joshuadh2310
Established Member
so iv seen that this is a good food for chams and was wanting to try them where should I get some? And what type should I get for my almost 5 month old girl?
Praying mantis
- Thread starter joshuadh2310
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joshuadh2310
Established Member
Ahh I see I see so they come to too small to feed to my girl in my avatar?
Blang
Established Member
They come in an egg case called an otheca, and you hatch the eggs and feed fruit flies to the nymphs!
joshuadh2310
Established Member
Ahh okay. Yeah I looked on mantis place that site sponsor and they were more like pets being 25-60 a mantis no thanks lol
Remkon
Chameleon Enthusiast
I actually ordered 2 griffin mantis. (only 2€ each).
I'm getting them for me mainly but any offspring may become food.
Fruit flies come almost free, the little buggers lay their eggs in my dubia and cricket containers if I like it or not anyways. Insects are fun, interesting and their shorter lifecycle gives you short term satisfaction when they are doing well. I even love seeing the offspring of my dubia and I can't help but to care about my silkies.
But yea, just as a feeder they probably aren't a very good bang for your buck.
I'm getting them for me mainly but any offspring may become food.
Fruit flies come almost free, the little buggers lay their eggs in my dubia and cricket containers if I like it or not anyways. Insects are fun, interesting and their shorter lifecycle gives you short term satisfaction when they are doing well. I even love seeing the offspring of my dubia and I can't help but to care about my silkies.
But yea, just as a feeder they probably aren't a very good bang for your buck.
joshuadh2310
Established Member
Gotcha. I was just thinking of ways to spice up my girls dietI actually ordered 2 griffin mantis. (only 2€ each).
I'm getting them for me mainly but any offspring may become food.
Fruit flies come almost free, the little buggers lay their eggs in my dubia and cricket containers if I like it or not anyways. Insects are fun, interesting and their shorter lifecycle gives you short term satisfaction when they are doing well. I even love seeing the offspring of my dubia and I can't help but to care about my silkies.
But yea, just as a feeder they probably aren't a very good bang for your buck.
Remkon
Chameleon Enthusiast
What are you currently feeding her?
and what about stick insects, fun to look at and easy to take care of?
PSG1 (Carausius morosus) is very common..
PSG195 (Sungaya inexpectata) same care as PSG1, little harder to come by where I live
Obviously there are many more species of stick insect but I stick (no pun intended) to the ones that have Ivy in their diet because it's easy for me to come by.
They eat quite a lot so knowing where it grows outside rather than having a plant for them inside is a good thing.
joshuadh2310
Established Member
She currently has dubia, silkworms,hornworms,superworms, and her favorite but my least favorite crickets...
theintouchable88
Member
That's looks like a well varied diet. Have u tried other kinds of roaches? Banana, hissing, or orange heads? I think nick has them right now at fullthrottlefeeders. I wanted to get some stick insects too but when I read they need to be separated it deter me because lack of space. I currently feed mine dubias as a staple, crickets, supers, calciworms, hornworms, and the occasionally wax and butterworms. I had a couple wax pupate and I managed to get the months in his cage so hopefully he eats them too.
joshuadh2310
Established Member
I haven't tried any other roaches because I can't get my girl to eat the dubias much at all. They like to hide at the bottom corners of nick Barta's feeder cups and idk if she just can't find them or she won't eat them. Maybe I'll do an experiment and only offer her the roaches and see what she says. Also it's a pain with roaches I have to have them delivered to Georgia and me go pick them up and such cause I live in Florida. That's why I started a dubia colony but it's still going so don't have many to feed her anyways.
Remkon
Chameleon Enthusiast
With the exception of hornworms that's the main diet for my chams at the moment too.
I have got waxworms too and seem to have some success breeding them.
You could also add a 2nd species of roach, I have ordered lobster roaches for example.
I'd get the PSG1 for sure, easy to take care of.
Snails would be a good addition Helix aspersa (the adults may be to big and have to hard of a shell)
I don't like crickets a whole lot either so I don't breed them, they are to smelly after a while so I buy em in bulk every month or so and clean out their container in between.
I have got waxworms too and seem to have some success breeding them.
You could also add a 2nd species of roach, I have ordered lobster roaches for example.
I'd get the PSG1 for sure, easy to take care of.
Snails would be a good addition Helix aspersa (the adults may be to big and have to hard of a shell)
I don't like crickets a whole lot either so I don't breed them, they are to smelly after a while so I buy em in bulk every month or so and clean out their container in between.
joshuadh2310
Established Member
Hornworms are only treats for being a good girl lol. But can I ship lobster roaches to Florida? I might try them either way. Maybe some sticks or snails too idk we'll see I guess. Definitely no mantis though.
joshuadh2310
Established Member
Remkon
Chameleon Enthusiast
Funny you'd ask.
I just had a mail convo with an insect breeder and according to him Paratemnopteryx colloniana may be a roach that's attractive to chameleons...
It figures because they are active, fast and they stand out with their red color...
They are easy and fast to breed too.
Downside is that they can climb glass/plastic so they are more likely to escape.
Oh and they can breed at room temperature (70F) which can become a problem if you keep em in the house.
I just had a mail convo with an insect breeder and according to him Paratemnopteryx colloniana may be a roach that's attractive to chameleons...
It figures because they are active, fast and they stand out with their red color...
They are easy and fast to breed too.
Downside is that they can climb glass/plastic so they are more likely to escape.
Oh and they can breed at room temperature (70F) which can become a problem if you keep em in the house.
theintouchable88
Member
My Cham also didn't mind them for a week and only ate 2 at feeding but for a couple days that's all I offered him and he eats them now no problem. I mixed them with some wax and he got one in his mouth and hasn't looked back since. Also, I gutloaded them well with carrot, collar and mustard greens, butternut squash and orange so I assume he liked the flavor (?) Lol I try to only give him one or two supers when I feed him because of the chitin. Ever since he started eating dubias, his poop doubled in size lol so I assume he's being a fatty now but he's a baby still so no problem. Hornworms I haven't giving him much because they grow so fast and he eats two or three and I have to order at least 2 25 count cups so shipping doesn't hurt that much. When they get too big I feed them to my beardie. I keep them in a colder area to slow them down but still. Try giving dubias orange and you'll see they breed quicker. Seems like it's an aphrodisiac for them lol I only have 4 adult males and like 12 females and I always plenty of tiny nymphs so I know they're breeding well.
theintouchable88
Member
I haven't bought nicks cups yet so idk if the bottom is black, if it is, maybe paint it white so they stand out. Of course, with a reptile safe acrylic paint or layer it with white plastic (?).
joshuadh2310
Established Member
Its screen but I'll keep trying with her.
joshuadh2310
Established Member
Okay so second best appealing roach cause my girl free ranges with nick Barta's feeder cups so if they will climb out of that then no thanks to roaches running around my house lol
Dragon1516
Avid Member
You can get them on amazon for $10 for 2 egg cases. if you have a smaller chameleon that will eat the babies what i do is just put one egg case in the cage with your chameleon and when they hatch your chameleon will start feeding on them right away.
