Leaving soon for summer

[Aletheaseverino]

Hello fellow Cham lovers. My beautiful boy is Arlo, he is now a year old and last summer I left for my dads as I do every year and I had to leave Arlo behind. My mom had no hope of being able to care for the crickets so I got him a wide variety of worms such as mealworms, super worms, butter worms and I also got him calciworms(black soldier fly worms) as a substitute for him not having crickets. Every day was stressful because Arlo turned out to be super picky and didn’t want to eat any of the worms except the superworms and mealworms. It sucked being far away and not being able to provide him with the nutrients I know he needed. This summer I want to be stress free knowing that he is getting the nutrients he needs. My mom still can’t handle the crickets so I’ve recently started testing out freeze dried crickets. He still gets live ones for the most part but I can’t lie he seems to really enjoy the freeze dried ones. I give him a mix of mealworms and freeze dried crickets in a bowl tossed in calcium powder and he finishes it every time. So FINALLY my main question is could these freeze dried crickets serve as a replacement while I’m away for the summer? I will be gone for approximately 1-2 months .

it’s also important that I mention I live in Florida and dubia roaches are NOT available here. Otherwise I would try those as a possible replacement but i don’t think my mom could handle those either without freaking out. BUT I recently ordered a can of freeze dried dubias as well that I will be testing out, so let me know what you think about freeze dried dubias too.

I can’t wait to hear your guys’ thoughts!

Also people come here for help so please be nice and instead of leaving just one word replies I’d like to hear thoughts and suggestions. Thanks!

 

[JacksJill]

I would go with silk worms over the freeze dried insects.

 

[Aletheaseverino]

Hello fellow Cham lovers. My beautiful boy is Arlo, he is now a year old and last summer I left for my dads as I do every year and I had to leave Arlo behind. My mom had no hope of being able to care for the crickets so I got him a wide variety of worms such as mealworms, super worms, butter worms and I also got him calciworms(black soldier fly worms) as a substitute for him not having crickets. Every day was stressful because Arlo turned out to be super picky and didn’t want to eat any of the worms except the superworms and mealworms. It sucked being far away and not being able to provide him with the nutrients I know he needed. This summer I want to be stress free knowing that he is getting the nutrients he needs. My mom still can’t handle the crickets so I’ve recently started testing out freeze dried crickets. He still gets live ones for the most part but I can’t lie he seems to really enjoy the freeze dried ones. I give him a mix of mealworms and freeze dried crickets in a bowl tossed in calcium powder and he finishes it every time. So FINALLY my main question is could these freeze dried crickets serve as a replacement while I’m away for the summer? I will be gone for approximately 1-2 months .

it’s also important that I mention I live in Florida and dubia roaches are NOT available here. Otherwise I would try those as a possible replacement but i don’t think my mom could handle those either without freaking out. BUT I recently ordered a can of freeze dried dubias as well that I will be testing out, so let me know what you think about freeze dried dubias too.

I can’t wait to hear your guys’ thoughts!

I forgot to say this is the brand of freeze dried crickets I gave him with the nutrition facts

 

[Brodybreaux25]

No.

 

[RyanBRZ]

If it was me I'd bring him with me or get someone to care for him while I am away. If neither are an option I would look to have someone take him permanently. Not trying to be harsh/mean, but it's not fair to the chameleon, potentially sacrificing his health due to your living situation. Did you take this into consideration when you first got him?

 

[Dbash44]

Hello fellow Cham lovers. My beautiful boy is Arlo, he is now a year old and last summer I left for my dads as I do every year and I had to leave Arlo behind. My mom had no hope of being able to care for the crickets so I got him a wide variety of worms such as mealworms, super worms, butter worms and I also got him calciworms(black soldier fly worms) as a substitute for him not having crickets. Every day was stressful because Arlo turned out to be super picky and didn’t want to eat any of the worms except the superworms and mealworms. It sucked being far away and not being able to provide him with the nutrients I know he needed. This summer I want to be stress free knowing that he is getting the nutrients he needs. My mom still can’t handle the crickets so I’ve recently started testing out freeze dried crickets. He still gets live ones for the most part but I can’t lie he seems to really enjoy the freeze dried ones. I give him a mix of mealworms and freeze dried crickets in a bowl tossed in calcium powder and he finishes it every time. So FINALLY my main question is could these freeze dried crickets serve as a replacement while I’m away for the summer? I will be gone for approximately 1-2 months .

it’s also important that I mention I live in Florida and dubia roaches are NOT available here. Otherwise I would try those as a possible replacement but i don’t think my mom could handle those either without freaking out. BUT I recently ordered a can of freeze dried dubias as well that I will be testing out, so let me know what you think about freeze dried dubias too.

I can’t wait to hear your guys’ thoughts!

Also people come here for help so please be nice and instead of leaving just one word replies I’d like to hear thoughts and suggestions. Thanks!

Maybe you can teach a friend how to do everything? I usually watch my friend's chams when they go out of town. It's much different when you have someone familiar with chameleon keeping take care while you're gone.

That's why I think going to reptile shows is of great value. Not sure if you've ever been to them. Thinking ahead, it might be worth your time to get connected with the community face to face and build some good relationships so people can help you out in times like this. I know that doesn't do anything for you right now, but, like I said, something to look into.

There's some reptile stores in my area that board chameleons and other reptiles. I would suggest looking into that if all else fails.

Otherwise, I think @RyanBRZ has a point in trying to find your cham a new home. I know it's a difficult pill to swallow, but 1-2 months is quite some time to be away that may cause to some malnutrition in your cham. Maybe it's just me, but if my cham were to pass due to this, it would break my heart more than knowing he's healthy with a loving keeper.

Freeze dried insects have very little nutrition which I believe is why everyone is telling you that's not a great idea. Even supplementing them may not be enough. If you want, you can use the search tab on the forum and find some other threads that go into that more. We aren't telling you no to be difficult or mean.

Here's one if you want something quick: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/freeze-dried-food.159438/

If you end up successfully using freeze dried insects, please let us know.

 

[RyanBRZ]

My chameleon can be picky with food sometimes too (usually with dubias and crickets), I wouldn't expect him to shoot at a freeze dried insect if he is sometimes reluctant to shoot at a live juicy bug.