What to feed my cham?

[Amateur Chameleon]

Hi everybody! I have a 4 month old Jacksons Chameleon and I would like to know the best food and how much of that food to feed them.

I have been giving him only crickets.
But I own Silkworms, hornworms, and meal worms. And crickets.

So how often and how many should I feed him in a week. I am new to this and don't know what would make him the happiest.

Like on Monday...
On Tuesday...
On Wednesday...
On Thursday...
On Friday...
On Saturday...
On Sunday...

Please use this as as template and say how many of each. Please.

 

[Amateur Chameleon]

I really don't know when- what to feed him. Please help

 

[Klinger #4077]

You shouldn't feed him mealworms, they're pretty low in nutrition and could cause constipation due to the chitin. I would have crickets and silkworms be the main staple for food and hornworms as a treat

 

[Klinger #4077]

Hi everybody! I have a 4 month old Jacksons Chameleon and I would like to know the best food and how much of that food to feed them.

I have been giving him only crickets.
But I own Silkworms, hornworms, and meal worms. And crickets.

So how often and how many should I feed him in a week. I am new to this and don't know what would make him the happiest.

Like on Monday...
On Tuesday...
On Wednesday...
On Thursday...
On Friday...
On Saturday...
On Sunday...

Please use this as as template and say how many of each. Please.

Also for a template, you could just alternate between crickets and silkworms (crickets one day, silkworms another). When my Cham was 4 months old he ate around 9-12 crickets a day if I remember correctly.

 

[Andee]

Honestly it depends on what your individual chameleon wants. Some chameleons hate hornworms, some hate silkworms and then there are the occasional few who hate both. I think each chameleon should have three different feeders a day. I definitely don't think you should feed mealworms at all. I also think you need to get more feeders regularly available. I think the minimum types of feeders that should be available on a regular basis in 4, 2 of them being a gutloadable exoskeleton source. However the best number of regular feeders is six. With added extras when you can get it. I personally raise six different types of feeders. I also regularly have 2 added that I can buy on an every other week basis and add as a weekly feeder. I also buy four-five other feeders when I can afford it and feed them.

 

[Amateur Chameleon]

So what bugs to you feed so I can buy them, also would mealworms be ok if I did like 2-3 a week and not every day?

 

[Amateur Chameleon]

Or would super worms be better?

 

[Andee]

I wouldn't do mealworms at all at his age. Unless they were very small ones and you only did two a week at different feedings. Do you want to know specifically what I buy or raise? I raise two different species of roaches (green banana roaches and dubia), Giant Canyon Isopods, Stick Insects, Silkworms, Superworms. I buy wax worms (I feed the moth stage) to ocassionally feed once or twice a week (though I don't recommend feeding them more than twice a month for most chameleons, I have a few special cases), I also buy black soldier fly larvae (I feed the fly). I also buy when I can, hornworms, butterworms, crickets, sometimes mantids when I am feeling adventurous, I catch grasshoppers seasonally when I can and raise their cb young to feed off, I do sometimes buy butterflies to raise and feed off (this is rarely).

 

[alphakenc]

I feed mine with red runner,since they do not jump,not stink or chirp like crickets,and they faster than dubia(my other choice),and they easy to gutload ,they will eat all the recommended vegetables at night .

 

[Andee]

I would personally not recommend Red Runners for someone who is just starting out with insect colonies. You have to be stupidly careful with turkistan/red runners. You have to know how to keep them in their containers safely. The adults and the babies can both climb smooth plastic, so it's recommended use high sided glass enclosures with very tiny holes so they can't escape (though I have heard possibilities of escape with glass), without issues and are well known for starting infestations in places that generally get snow or frost regularly. The snow and frost rarely kills them from what I've heard. Adult males can fly. They may be from generally warm areas, but these are the types of roach that can adjust quickly and can still breed (though slower) in cold temps. Banana roaches, any who have escape I find dead within 24-48 hours. Any dubias who escape don't survive often to adulthood unless actually in the cage and most don't escape. Usually I have one dubia escape maybe once every 6 months. Dubias are also relatively easy to catch because once they escape they rarely find things to eat and are running on fumes by the time you find them.

Instead of Red Runners I recommend a roach similair to them but with more complicated needs for survival, that way if they escape they pretty much have no chance. The Little Kenyan Roach.

 

[alphakenc]

So far they never escaped from my critters tank,

Here is more info if u want to learn how to successfully keeping the red runner.
http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Bug, Turkistan Red Roaches.htm