any danger??

[thatoneguy]

any danger with feeding your chameleon flies you catch outside? i was watching discovery channel and they were showing how some parasites live on flies and stuff and when something eats them they invade a new host??? that being your chameleon :/

also are flies an unhealthy diet, cause my cham refuses to eat crickets

 

[AZJ0SH]

Flies are not nutritious, and ones from the "wild" can contain parasites, so they're not recommended for feeding.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Not a good idea to feed many wild caught insects for the reasons you mentioned, and flies have too much protein for a captive Cham. A couple every now and again won't do any harm though.
If he won't eat crickets then locusts or roaches make good staple foods too. They are also much easier to gutload, of course.

 

[Bernie]

Ever heard the phrase "like flies round sh*t"? Well thats basically what they do, sit on sh*t.

Not a good idea to feed wild flies for this reason.

 

[fluxlizard]

I'm finding the responses in regards to the nutritional value of flies interesting because scientific studies have shown that flies are the #1 food item in the stomachs of wild chameleons, followed by "bees and wasps". I can see how the threat of parasites from wild flies might be a problem- but nutrition? They are the staple prime ingredient of the natural diet. Not that wild chams live a long time by any means, but seems like because wild chameleons mostly eat flies then flies wouldn't be too high in protein ...

 

[thatoneguy]

very interesting. ill have to research this further. dont want to put him in any danger, but for the most part he loves flies. anything against hatched flies??

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Blue bottle flies are commonly used for cham food. They can be cb raised so you know what they're eating. This is the first I've ever heard of flies not being nutritious and high in protein...where did this info come from? Bugs in general are not that high in protein so I'm curious to know why a fly would be.

The danger with wild caught flies is you don't know what they've been eating and think of where you normally find flies...on gross things that you wouldn't want your cham to be eating.

 

[JackP308]

No real danger the same as you would have to worry about any feeders really.

 

[thatoneguy]

true, same with any wild bugs you catch, you dont know what they are eating exactly and any one of them could be carrying a parasite as well. ive caught some flies they laid eggs, they hatched, they were maggots, now they are pupae. im waiting for them to come out again so i can feed them the right stuff hopefully. i would think that flies have atleast some protein. their larva do eat meat and fruit etc.