A Real Treat

[SamW]

So..

I was wondering, what's a REAL treat for my veiled chameleon? He regularly eats crickets, meal and wax worms, some fruit, solemnly red peppers and zucchini, and hopefully soon some other vegetables: kale, mustard greens, and sweet potatoes, but I am wondering what is the ultimate treat! I understand that different chameleons may have different personalities; furthermore, they have different likes and dislikes. I've read that they particularly go nuts over some cockroaches, but the only order I have been able to find requires that you buy a minimum of a cup (I think it was like 20-50 roaches?), but I don't want that many.

Any suggestions?

Greatly appreciated,

Sam and Samir

 

[deadhd5]

Katydid or Mantid

 

[Sticktongue]

If you dont want very many... I'm not really sure! Katydid and Mantid are a good choice like suggested. BUt why not order a cup of roaches, silworms, or hornworms? What wrong with having more than just a couple?

Id suggest silkworms and hornworms but those come in cups like the roaches

 

[SamW]

Katydid or Mantid

They must be related, yes? Do you think it's strange that they resemble the shape of chameleons, or at least I think so? Where can I buy some of these?

Sam

 

[SamW]

If you dont want very many... I'm not really sure! Katydid and Mantid are a good choice like suggested. BUt why not order a cup of roaches, silworms, or hornworms? What wrong with having more than just a couple?

Id suggest silkworms and hornworms but those come in cups like the roaches

I've never experienced any interaction with cockroaches and don't want any in my place, really. Maybe I'm over paranoid, but multiple roaches sounds nasty as .... . I'll search for some silk and horns.

 

[Sticktongue]

Their are many site sponsors on the forum that sell silk and hornworms. As for the roaches, many of use keep them in large quantity's with no problems. Dubia roaches need high temps (90s) to breed, so their is not a chance they will over take your home

 

[Kate]

I've never experienced any interaction with cockroaches and don't want any in my place, really. Maybe I'm over paranoid, but multiple roaches sounds nasty as .... . I'll search for some silk and horns.

I took ages to come to terms with Dubais. I kept going for it but couldn't hit the buy button. I did eventually hit it and guess what , he didn't go for them.LOL

 

[cricketkilla]

I took ages to come to terms with Dubais. I kept going for it but couldn't hit the buy button. I did eventually hit it and guess what , he didn't go for them.LOL

This happened to me as well.. I was so pissed. So i'm just going to keep the colony going, so it will be well established when I get my breeding pair.

 

[Dtmalvinni]

If he is big enough try a anole or a small live pinke

 

[Randi]

If he is big enough try a anole or a small live pinke

Just to add, there are several reasons to feed pre-killed instead of live, so definitely research your options.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

If he is big enough try a anole or a small live pinke

Those are not recommended.. they can cause Gout and chameleons don't digest bones well. They could be fed once a year at most.

 

[GabeCastro]

Anoles are notorious for carrying coccidia...So i'd stay away from those forsure!

But theres a few youtube vids of veileds eating small lizards/pinkies.

I wouldn't do it, maybe a pinkie once a year or something. But i wouldn't do the lizard thing.

As a good treat for a cham, they LOVE anything that flies. So as suggested Katydids or Mantids would be great. Just finding them online is a pain, usually people try and breed them but I've heard thats a nightmare. For adult mantids they cost anywhere from $5-100 bucks each depending on what mantid you want. Then shipping is another hassle. Hornworms/silkwroms are nice, you can even let them turn into moths. You can also try wild caught moths. I've heard chams love dragon flies too. So If you can catch one or 2 try and put them in his enclosure.

Superworms are like crack to chams, so maybe give your cham a big ol' superworm. Waxworms are supposed to be a treat. Try a hissing roach? Dubias? Banana Roaches, earthworms?

Thats pretty much everything I could think of, atleast big treat wise

 

[absolutbill]

You want to give your male a treat? How about getting him a girlfriend?

 

[GabeCastro]

You want to give your male a treat? How about getting him a girlfriend?

Hah!

Def the best answer

 

[sandrachameleon]

But theres a few youtube vids of veileds eating small lizards/pinkies.

to roughly quote another forum member (ferrit, i think)
ya, there are some youTube videos showing chameleons eating pinkies. There are also a lot of YouTube videos of people punching themselves in the nuts.

Just because its on YouTube doesnt mean it has value!

 

[sandrachameleon]

So..

I was wondering, what's a REAL treat for my veiled chameleon? He regularly eats crickets, meal and wax worms, some fruit, solemnly red peppers and zucchini, and hopefully soon some other vegetables: kale, mustard greens, and sweet potatoes, but I am wondering what is the ultimate treat! I understand that different chameleons may have different personalities; furthermore, they have different likes and dislikes. I've read that they particularly go nuts over some cockroaches, but the only order I have been able to find requires that you buy a minimum of a cup (I think it was like 20-50 roaches?), but I don't want that many.

Any suggestions?
Greatly appreciated,
Sam and Samir

Demote the waxworms to Treats only.

Sounds like just about anything new would be a treat, so good choices include silkworms, butterworms, indian walking sticks (a big favourite), terrestrial isopods (also a big favourite), moths, blue bottles.... and nothing wrong with adding roaches to the list either. They last awhile with minimal attention, so you dont have to use up all 20 right away.

Here's a link to a list of lots of feeder prey options to give you some good ideas: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
and some options of where to buy: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/171-where-buy-feeders-online.html

the occassional slice of grape might go over well also

 

[GabeCastro]

to roughly quote another forum member (ferrit, i think)
ya, there are some youTube videos showing chameleons eating pinkies. There are also a lot of YouTube videos of people punching themselves in the nuts.

Just because its on YouTube doesnt mean it has value!

No need to state the obvious. I was just giving an example of people who do feed live lizards/pinkies to their chams.

I wasn't planing on feeding a cham of mine a pinkie/lizard because of a youtube video.

 

[sandrachameleon]

No need to state the obvious.

You'd be suprised how not obvious this is to some people.

I was just giving an example of people who do feed live lizards/pinkies to their chams. I wasn't planing on feeding a cham of mine a pinkie/lizard because of a youtube video.

good

 

[DavidBuchan]

Yeah, it was ferrit who said something very similar to that......it gets the point across
Just to play Devils advocate for a moment though - I bet you can't find videos where people enjoy getting hit in the nuts as much as the chams seem to be enjoying eating small vertebrates...........
As a 'treat' of the birthday present variety I would say there's nothing much wrong with it.......having said that it is also true that there is no nutritional benefit that can't be provided for better by insects - my chams won't get any vertebrates to eat.
Tell that sort of logic to me when I'm eating my mint choc chip icecream and I'm not going to reach for the silkworms.........

My tip for a treat though would be blue bottle flies - cheap, easy, tasty and entertaining for him and for you. Not the most nutritious, hard to gutload but that's the deal with treats