Advice on Feeding Tiny Baby

[jajeanpierre]

In a few weeks, I'll be receiving a baby quad that will weigh about 4g. I've never had a baby chameleon.

The breeder says she will be eating 1/4" crickets.

I am terrified that at some point while she is so small I will not be able to find such small food items easily. You know how it is--the supplier sent the pet shop crickets that were a size bigger or the shipment is late....

I want to have on hand a variety of feeders so I will never run out of food because the local shops don't have the right size.

I thought of ordering some silk worms but they grow really fast. Is there a way to keep them small? Should I buy eggs and just stagger the hatches?

I don't yet have a colony of roaches. I have started some stick bugs, but I have no idea how that might work.

Should I buy some different eggs/fly pupae?

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I do have some input from a couple of very experienced keepers and bug keepers, but the more information the betters.

Thanks.

 

[jannb]

To start with I recommend ordering fruit fillies and get extra culture kit and get your own cultures going. I normally order from the Fly Cafe on line. Other small feeder would be Phoenix worms and freshly hatch mantis. I would also have a supply of pinhead crickets. I buy crickets from Armstrong and highly recommend them. You should ask the breed what they are feeding now.

 

[jajeanpierre]

To start with I recommend ordering fruit fillies and get extra culture kit and get your own cultures going. I normally order from the Fly Cafe on line. Other small feeder would be Phoenix worms and freshly hatch mantis. I would also have a supply of pinhead crickets. I buy crickets from Armstrong and highly recommend them. You should ask the breed what they are feeding now.

Thanks. The breeder is saying 1/2" crickets but I think that's a typo. I can't find another email she sent, but 1/4" crickets is what sticks in my mind. They've had tiny silk worms.

I don't like Phoenix worms (black soldier fly larvae). My 65g male veiled ate them and they passed right through undigested. They are stinky to keep gut loaded.

I do have tiny meal worms. Really tiny ones.

Shouldn't I feed the fruit flies fresh fruit?

I don't think I want to deal with mantis nymphs because they will be difficult to feed.

Thanks.

 

[Pharaoh2015]

D Hydei fruit flies
I been going to petco to get cultures because I can't find a better value for Texas but use 3-4 cultures and alternate which one you use and you will have a lot of flies soon. Also can buy d. Hydei at petsmart and use the cultures to have more flies

 

[pigglett79]

buying fruit flies at a pet store is way too expensive. Your best bet for fruit flies is to make your own cultures with the media and deli cups and to get several cultures going at once.

I would also look in to bean beatle cultures as you can get several going as well.

 

[Pharaoh2015]

buying fruit flies at a pet store is way too expensive. Your best bet for fruit flies is to make your own cultures with the media and deli cups and to get several cultures going at once.

I would also look in to bean beatle cultures as you can get several going as well.

Agree it can be pricey but shipping costs for some stuff is also pricey

 

[distortionz]

Know you said u don't like the Phoenix worms but consider the nutrition in those compared to ff and bean beetles and crickets.. I'm feeding all 4 of those to my baby ambilobes right now. But there is something about the 1/4 inch Phoenix worms that makes the babies go nuts and feed like crazy.. I have them eating the smallest dubia nymphs now also. Variety is your best bet..

I use joshs frogs for my fruit flies and Phoenix worms and they are great!!!

 

[MeruJack]

I use flightless fruitflies and am now growing my own hydei. I bought a culture from Josh's Frogs and some media to use as food and then staggered the hatch times. Hydei are bigger and using Josh's media they are eating healthy. Once you start a culture, your work is done. You don't have to feed or water them. I also recommend bean beetles. They are extremely easy to maintain. You don't have to feed or water them, just dump in some more beans every now and then. I just got 200 silkworms to breed and 250 eggs to hatch. You can slow the growth of the silkworms by feeding them less often. If you want big ones, feed them a couple of times a day. If you want small ones or want them to stay the size they are, feed them once a week or so. Good luck!

 

[ponders]

Just thought I would pipe in. I am the breeder of these adorable little quads.

They are eating 1/4" crickets right now. In a month, they should be up to 3/8 to 1/2" or small crickets. They are past the ff stage and the bean beetles. Small dubias will work. They can eat house flies. Small phoenix worms would be appropriate too.

