The best diet?

[dropanuke]

Hey guys what is the absolute best and most nutritional diet I can give my nosy be?
I'm thinking about dubia roaches instead of crickets now?
He loves locusts, what grubs/worms can I use as part of his staple other than meal worms?

On a side note is it me or am I lucky that the 2 chameleons Iv owned (dizzy) and now (bowser) they both are so willing to be held? Bowser literally runs as fast as a tarantula at full speed to the door when I open up!

 

[sandrachameleon]

The best diet is a wide and varied diet, with no fewer than 5 regular prey items (gutloaded) with additional feeder options now and then for variety.

Keep the locust, and the crickets AND the roaches. The occassional mealworm is fine. Other larval options include butterworms and silkworms. Where you live, you likely have access to Indian Walking Stick insects, which chameleons really enjoy. You could also consider captive bread terrestrial isopods, blue bottle flies, and snails, and wild caught moths, termites, etc
Here is a link to a list of prey options, including thoughts on frequency of use: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

 

[dropanuke]

Noted!!
Can calci worms be fed regular to a chameleon?
Also would roaches need to be dusted?

 

[sandrachameleon]

by Calci-worms, do you mean soldier fly maggots? Those are pretty small, better for smaller chams. But they are good. Don't need calcium dust, though a vitamin dust wouldn't hurt if you don't gutload well.

yes, roaches should be lightly calcium dusted and well gutloaded. The best thing about a roach is you can gutload it easily.

 

[dropanuke]

Reason I ask is my vet said to pump bowser full of calcium so am
Thinking of ways to do it.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Reason I ask is my vet said to pump bowser full of calcium so am
Thinking of ways to do it.

well, too many solider fly maggots at once can be hard to digest, especially if your chameleon isnt one that chews well. I think I'd be more inclined to go with extra butterworms and gutloaded silkworms (alongside the dusted locuts etc). Butterworms are naturally high in calicum, and Ive read that silkworms contain an enzyme (serrapeptase) that assists with calcium absorption

 

[Battlecat29]

Green horned worms are great for calcium and hydration.

 

[patrickfraser]

Variety is the key for nutrition and also to help keep your cham interested. They get bored and may stop wanting one, but still goes goo goo over another.

I raise:
BB/GB flies
snails
mealworms
superworms
dubias
hissers
mantids
fruit flies for the new babies
and whatever I can catch outside

There is always something that will get their juices flowing. Just wondering... Is a roach, a roach, a roach? Or is each roach type considered a "different" feeder and add more variety? I think mealworms and superworms are quite similar to, just different sizes. Is this true?

 

[dropanuke]

Wouldn't snails be difficult to eat as their shell is hard?
Would a uk garden snail be ok?

 

[patrickfraser]

It depends on the size. My veileds don't get the largest snails, but handle the small and medium sizes just fine. They are great for calcium. I will sometimes "pre-crunch" the shell if it seems too thick.
These are the type that I have.

Here you can see a new baby.

 

[dropanuke]

What a great idea!
Are they to be used as a treat or regular feed?

 

[patrickfraser]

They are just added randomly within a rotation of feeders, depending on what I have most plentiful and what they will eat that day. They are fickle feeders.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Just wondering... Is a roach, a roach, a roach? Or is each roach type considered a "different" feeder and add more variety? I think mealworms and superworms are quite similar to, just different sizes. Is this true?

I find different roaches will be more or less inclined to eat particular things, so the gutloading will be different. And they look different, so that I believe helps with keeping interest up.

Superworms and mealworms are similar yes, but again they do eat differently and the meat to chitin ratio is different.

Wouldn't snails be difficult to eat as their shell is hard? Would a uk garden snail be ok?

They will crunch the shell for themselves, assuming the snail isn't too large.
they are okay for about 10% of the total diet.

You should not use wild caught snails. High parasite likelihood. But they are super easy to breed. So gather some, keep the eggs (then get rid of the wild caught adults) raise them up, and this time next year you'll have a good sized colony
How to: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/133-snails.html

 

[djfishygillz]

You should not use wild caught snails. High parasite likelihood. But they are super easy to breed. So gather some, keep the eggs (then get rid of the wild caught adults) raise them up, and this time next year you'll have a good sized colony
How to: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/133-snails.html

Dang I really want to breed snails it looks so easy! I think tomorrow that is going to be my mission! Go find some snails and get to it lol. Play some romantic music and watch the snail love commence...

 

[pasquia]

Stick insects

Given you are in the UK and legally can keep stick insects I suggest you consider looking on eBay for stick insect eggs and start a breeding program. Panthers will love several species inc Mackeays, giant spiny, Indians and many others. They are easy to keep fed on brambles or raspberry and really good value for variety .given the work required to keep chams anyway an additional 2 foot Cham cage would be big enough for cut or potted brambles and you could keep lots there. Be sure to keep some back for growing to adult size and breed, within a year you would have a steady supply of eggs/feeder and breeders,the Mackeays seem to be the most prized and get quite large after a few moults, pretty decent meals!

 

[pasquia]

moth trap

forgot to mention that right now I am catching moths and beetles every night with a homemade moth trap constructed from an old beer fridge with the top cut off and a LED bulb inside, I hang a large white tarp over it and have it permanently under a large tree in my garden with the light set on a timer, each morning I check my catch. Once set up and running needs no maintenance and provides some extra variety. wasps and hornets are good too in one of the fruit traps, I just make sure to pin them down and cut the stings out with a scalpel blade...challenging sometimes with aggressive hornets !!!
not sure If necessary or not but I do not want to risk my chams getting stung in the mouth or face
lots of dragonflies in my area currently and though not crazy about them some of my chams will eat them also, as with butterflies.