Just Curious..Does anyone feed their chams live caught bugs????

JaxyGirl

JaxyGirl

Avid Member
I'm curious how many people feed their chams live caught bugs??? My Jackson absolutely loves live caught moths, June Bugs and other insects and now that its spring up here in Maine I try to give him wild caught insects as much as possible and he goes nuts for them :)
 
I am from Maine Originally

anyway. If you can make sure the bugs come from a pesticide free area they you can feed the wild bugs.

You also will want to get the your chameleons poop tested for parasites routinely.
 
Dez said:
I am from Maine Originally

anyway. If you can make sure the bugs come from a pesticide free area they you can feed the wild bugs.

You also will want to get the your chameleons poop tested for parasites routinely.
Click to expand...

I live in Naples, ME where were you from? I'm pretty sure that the area I'm from is pesticide free no farms or anything in the area. I've never had my Jackson's poop tested but probably should. He's doing great though so I just haven't had it done. I fed him wild bugs all last summer and just starting up again now that it's warm out.

I feed him and my beardies the wild bugs along with gut loaded crickets. My thinking is that there is a lot of nutrition in the wild bugs that they might not be getting from gut loaded crickets????? I don't know but curious about other opinions on the subject??? :)
 
I personally do not feed my cham wild caught incects. It's not recommended. I like to make sure that my crickets, hornworms and other stuff are raised in a clean environment and pesticide free. I raise my crickets and hornworms myself. I also gut load them with nutricious food so I can make sure my chams get a well balanced diet. With wild incects I don't know whats inside and outside of them.

Jaxygirl- I've been to Naples a whole bunch of times for summer vactions and boating on Long lake and the Songo River. And during the winter to snowmobile. One of my relative's has a house in Harrison. I enjoy going to Naples, especially going to Rick's Cafe at night.
 
Lizardlover said:
W/C grasshoppers atleast once a week...other things throughout the week.
Click to expand...

That's good to know that I'm not the only one that feeds wild caught bugs. There's a lot of info on feeding commercially purchased bugs but not much talk others feeding wild bugs and whys and why-nots about the subject.
 
The topic of wild caught bugs comes up regularily. There are definate pros and cons.
a few suggestions:
Never collect in urban, suburban areas, nor non-organic farm areas
Know exactly what the bugs are and be certain they are not toxic
Keep the wild bugs for at least 24 hours and feed them, to mitigate the risk of there being something the bug ate recently that is toxic or not good for chameleons
Have fecal tests done regularily (you are bound to bring parasites home)

More of my thoughts on the subject are in this blog entry:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/213-use-wild-caught-insects.html
 
chamyndst8 said:
I personally do not feed my cham wild caught incects. It's not recommended. I like to make sure that my crickets, hornworms and other stuff are raised in a clean environment and pesticide free. I raise my crickets and hornworms myself. I also gut load them with nutricious food so I can make sure my chams get a well balanced diet. With wild incects I don't know whats inside and outside of them.

Jaxygirl- I've been to Naples a whole bunch of times for summer vactions and boating on Long lake and the Songo River. And during the winter to snowmobile. One of my relative's has a house in Harrison. I enjoy going to Naples, especially going to Rick's Cafe at night.
Click to expand...

That's amazing you know Naples! It's a blast here in the summer... love Rick's!!! It really is a small world isn't it???
 
sandrachameleon said:
The topic of wild caught bugs comes up regularily. There are definate pros and cons.
a few suggestions:
Never collect in urban, suburban areas, nor non-organic farm areas
Know exactly what the bugs are and be certain they are not toxic
Keep the wild bugs for at least 24 hours and feed them, to mitigate the risk of there being something the bug ate recently that is toxic or not good for chameleons
Have fecal tests done regularily (you are bound to bring parasites home)

More of my thoughts on the subject are in this blog entry:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/213-use-wild-caught-insects.html
Click to expand...

That's a great blog...thanks very much for the info:)
 
JaxyGirl said:
I live in Naples, ME where were you from? I'm pretty sure that the area I'm from is pesticide free no farms or anything in the area. I've never had my Jackson's poop tested but probably should. He's doing great though so I just haven't had it done. I fed him wild bugs all last summer and just starting up again now that it's warm out.

I feed him and my beardies the wild bugs along with gut loaded crickets. My thinking is that there is a lot of nutrition in the wild bugs that they might not be getting from gut loaded crickets????? I don't know but curious about other opinions on the subject??? :)
Click to expand...

Im from Wiscasset.. its small small town.. about an hour north of portland
 
chamyndst8 said:
Yes it is. There's a lot to do there. I've been going there for the past 20 years or so and I never get bored.
Click to expand...

Wow 20 years..I've lived her now for 8. Definitely lots to do in the summer and very fun...but in the winter all the cute restaurants close up and then it can get really boring especially this past winter with no snow for snowmobiling. But, otherwise Naples is a great place to live.
 
It makes me wonder if what is happening from us being in a germ-free environment has the same effect on our chameleons/pets. From us being so clean, our immune systems are not working like they should which is why we have so many illnesses/allergies not, so I wonder if keeping a cham so clean and feeding only farm/breeder raised, practically germ free insects could do the same down the line?
 
I've never been to Wiscasset. But I've been to a whole bunch of places in ME. As far as Jackman. I've even been in the Northwest section where they don't even have towns, just zones. Lots of logging and snowmobile trails and nothing else. I'm from MA; but I spend a lot of time in Maine.
 
justjumpit621 said:
It makes me wonder if what is happening from us being in a germ-free environment has the same effect on our chameleons/pets. From us being so clean, our immune systems are not working like they should which is why we have so many illnesses/allergies not, so I wonder if keeping a cham so clean and feeding only farm/breeder raised, practically germ free insects could do the same down the line?
Click to expand...

You know, that's interesting, cause I've had the same feelings that you have on the subject of germ-free. I do keep my cham very clean but who's to say that the feeders are germ-free when we feed them. I guess, currently there is some type of mold or something that's infected many commercially produced cricket colonies. IMHO there isn't any way to have a perfectly germ-free, virus-free environment for our chams and is it possible that by trying to create a perfect environment for them are we harming them more then helping them??? Just curious about what others think???
 
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