.

Praying mantis- collect or buy them now and hatch out as needed. Don't seem to be worth raising to adults. They eat each other and eat a lot of food. if you find a female in the fall, she may lay eggs for you in a cage.

 

[CamCham78]

I’ve heard breeding Dubai’s can lead to allergies for humans. This true? If so is it common or very rarely an issue?

 

[Daniel266jz]

I’ve heard breeding Dubai’s can lead to allergies for humans. This true? If so is it common or very rarely an issue?

Would this apply to Discoids too?

 

[NickTide]

Would this apply to Discoids too?

From what I have heard this can happen with any roaches. It doesn't seem to to be common as I know nobody personally that has had this happen and I worked in the pet trade for years and have lots of friends in the hobby and trade. I have known a few people online but never in person. I'm thinking it takes a lot of exposure for it to happen. If you are raising them in quantity (like more than a few dozen breeders), it may be best to get yourself some doctors masks to cut down on what you inhale. If you are a person who has other allergies , maybe you should wear a mask whenever dealing with them. Just a choice you need to make.

 

[Ilike4hornedchams]

I currently breed my own Dubia and Super worms to some real success but both my colonies are slightly too small to be complete self sustaining feeding 8 chameleons! So I buy more every 2-3 months.

On the other hand, I tried Silk worms - failed (Generation 2 eggs never hatched), tried Horn works 3 times - failed each time (Adults never bred or never laid eggs), tried BSF - they failed to breed at all, but make it to adult hood easily. Lastly I plan on trying something new like stick bugs or something!

 

[Kristen99]

Great info and advice thanks. I'll keep this all in mind!

 

[CJ's Exotics]

Praying mantis, from what I have heard, can be very expensive, and lots of work. What about Indian Stick Insects? @nick barta

 

[Katacara]

@Kristen99 are you still looking for advice??

 

[Kristen99]

Always I want to move away from crickets
He has tired and eaten
Hornworms
Blue bottle flys
Crickets

He has not been interested in
Phoenix worms
Wax worms
Butterworms
Dubi roaches

 

[Kristen99]

Praying mantis, from what I have heard, can be very expensive, and lots of work. What about Indian Stick Insects? @nick barta

That would be way cool I will do some research

 

[Katacara]

Imho silkworms are not hard... but I think that's just one that I took to right away.

When I started I had better luck with the silks than I did with the dubia. You may have better luck with orange heads or red runner roaches (there are many others you can try also if there is no luck there). They have better colors, and move more so they get a better strike response. Some things to think about: if you have no other reptiles to feed the dubia to, you may as well sell or trade them off. And before starting a colony get your cham a "sample pack" of roaches (I will have these at some point in the future). If you can't get him to eat a kind there would be no need for a colony and you can move on to trying a different kind of roach.

Do you feel comfortable with your knowledge on how to introduce new food items? Do you free range feed at all? Cup feed? Both?

I have had no hornworm luck... yet (I have only tried twice)

Breeding bsf's can be a pain because they need specific conditions, temp, heat, space... etc (like silk moths, they don't eat or drink though)

Superworms are also a really easy one to breed!

I have had about 50/50 luck with crickets so I'm still on the learning curve there

I would be happy to help with anything I can! Let me know if you want more info on anything I mentioned and if you want info on something I have not... If I don't know the answer I bet someone here dose ;-)

 

[NickTide]

That would be way cool I will do some research

I raise Vietnamese sticks . They are such picky eaters I am having a hard time keeping them fed in the winter. I use romain but that doesn't seem to be as good as raspberry leaves.

I had two adult sticks in my classroom. I never found any eggs then they just started hatching.... like mad. There must have been like 5 or more hatching every day. For some unknown reason... I am assuming diet... my adults died then my oldest nymphs died. I am just hoping I have some going come spring when I can start getting fresh oak and raspberry leaves. When I have them, that makes it much easier. Next year I will bring a raspberry bush inside (cool basement to keep alive, not grow) so I can give some fresh raspberry leaves throughout the winter.

I will tell you this, they are a little bit harder to feed off because they grip to everything. I can gather 20 dubia nymphs in seconds, it would take a few minutes to gather 20 sticks. A bonus is that if you have a well planted cage, I doubt your cham would find them all for several days.

 

[Kristen99]

I think he would have a hard time this is what I have set up