Myth or Fact

[cushcameleon]

I have read some articles and forums that said mealworms are not a good feeder to use. Is that true or false?

 

[Lancecham]

True.
They contain too much chiton, which over time can be bad for them.

 

[sandrachameleon]

A few well gutloaded mealworms on occassion help give your chameleon a little variety. But they are generally low in nutrition (even after gutloading), and they have a lot of chinton. If you're using a lot of softbodied feeders, like silkworms or hornworms, adding in some mealworms is a good idea, for the "roughage" if you will. Like Fibre for us. Too much chinton can lead to impaction.

 

[cushcameleon]

Ok, thanks. Just making sure. My rudis is getting more spoiled by the day, yesterday i bought him a zero water filtration system .

 

[cushcameleon]

Does that apply to any other worms? Or just mealworms?

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Mealworms, superworms, kingworms, and wax worms are all not optimal feeders. However, they're definitely very okay to add some to the diet as frequently as every few days, but not great as a staple.

The best worms are phoenix worms, butterworms, silkworms, and hornworms (never feed wild hornworms though, they are toxic due to the plants they eat, but are safe if raised on artificial diet).

You could use phoenix, butter, and silkworms as staples.

 

[dondeb562]

as far as I understand it is just the mealworms. You can use like stated above the silk worms or even pheonix worms. My chams love those things!

 

[cushcameleon]

Good, I am definitly going to use silkworms as a staple.