useful to raise snails?

[satch4684]

originally, I was planning to just raise the staple feeder, but seeing as I will be getting a montane species, I started thinking about the possibility of snails. maybe it's just me, but I don't find them off-putting in anyway (unlike all other bugs) and actually think their kinda cool.

On the other hand, it seems pointless in a way. I'm assuming for some reason they are not a good staple, whether its nutrition or they simply don't breed/grow fast enough to rely on. I'm pretty much forced to either keep crickets or hatch silkworms, when I need something different for the sake of variety, it seems better just to hit the pet shop every now and then.

Any real good reasons to keep snails?

 

[pssh]

I dont know about snails, but how about roaches? Dubia are easy to breed.

 

[Lizardlover]

Snails are excellent for montane species, however are not good for a staple. stick to crickets, silkworms, and roaches as a staple. variety is key, you could also try field plankton. (wildcaught insects that are from an area you are sure is free of pesticides.)

 

[satch4684]

okay, thanks, I think I'll just hatch silkworms, and get his "variety" from the pet store.

from what I hear, dubia is tempting, but regardless of how much easier, cleaner, etc. they are compared to other bugs, the word "roach" is enough to send me running

I know, the last thing a chameleon owner should be wary of is bugs!

 

[xanthoman]

the problem is most pet stores cant come anywhere close to the variety that a cham needs, in fact most cant even provide a good staple, crickets arent really that good of a staple (high in phosphorus and hard exoskeletal, plus crickets escape and are a hassle to keep) dubia make a better feeder and rarely escape. i thought i would be freaked out by dubia too, but they are really more like giant pill bugs (except the males have wings), not at all like an american cockroach. jacksons and probably other montanes love snails, but they arent really a good staple either, but they are a good occassional (maybe even somewhat frequent) snack , there is a youtube video of a jacksons enjoying a snail posted by a member of this forum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2WLTqE5sgU she (cf member kenya) would probably be the one to contact if you are interested in snails

 

[satch4684]

the problem is most pet stores cant come anywhere close to the variety that a cham needs,

yea, I guess you're right, it's been a long time since I've actually been to a pet store. Maybe I should just try and mostly deal with online suppliers, chameleons eat so frequently but as long as I have my staple in bulk, I don't think there will be any problems.

no more completely avoiding it, I'm gonna read into more information on dubias as well.

 

[Digby Rigby]

Snails are worthwhile to raise as feeders. They are full of protein and calcium and very nutritious as are worms such as night crawlers. Of the 3500+ species of roaches maybe 10 can be pests. To say that you wont use them or shy away from them because they are a roach is to say you wont have cats as pets because lions are dangerous. Or I wont have snakes because cobras and mambas are venomous. Judge each species on its own merits.

Digby Rigby _______________________

 

[Lizardlover]

Snails are worthwhile to raise as feeders. They are full of protein and calcium and very nutritious as are worms such as night crawlers. Of the 3500+ species of roaches maybe 10 can be pests. To say that you wont use them or shy away from them because they are a roach is to say you wont have cats as pets because lions are dangerous. Or I wont have snakes because cobras and mambas are venomous. Judge each species on its own merits.
Digby Rigby _______________________

thats what your partner said over the phone(mike?), and I couldnt agree more.

 

[nick barta]

Depending where you live, you night want to buy a few appropriatly sized Dubia roaches to see if your chams will eat them. Nothing worse than setting up a colony of feeders only to find out the chams won't eat them.

Members here often will hand feed roaches, or watch to be sure they are eaten so that none can hang out in the cage and escape.

SandraChameleon put her roach colonie in a plastic container with a secure lid, then put that container inside another plastic container with a secure lid. The end result was that she never had a roach escape from the inside container to the outside one, so she now just has them in a single container.

I sell Dubias locally to several reptile owners, who don't want to raise them, but do want the variety. Check around your area, you could even buy from a pet store, just gut load them (as any pet store feeder) to be sure they have the maximun nutritional value.

Nick