Penny Pinching...

C

Chameleon Crazy Chick

Established Member
Alright guys, it's me again!

I am relatively young, but I have a paper route that supports my chameleon. I have lately been in a but of a bind, as he is eating away at my savings because I have to go to Petco every other day to buy him food. $7 of food lasted him 4 days. If this keeps up, I will be spending more than I am making. I'm trying to get another source of income as well, but for the moment I'm just trying to save a little bit of money.

My parents absolutely refuse to have dubia roaches in the house. My mom's argument is that she pays $30 a month to keep the roaches out, so she's not going to voluntarily allow them in her house. They also won't let me breed my own feeders, which is what I was considering for both gutloading and penny pinching reasons.

Any ideas?
 
You can have crickets shipped to you in larger numbers for less but they get noisy as adults and can stink. You need a large rubbermaid container with screened ventilation in the lid and 4 inches of smoothed packing tape at the top to keep them in.
 
Take a look at ghanns crickets. You can also buy superworms from them. Their crickets are banded crickets, so they are quieter, less stinky, and more hardy than what you commonly get in a pet store. Also, invest in a cricket bin of some sort. Be it commercial or homemade. Your crickets will live longer, and you can gut load them far more efficiently, which in turn gives your cham a better, more nutritious meal, which will be more satisfying to him. I have an adult male veiled, who is a pig. I buy 250 1/4"crickets which last almost a month. When you do the math, it works out to be cheaper, even with the shipping cost. Good luck.
 
To the OP, you seem like a very well intention-ed young adult. If you can't make ends meet, then as a caring owner you may have to approach your parents for assistance. I'm a bit taken back that they would allow you to have a Cham without knowing the true cost of ownership. I just bought my son a bearded dragon, but I also researched the cost and just like a child of my own, if my son comes up short I will have to pony up the difference regardless what it is to be sure the animal does not go without at least the basic necessities. Not being too nosy, but do your parents not support you with this pet? If so that is unfortunate. Pets to us are like part of the family. We all may not take care of it or clean up after every pet, but we all help out if needed.

I agree with what others here have said about getting better/cheaper crickets. Be careful ordering on line this time of year. The cold (here in the USA) can kill a lot of them. Places like Petco or Petsmart around here charge about 12 cents a cricket. A hundred will cost $12. I go down the street to Pet Supply Plus and I get better quality crickets (more active) and they cost $8 per 100. Big savings. Just be sure to get them a day or two before you actually need them so they can eat properly before you Cham has them.

A word of advice, if you buy crickets in bulk over the web, transfer them to there containers OUTSIDE. Don't do what I did, I was pouring them into the keeper I had for them and a cardboard egg crate fell out, along with about 200 crickets into the kitchen floor. My wife was not happy. We heard chirping of weeks. :confused:
 
That's too bad your mom won't let you have dubia. They are a great feeder. Their box even has a pleasant odor to it.

Silkworms are a good feeder but you'll grow a lot more than you'll use. Maybe a local reptile club member would buy your extras. Silk worms can crash and you can lose the whole lot of them if you are not careful. I think they crash when they get too crowded and are handled. I try to keep my hand very clean when touching anything inside the silk worm container. I try to never touch them except when I take them out to be fed off.

Once spring arrives, you can hunt for your own feeders. Just be sure what kind of a bug you are feeding and don't use it comes from an area where pesticides are used.
 
The shipping with ghanns is like 20 bucks. But they will put multiple items into the box (worms and crickets) and they also carry a type of prepared food which they make. So if you are able to save enough money to cover a monthly shipment of crickets/superworms, you will find that you will actually be saving the difference, and will be able to stash that money away, as a just-in-case vet fund.
 
You might want to try to look into breeding a colony of isopods too, you can actually collect a wild group of about 50+ keep them in a specific container and then pick out the younger ones that they give birth to. They are stupidly easy to take care of/breed. I have no issue getting any of my chameleons to eat them. And they eat very little. Just don't feed the wild ones off they have high amounts of metals in their system. The babies are fine though <3
 
jajeanpierre said:
I think they crash when they get too crowded and are handled.
Click to expand...
Not to start a debate but I have had no issues with my silkworms so far, only using water to wash my hands.
I handle them every cleaning, taking them out of their container by hand, cleaning out the silk and poop by hand, sorting them on size by hand, placing them back in their container by hand... (I use no tongs or tweezers.)
Topics I've read about people that had a lot of deaths often involved disinfectants because 'silkworms are very sensitive'.. But what if they are sensitive to the disinfectant or soap?

I won't claim to be an expert in keeping silkworms, but I am not experiencing mass die offs with mine, I have had close to 350 adults so far and only <10 of em died and another ~10 did not emerge from their cocoon (partially because I ran out of food at some point). I have a couple of hundred to a thousand growing up right now and can't even find any deaths other than the odd one I may accidentally squish :(, I just keep adding chow and moving the majority over to the new piece of chow (by hand) and make sure the old piece doesn't mold or else I will replace the piece (if container is well ventilated chow will dry out and not mold).