I just gave them some newly hatched mantids, but they are showing no interest in eating them. They are watching them. If they were baby panthers, the mantids would be gone! Maybe they don't look like much of a meal.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Just thought I would pipe in. I am the breeder of these adorable little quads.

They are eating 1/4" crickets right now. In a month, they should be up to 3/8 to 1/2" or small crickets. They are past the ff stage and the bean beetles. Small dubias will work. They can eat house flies. Small phoenix worms would be appropriate too.

I just gave them some newly hatched mantids, but they are showing no interest in eating them. They are watching them. If they were baby panthers, the mantids would be gone! Maybe they don't look like much of a meal.

Thanks for the reassurance. I worry. It's my job.

 

[bobcochran]

I got a small female quad (Daisy) from Tylene weighing 7 g. Last Aug.. She ate small Dubia, crickets and silk worms. She weighs 52 g. now. Don't bother with really small feeders. As Tylene will tell you, the females are voracious feeders.
Thanks Tylene!!

 

[nick barta]

Another small feeder is to buy Horn Worm eggs from Great lakes Hornworm, and a bag of dry food to cook up. As the HW start getting too big, put them in the refrigerator for 1 day, out for 2days in the reptile room, this will slow their growth.

Another feeder to culture is the Indian Meal Moth, Plodia interpunctella, the moths and larvae are about 1/4 inch long. If you want to try a culture, email me at [email protected], and I will send you a care sheet.

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[jajeanpierre]

Know you said u don't like the Phoenix worms but consider the nutrition in those compared to ff and bean beetles and crickets.. I'm feeding all 4 of those to my baby ambilobes right now. But there is something about the 1/4 inch Phoenix worms that makes the babies go nuts and feed like crazy.. I have them eating the smallest dubia nymphs now also. Variety is your best bet..

I use joshs frogs for my fruit flies and Phoenix worms and they are great!!!

I use my own compost for Phoenix worms, which are just black soldier fly larvae. I'll try and find some little ones. I've still got a lot alive this winter.

I don't like them because I have to keep them awhile to clean out their guts with coffee--they love coffee grounds--and I only want fresh food in their gut. I don't want to feed a bug that has been feeding on moldy rotting garbage. They turn fresh veggies into soil in an incredibly short period of time.

I love them in my compost bin and dig them out for my chickens, but in the house? Not so much. I've had worm disasters when they've left my bucket--sealed bucket--and traveled all over the house, most going into my son's pile of dirty laundry, then my washing machine and dryer. It was a bug nightmare.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I got a small female quad (Daisy) from Tylene weighing 7 g. Last Aug.. She ate small Dubia, crickets and silk worms. She weighs 52 g. now. Don't bother with really small feeders. As Tylene will tell you, the females are voracious feeders.
Thanks Tylene!!

Thanks. I've never had a baby before, and was afraid that I would be in a situation where the store didn't have the small crickets and I had a starving baby.

I think I've decided to buy silk worm eggs on a weekly basis for awhile as a primary feeder along with crickets and roaches until I get a feel for what this baby needs. Shipping is free, which is always a bonus. Between crickets, roaches and the staggered hatching silkworms, I'll be sure to always have something small. And maybe some phoenix worms.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions--I still have to go through them all

 

[ponders]

I use my own compost for Phoenix worms, which are just black soldier fly larvae. I'll try and find some little ones. I've still got a lot alive this winter.

I don't like them because I have to keep them awhile to clean out their guts with coffee--they love coffee grounds--and I only want fresh food in their gut. I don't want to feed a bug that has been feeding on moldy rotting garbage. They turn fresh veggies into soil in an incredibly short period of time.

I love them in my compost bin and dig them out for my chickens, but in the house? Not so much. I've had worm disasters when they've left my bucket--sealed bucket--and traveled all over the house, most going into my son's pile of dirty laundry, then my washing machine and dryer. It was a bug nightmare.

I found that my quads LOVE soldier flies, more than regular house or BB flies.
So, if you have lots of worms, let some turn into adults and your quads will appreciate it!

I've had some large worms escape, and my kids came running in, "MOM- there are leaches all over the kitchen floor" Fun times!