Always crickets? Help.

[FreshCrayons]

Hello! I am looking into getting a chameleon, and refuse to be one of those ill informed pet owners. I am already settled on all chameleon owning issues except for food.

I understand that chameleons eat an insect and vegetation based diet. But must live crickets be fed? I hate the cricket noises. I am fine with feeding mealworms, hornworms, anything freeze dried and superworms. Is this enough, or are the crickets necessary?

Also, do insects need to be given every time the chameleon is fed, or can there be a rotating schedule between vegetation and insects?

 

[ScalesTailsandClaws]

Chameleons are omnivores, but many won't eat any vegetation at all. Don't count on your Cham eating anything but insects. Crickets seem to give a great feeding response due to their high amount of movement and high-profile. I can't imagine your Cham will eat anything dead unless it's hand feeding.
Veilds seem to eat more vegetation than panthers, but not even all of them will accept it.
Crickets or roaches are your best primary food item, with the others you listed being great to supplement in to their diet.

 

[camimom]

most chams wont eat dead bugs period.

and those freeze dried canned stuff.. is crap.
its saved in preservatives, and it says gutloaded and jsut as good as live, but its crap.

you dont have to feed crickets.

you can feed dubia roaches. no smell, no noise.

 

[Sticktongue]

I hate the cricket noises.

Unless they are full adult crickets.. they dont make any noise at all. So its very simple to feed crickets and not have the noise

 

[Olimpia]

You don't have to use crickets if you don't want to. There are many species of roaches that are slow, non-climbers, and non-fliers, so they can be kept in a glass or plastic enclosure and they will breed super easily with a little heat and food. I have 4 species of roaches (and I'm the kind of person that could move out if I see a wild roach in the apartment) and they are great. They save me a ton of money because they breed quickly, they don't smell, don't make noise, and are easy to keep alive. Something like Dubia or Discoids would provide an excellent staple feeder.

After that, I recommend superworms. They live forever, super easy to keep, and are easy to breed as well. I always have a tub of them in the house because they make a great feeder a few times a week and also don't smell or make noise. And again, because they breed I save a lot of money.

And finally, you can order in your other feeders like hornworms, silkworms, butterworms, praying mantises, phoenix worms, etc. to add to the mix.

And yea, like someone else said, if you order young crickets they will not chirp either. But you have other options besides crickets.