To the OP,
I don't think silkworms are a cheap feeder since they require a very specific diet which cost more than your household vegetables and fruits that often will just be available. Heck my reptiles don't even like em that much so I kinda keep em for fun.
Best thing is to convince your parents to allow you to keep dubia, they are low maintenance, don't smell much and have a way lower chance to escape their bin than your average cricket.
If you have a shed with electricity you could keep em there as long as you can add a heat-mat to the bin to keep it around 28C (or else they won't breed).
Grasshoppers is an other cheap option, their main foodsource grows outside (grass) so it doesn't cost a thing, but they will require much more maintenance than dubia and don't make as good a staple as dubia.
 
I have to admit dubia would be the way I'd go too- maybe if you could show how they are kept and how safe the containers are that might help- I'm in the u.k and not a climate that people would say that dubia could survive in but i was a bit concerned to begin with- then I realised they dont smell , are rather nice little chaps anyway and they dont climb- but to be absolutely sure I keep them in a clip top container that James Bond himself couldnt get out off- smear the top of the inside of the container with Vaseline incase of any Ninja dubias and also as I hand feed I dont put some in a pot and leave them in with the cham- they are picked up one by one and either fed or returned so never unattended so really that's it no escapees and no roaches running around that got out of the feeding pot- i dont think they even could climb out but thats my method and it means i get to hand feed my guys which is always good- The other thing i have is stick insects- I bought 20- fed some then kept some adults- the eggs have now hatched and the cage is thick with sticks- so many you cant believe it. Best of luck:)
 
Hi Remkon, I did think of you- I think all the eggs have hatched and i wasnt sure about sending nymphs by post- I'll have a look for some eggs- failing that we'll risk some nymphs ?
 
Twitchet said:
Hi Remkon, I did think of you- I think all the eggs have hatched and i wasnt sure about sending nymphs by post- I'll have a look for some eggs- failing that we'll risk some nymphs ?
Click to expand...
I'd not risk nymphs, personally I would very much dislike freezing to death in a dark envelope in the mail so I would not send them during the winter.
I'd gladly take some eggs off yer hands tho, when you've got em.

I'm in no real rush to get stick insects but if I can get some I would not decline em of course.

After I get stickinsects I will start breeding snails... and not just any snail...escargots!

@OP, another way is to breed 1 type of insect and then find someone that will trade with you... :p
 
Remkon said:
I don't think silkworms are a cheap feeder since they require a very specific diet which cost more than your household vegetables and fruits that often will just be available.
Click to expand...
Good point the only way silks are economical is if you have access to a mulberry tree. Then it can be free to feed them. Their chow is not cheap. I just think having a few caterpillars in the house won't freak the folks out like dubia. I only hatch a few eggs at a time every 10 days. Maybe because of the small batches I've had no die offs. I do occasionally trade mine for other feeders.
I know you manage to handle yours with out trouble. I don't use any disinfectant but alcohol and air dry or rinse well before touching them with tongs.
 
Remkon said:
Not to start a debate but I have had no issues with my silkworms so far, only using water to wash my hands.
I handle them every cleaning, taking them out of their container by hand, cleaning out the silk and poop by hand, sorting them on size by hand, placing them back in their container by hand... (I use no tongs or tweezers.)
Topics I've read about people that had a lot of deaths often involved disinfectants because 'silkworms are very sensitive'.. But what if they are sensitive to the disinfectant or soap?

I won't claim to be an expert in keeping silkworms, but I am not experiencing mass die offs with mine, I have had close to 350 adults so far and only <10 of em died and another ~10 did not emerge from their cocoon (partially because I ran out of food at some point). I have a couple of hundred to a thousand growing up right now and can't even find any deaths other than the odd one I may accidentally squish :(, I just keep adding chow and moving the majority over to the new piece of chow (by hand) and make sure the old piece doesn't mold or else I will replace the piece (if container is well ventilated chow will dry out and not mold).

To the OP,
I don't think silkworms are a cheap feeder since they require a very specific diet which cost more than your household vegetables and fruits that often will just be available. Heck my reptiles don't even like em that much so I kinda keep em for fun.
Best thing is to convince your parents to allow you to keep dubia, they are low maintenance, don't smell much and have a way lower chance to escape their bin than your average cricket.
If you have a shed with electricity you could keep em there as long as you can add a heat-mat to the bin to keep it around 28C (or else they won't breed).
Grasshoppers is an other cheap option, their main foodsource grows outside (grass) so it doesn't cost a thing, but they will require much more maintenance than dubia and don't make as good a staple as dubia.
Click to expand...

I don't have issues with mass die offs usually because I start with large containers. I don't use anything more than regular soap to clean my hands (no disinfectant). Silkworms need much larger containers to do well than people think. I also grow mulberry trees just for them. So when it's the correct time of year they get fresh leaves, though I usually only use it for the newly hatched babies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

dinomom
I guess we can add "glitter eyeshadow" to the safe list...
Replies
15
Views
325
ERKleRose
ERKleRose
M
New adoption for chameleon
Replies
12
Views
467
mega loves worm
M
absolutbill
Hurricane Prep and Reptiles
2
Replies
22
Views
725
Tkrd69
Tkrd69
MissSkittles
Gotcha x3
Replies
19
Views
497
jpm995
J
E
How much time does it takes for follicle absoprtion?
Replies
13
Views
412
kinyonga
K
Back
Top Bottom