23 years with chams-some observations

I took a plastic container, and in addition to screening an air hole in the top, I screened the bottom with plastic grating found at Joannes Fabrics, they look like a plastic table placemats, and I believe are called plastic canvass. There are 2 sizes, the small one has holes 1/8" by 1/8." Use the small grid, hot glue on the whole bottom, and now all frass will fall through to a tray you can dump. This solves the cricket stink and you don't' have to transfer them for cleaning...:D
Obviously, too small of a cricket can get through a 1/8" hole, so it works for medium size up.

Thank you so much for the advice! :)

Crickets are a pain.
 
Sometimes we act like we are doctors with degrees, making assumptions and diagnoses that are unfounded, and by posting them here, take the chance of influencing new keepers who don't know how to separate the mushrooms from the bull....

Ill agree with this as it can be had here too.


Your views work for you but may not work for everyone.

Ill explain...

Lets say your little one is eating 20 a day...That would be 560 feeders a month.

Buy as you go at pet stores for a month - 560 x .10 = 56.00 plus tax AND plus your GAS each trip!
500 count of crickets = Just a few dollars less than a 1000 count from most suppliers and you are going to inevitably have some die off. So why?
1000 count shipped = 30.00 or less shipped!!

If you are losing crickets. Change suppliers or change how you care for them.

16) Myths..."Only feed wild caught insects you are sure are from a pesticide free zone." That would mean NO wild insects could be fed to chams. If the friggin insect is flying, leaping, crawling, etc, it is lunch. Paranoid parrots IMHO....

Wild caught insects, do you think you would have the same views if you lived next to a farmers field?

http://www.crcnetbase.com/doi/abs/10.1201/EBK1420064162-c7
http://pesticidestewardship.org/Non-target/Pages/PesticideImpact.aspx

This next part is a bit contradicting on your part. You state Blue bottle flies

4) Feeders-Blue Bottle Flies are the BEST food for developing hunting skills and exercise. Don't feed them, they leave a brown spit on everything. Gutload the other feeders-the BB is for fun!

Now do the chameleons tell you they need these for hunting skills or are you humanizing?

20) Myths...Humanizing a lizard is unhelpful.

Blue bottle flies are an excellent snack but in no way will anyone convince me that a chameleon needs any type of feeder to brush up there hunting skills or exercise. As long as the animals husbandry is within care parameters, they are genetically driven to be bad @%$ hunting machines.
 
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Ill agree with this as it can be had here too.


Your views work for you but may not work for everyone.

Ill explain...

Lets say your little one is eating 20 a day...That would be 560 feeders a month.

Buy as you go at pet stores for a month - 560 x .10 = 56.00 plus tax AND plus your GAS each trip!
500 count of crickets = Just a few dollars less than a 1000 count from most suppliers and you are going to inevitably have some die off. So why?
1000 count shipped = 30.00 or less shipped!!

If you are losing crickets. Change suppliers or change how you care for them.



Wild caught insects, do you think you would have the same views if you lived next to a farmers field?

http://www.crcnetbase.com/doi/abs/10.1201/EBK1420064162-c7
http://pesticidestewardship.org/Non-target/Pages/PesticideImpact.aspx

This next part is a bit contradicting on your part. You state Blue bottle flies



Now do the chameleons tell you they need these for hunting skills or are you humanizing?



Blue bottle flies are an excellent snack but in no way will anyone convince me that a chameleon needs any type of feeder to brush up there hunting skills or exercise. As long as the animals husbandry is within care parameters, they are genetically driven to be bad @%$ hunting machines.

Some good points here Nick... I wont add anything, because this man has said it all.
 
Wild caught insects, do you think you would have the same views if you lived next to a farmers field?

http://www.crcnetbase.com/doi/abs/10.1201/EBK1420064162-c7
http://pesticidestewardship.org/Non-target/Pages/PesticideImpact.aspx

I agree!! I feed WC insects all the time but it really is important that you know what is going on around the area with pesticides. Not every insect will have contact with pesticides even if the do fly.

With the BB flies you can dust them with spirulina, wheat grass powder, dried honey and or bee pollen. They can be nutritional along with fun;)

A lot of good points and thats all I can add. Def a good thread to get the brains a churnin'.
 
I raise my own cricks and dubia, but I have not been able to figure a rotating
schedule so I always have feeders.
I end up having to buy cricks while waiting for pins to grow up!!

My attempts at raising horns were terrible, and not much success with
silkies either, though I did manage to raise one batch.

I have a bunch now and will set some asside to breed and try again.

Silkies are too expensive, then there's the stupid shipping which brings a
order of 50 silkies and food $40.00 :eek:

When you figure I have 4 chams, the $$ adds up fast :(
 
Please read this post understanding that not all my perceptions are right, and I believe we all are in a continuous learning journey on how to successfully take care of chams. I think most points have value, even if that value is to challenge your thinking.:D

CHEERS!:D

Nick Barta
This is exactly right

Your views work for you but may not work for everyone.


Wild caught insects, do you think you would have the same views if you lived next to a farmers field?
This next part is a bit contradicting on your part. You state Blue bottle flies


Now do the chameleons tell you they need these for hunting skills or are you humanizing?
Blue bottle flies are an excellent snack but in no way will anyone convince me that a chameleon needs any type of feeder to brush up there hunting skills or exercise. As long as the animals husbandry is within care parameters, they are genetically driven to be bad @%$ hunting machines.
Of course nobody would use only chemicallly sprayed wc insects as the only fool. Think about what is implied as well as what is simply written. How many wc insects per week do you think Nick is recommending as food? I actually did not read the linkks you posted up but 1 or 2 insects from neara recently sprayed area will not do too much harm i think. especially becuase all people with experience in wc food will "quarantine" for a while and gutload as well maybe.

Not only humans are having skills or exercise. most animlas can have these things as well :rolleyes::D. that is not humanizing or contradicting at all. don't be silly. you just wanted something to disagree with. like i am doing now lol. Fact that a cham has to put more effort into catching a blue bottle than a superworm. if you think for sure that no "enrichment" is necessary then you are out of date. You did not say this exactly tho so maybe i should assume you are just trying to be silly @% :)
 
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