I feed lobsters, dubia and hissers, and have fed lateralis.
Lobsters are fine for your chameleon- IMO one of the best feeders. Soft bodied, easy to gutload, they are my lizards favorite of the 4 roach species I have kept. Even my big mellers chams clearly prefer them over the dubia.
IMO lobsters are cheap not because they are a pain to deal with, but because they are incredibly prolific, super easy to get a thriving colony going, and they've been available for a long time on the market. Same reason Calyptratus are cheap and Parsons cost more. Calyptratus aren't cheaper because they are a pain to deal with, they are cheaper because they are easy and prolific and have been bred for a long time now. Lobsters are the same.
Lateralis are not a safe risk free replacement to lobsters.
I myself have kept both, I have kept lobsters since 2002 and I've never had an infestation in spite of feeding out literally millions in that time. (Over half million to baby bearded dragons last summer alone). I have watched carefully because the lobsters make me nervous being incredibly prolific and hardy and keep producing even when temps are below room temperature (temps in my lizard building for about 3 months in the winter are regularly 50s nights low to upper 70s days, depending on the day- my lobsters slow down, but keep producing).
I purchased 15,000 lateralis a few years ago and fed them out over several months after becoming afraid of their potential for infestation. I was correct- I still find them wild in my lizard building where I find egg casings between and beneath cages and on the ground in low traffic areas, they somehow get into my other roach tubs (they have to climb walls or shelves and drop in from above to do this) and starting this spring, when I pick something like a rock, cinder block, board out in the yard, I find them underneath. Last month we had 18" of snow on the ground. I brushed the snow off a board and picked up the board and there were 40 or 50 lateralis alive and moving on the ground beneath the board. The ground was not frozen and was soft and moist, but this I am sure still would have killed other species I have kept.
I deeply regret purchasing this species and since purchase I have used google to learn that this species is illegal in some states and that professional exterminators have to deal with this species sometimes.
That said, if I had to keep them in my home, and especially if I only had a few lizards, the only species I currently keep that I would feel safe keeping in my home is dubia. They are safe, they are prolific enough once you get enough adults going to support your lizards, and the nymphs fill out and gutload nicely.
Feed out the lobsters, get dubia.
Are they huge?
