Wax worms

[andrearamirezo91]

So when I first got my chameleon I read that I should vary his diet as much as possible. For that reason I went to the store and bought superworms, crickets and wax worms as that was all they had at the moment.

Well, I now know wax worms aren’t high in nutritional value and are full of fat... but my chameleon LOVES them. I like to give him one as an occasional treat every couple of days. I know they’re not necessarily nutricious, but is it harmful to feed him a wax worm every couple of days?

 

[insectovore]

They are not harmful to feed some to your lizard, but you don't want them to become a large part of its diet over a long period of time. They do not have that many vitamins and minerals as they are usually grown in bran/honey mix and they are relatively high in fat. So feed away what you've got, but try to get your lizard to take other food items and lean more heavily on those going forward. When I have them my lizards get quite a few in a short period, but then I don't feed waxworms again for some time.

 

[Chameleomom]

Try butter worms

 

[absolutbill]

Wax worms are useful in getting your chameleon to come onto your hand, or hand feed, and should be viewed as a treat. You could breed them and feed the moths which offer little in the way of nutrition, but aren't fatty like the worms, and are also good enrichment feeders. As for butter worms there are quite a few keepers on here who will not feed them to their chameleons. There have been reports of chameleons' faces turning black after eating them, and they are irradiated before they are allowed to come into this country, which is why you can't breed your own. Personally I've stopped feeding my guys butter worms, and focus more on silk worms, horn worm, and superworms.

 

[andrearamirezo91]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I have cut back significantly on wax worms as suggested. Now he'll only get one every now and then when he decides to let me hand feed him. He's a very nervous boy and doesn't really like humans being in the same room as his cage. Lately the only time when he decides to hand feed is when I wave a wax worm in front of him so I give him like 2-3 a week. Trying to see if by moving his cage to a place with more traffic he'll get more used to people

 

[absolutbill]

Please leave his cage where it is. Chameleons are solitary animals, and should not be placed out with a lot of people and foot traffic that will stress them out. My boys are in a reptile room, and the door is closed a lot of the time. Give him time to adjust to his surroundings, but there are some who will always be shy and want to hide from people. That's just part of having a chameleon.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Wax worms are useful in getting your chameleon to come onto your hand, or hand feed, and should be viewed as a treat. You could breed them and feed the moths which offer little in the way of nutrition, but aren't fatty like the worms, and are also good enrichment feeders. As for butter worms there are quite a few keepers on here who will not feed them to their chameleons. There have been reports of chameleons' faces turning black after eating them, and they are irradiated before they are allowed to come into this country, which is why you can't breed your own. Personally I've stopped feeding my guys butter worms, and focus more on silk worms, horn worm, and superworms.

Why do their faces turn black?

 

[andrearamirezo91]

Why do their faces turn black?

Yeah that comment left the doubt in my head too

 

[andrearamirezo91]

Please leave his cage where it is. Chameleons are solitary animals, and should not be placed out with a lot of people and foot traffic that will stress them out. My boys are in a reptile room, and the door is closed a lot of the time. Give him time to adjust to his surroundings, but there are some who will always be shy and want to hide from people. That's just part of having a chameleon.

Thanks for your input. I have already decided to leave him where he is now. The other place where I could put him has way too much traffic and I feel like it would just end up stressing him out more. I just figured if he could have observed people from a safe distance he could slowly get used to their presence and at least not completely freak every time someone approaches his cage, but I don’t have a good spot where he could see us from far away I’m just gonna keep slowly working with him I’m not trying to get him to jump on me every time he sees me, I just wish he wasn’t so afraid because I really don’t want him stressing so much every day when he gets fed. Thank you!

 

[jamest0o0]

Why do their faces turn black?

People think it has something to do with an allergic reaction. There is a story somewhere online about someone's crested gecko getting bad burns from them as well. No one knows for sure what causes this. In the past I have fed plenty without problems though.

 

[absolutbill]

Thank you, yes it is reports of an allergic reaction. I've seen multiple keepers have issues with that happening, and while it's never happened to me personally I feel there are enough other feeders available to not take the possible risk with my boys. Sorry for not clarifying that in my original post.