Stick bugs as feeders

[Ilike4hornedchams]

Hey everyone,
before I start this I just want to get a download from anyone that already uses stick bugs as supplemental feeders. Are they good? Nutritious enough to be worth using? Are they toxic at all? I'll be using either Indian or pink wing stick bugs fed blackberry and some ivy, though i'll try to limit the ivy because its slightly toxic for chams I've read. Thanks!

 

[trickedoutbiker]

Not a WHOLE lot of nutrients because they are pretty thin insects really, but it's always good to throw in something different now and again for variety in order to stimulate your chameleon just a bit. I've never raised stick insects personally, but I have caught some in the wild and my panther cham loves em. If you plan on using Indian or Pink Wing stick bugs then those will be perfectly fine. If you need hooked up with some then give @nick barta a shout. He is a good go-to man for bugs

 

[NickTide]

I have giant vietnames. Real cool but dont eat ivy which is a pain in winter. Some species eat hawthorn but that will make them toxic.

Chams love sticks and you can put some in the cage and let them hunt.

The biggest problem is space and time... A 10 gallon tank of dubias would probably provide as much protein as 100 gallon tank (screened cage is better) of sticks. I can feed all my roaches in like a minute if i need to. For the sticks, feeding is more time consuming. Catching sticks without damaging them is time consuming.

They are not a staple, at least not for me. Its not very time consuming to have a few dozen, but raising hundreds to make them a significant source would be. But they are worth it. If i got rid of my chams, i would still keep sticks for the cool factor alone. Adding variety is a good thing as well. Sometimes i will be out of a staple feeder and the sticks will fill in for a few days.

 

[cyberlocc]

Do not feed ivy if your going to feed them to the cham. What I mean by that is if you feed ivy don't feed the sticks for a few days after.

I would add in oak, if you can, oak has alot of vitamins .

Other than that sticks are great, they are not very meaty so you have to feed quite a few.

Personally I am on team, No Staples. Chameleons should not a have Staples period. So sticks are fine as a part of a varied diet, which you should have.

 

[Ilike4hornedchams]

Well so far they Sticks from Nick Barta are doing pretty good! Looks like I got more like 50 of them rather than 250 though. I've only fed off a few so far but I am hoping to get them comfortable enough to breed then I'll know I can start feeding them off and they'll be self sustaining like me Dubia and Red Runners.