sow bugs

[kekulpac]

I was reading on sow bugs or wood lice as a good feeding source for my chameleon. Any concerns form using some from the yard? I am also a beekeeper so I use NO chemicals or pesticides in my yard where I would be collecting them from.

Thanks

 

[CLP]

I have read other posts that recommend only feeding the ones you have bred yourself because of concern for parasites, but if you're starting off with wild-caught ones and breeding from them, wouldn't your "babies" end up with the same parasites as the WC parents? Anyhow, I have fed mine some I "caught" in my woodpile with no ill effects. They're supposed to be very high in calcium, but I recommend not feeding too many at first - just 2-3. Mine had a bit of a runny poop after the first time I gave him a few. Could have been a coincidence though. He's been fine ever since, but I still only give him 2-3 a day at most.

 

[Thezillaman21]

I was reading on sow bugs or wood lice as a good feeding source for my chameleon. Any concerns form using some from the yard? I am also a beekeeper so I use NO chemicals or pesticides in my yard where I would be collecting them from.

Thanks

you cant just feed from the wild its actually because they digest biometals which can make even one a cham killer alot of people raise them and feed off the babies after the 3 generation from what I heard.. do some research im just saying what I have read..

 

[CLP]

Yes, I have heard that too but would assume if you're confident you know what is in your soil, you shouldn't have much to worry about. I am currently feeding captive bred tropical ones that I have for my dart frogs. Not sure if my guy will continue to eat them for much longer as they are a lot smaller than the "native" ones. Here is a link about raising them yourself though: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...orcellio-pillbugs-wood-sow-rollie-pollie.html

I can't speak about raising the native ones as I haven't done that yet, but the tropical ones are easy enough. My only comment is if you are starting out, go with a fairly small container at first and expand if necessary. I found they breed faster at first if the container is not too large.

 

[kekulpac]

Thanks,

Is there a preferred provider for getting non domestic ones to start breeding?

 

[CLP]

My only other "source" is people who sell dart frog supplies. There are "giant" tropical ones (I think they're orange ) that would probably be better for larger adult chams. If you're in the US, I suggest Josh's Frogs.

 

[Carlton]

you cant just feed from the wild its actually because they digest biometals which can make even one a cham killer alot of people raise them and feed off the babies after the 3 generation from what I heard.. do some research im just saying what I have read..

Wow, really? I used to feed a jax sowbugs/pillbugs from my yard all the time with no trouble (but maybe I was just lucky). She loved them. It would be safer to breed your own now that there are sources for them. It was hilarious to watch her shoot at them, see the pillbugs roll into balls, and watch her continue to shoot at them like billiard balls. She was very determined to get them.

 

[Miss Lily]

Wow, really? I used to feed a jax sowbugs/pillbugs from my yard all the time with no trouble (but maybe I was just lucky). She loved them. It would be safer to breed your own now that there are sources for them. It was hilarious to watch her shoot at them, see the pillbugs roll into balls, and watch her continue to shoot at them like billiard balls. She was very determined to get them.

It's hilarious when they try to shoot pillbugs! Monty tried one once and it rolled back out of his mouth before he could chew it!

 

[Adam Harrelson]

when my yard is in spring time i collect mine a few times a month and they say they are really high in calcium

 

[sandrachameleon]

terrestrial isopods / wood sows are heavy metal bio-accumulators. you shoudl NOT feed off wild caught ones, no matter how clean the collection area.

they are able to injest and tolerate some (what should be toxic) levels of heavy metals (mecury, boron, cadmium, lead etc) by accumulting them in vesicles in the hepatopancreas, (by "walling them off" and storing it inside their bodies). They have short lives, so this is a good short-term strategy (they arent concerned about long term). It allows them to eat decaying matter and such and live happily in even polluted areas. Their resistance to high levels of pollution, particularly heavy metals, in their environment means you'll often find them where no other detritivores exist (earthworms etc.) because the others cannt handle these high levels of toxins.

Chameleons or anything else that eats them take in all the accumulated "walled off" heavy metals - the more injested, adding up over the years, the more toxic this becomes - biomagnification. That's why not too many things naturally prey on terrestrial isopods (starlings being a big exception)

You might be thinking that the area you are collecting them from is relatively unpolluted, but you might be wrong. If people are around, pollution is around. Just think about the lead paint used on houses until not all that long ago, or the batteries people buired in the yard, lead from petrol combustion law mowers and cars and other air pollutants "washed" down to the soil by rain, asenic and preservatives in wood used in construction or for gardening bed retaining walls and fences, lead bb-gun pellets some kid played with in the 50s, urban runoff Leachate and other ground water contaminants, phosphate fertilizers, leaking furnace oil tanks, septic systems, etcetera.

Luckily, they are really easy to breed and raise for yourself. You can start with wild caught ones.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...orcellio-pillbugs-wood-sow-rollie-pollie.html

 

[Carlton]

terrestrial isopods / wood sows are heavy metal bio-accumulators. you shoudl NOT feed off wild caught ones, no matter how clean the collection area.

they are able to injest and tolerate some (what should be toxic) levels of heavy metals (mecury, boron, cadmium, lead etc) by accumulting them in vesicles in the hepatopancreas, (by "walling them off" and storing it inside their bodies). They have short lives, so this is a good short-term strategy (they arent concerned about long term). It allows them to eat decaying matter and such and live happily in even polluted areas. Their resistance to high levels of pollution, particularly heavy metals, in their environment means you'll often find them where no other detritivores exist (earthworms etc.) because the others cannt handle these high levels of toxins.

Chameleons or anything else that eats them take in all the accumulated "walled off" heavy metals - the more injested, adding up over the years, the more toxic this becomes - biomagnification. That's why not too many things naturally prey on terrestrial isopods (starlings being a big exception)

You might be thinking that the area you are collecting them from is relatively unpolluted, but you might be wrong. If people are around, pollution is around. Just think about the lead paint used on houses until not all that long ago, or the batteries people buired in the yard, lead from petrol combustion law mowers and cars and other air pollutants "washed" down to the soil by rain, asenic and preservatives in wood used in construction or for gardening bed retaining walls and fences, lead bb-gun pellets some kid played with in the 50s, urban runoff Leachate and other ground water contaminants, phosphate fertilizers, leaking furnace oil tanks, septic systems, etcetera.

Luckily, they are really easy to breed and raise for yourself. You can start with wild caught ones.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...orcellio-pillbugs-wood-sow-rollie-pollie.html

Thanks very much for this info! I didn't realize they were such bioaccumulators but it makes sense...detritivores.

 

[stalincat]

I have a colony at home in a tub, they are really easy and cheap to keep. My chams love them. Just buy a bunch of home bread ones and go from there, and you won't have any health issues.