Are crickets a necessity?

[symphonica]

Do I have to feed my chams crickets? Is there a certain reason as to why they'd be more beneficial to them than other insects?

I have one with a tongue injury, where he's only able to project his tongue about 1.5", and it shoots out crooked. Crickets are too fast for him, unless I rip the back legs off, which is a pita. He's been loving the gutloaded superworms, but wasn't sure if crickets were better gut loaders, higher in calcium, etc. I tried a cricket "trap," but every time he would shoot his tongue out and miss, all the crickets would go crazy from the vibration of the attack and jump out of the trap.

 

[nick barta]

Crickets can be part of a varied diet, but you should offer several feeders. Crickets tend to hold the calcium and vitamin dustings on them better that slick worm bodies do.

Sometimes tongue issues are actually not a strain, but a vitamin A deficiency, so look into that a solution to the tongue problem.

Nick

 

[sandrachameleon]

Try using a deeper bowl, one the crickets cant jump out of. Your chameleon will learn to stick his head in and grab the crickets with his mouth, rather than relying on this tongue. Removing just one of the rear jumping legs will also result in crickets that don't jump.

Cricket are not a necessity, but they are one of the easier and cheaper options to include in a varied diet.

Superworms are not good to use too many of. fairly High fat, not easily digested, not easily gutloaded. They should form no more than 20% of the total diet. that said, silkworms are an excellent companion to superworms, and are gutloadable with a few different things (though not as gutloadable as crickets). A combo of superworms and silkworms provides a better digestive balance that one of the other alone.

in addition, you can try various types of cockroach, again using a bowl.

some relatively slow moving prey choices include butterworms, hornworms, indian walking sticks, and land snails (home grown, not wild caught).

if the tongue issue is not 100% certain to be the result of injury (did a vet diagnose?), you might want to think about whether dehydration or deficiencies are possibilities. This blog entry may provide useful info: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/232-tongue-troubles.html

 

[sandrachameleon]

Sometimes tongue issues are actually not a strain, but a vitamin A deficiency, so look into that a solution to the tongue problem.

I believe more likely insufficient Calcium, magnesium, zinc, or B1 than Vitamin A.

 

[symphonica]

Thanks for the list of possible feeders. I've been relying pretty heavily on worms apart from the crickets, so I'll have to look into whether any locals carry anything besides the usual.

The tongue issue is almost definitely an injury. He came to me that way from the breeder, who said that it happened while he was still only a few months old.

I was doing the cricket thing for a while, until I started thinking, "there's got to be an easier way to do this..." And I felt horrible ripping off those crickets' legs

 

[Bush baby]

Crickets are fair better than worms in that they are such voracious eaters, they are easy to gut load.

Try feeding your cham with a feeding cup, so he doesn't have to shoot his injured tongue out so far to get the crickets. Crickets are better overall than worms;

You could also try Dubia roaches. They don't die off like crickets do. I ordered 50 medium sized roaches from 'Westcoastroaches' and i still have over a half of them alive and well a month later. My Jackson's only eats about 3 of them every other day; coupled with flies, and various worms.

 

[EmmaChams]

Just a tip, when dusting smooth bodied insects, I give them a tiny and I mean tiny drip of water onto them and the powder sticks even a droplet would work.

Think crickets are seen as a necessity because of how common they are, obviously you don't have to have them as a main staple but a variety is always good and that's including crickets.

 

[Swayne8998]

Sandra made some awesome points about gutloading and feeder choices. How old is your cham? How do you know his tongue has an injury? How did it happen?

As far as the crickets question, I would say stick to them. I know they can be a pain to maintain along with the smell, but it's worth it for your cham. If you want some alternatives to mix it up, I would suggest adding in dubia roaches, silkworms, hornworms, etc. like others have mentioned.

EDIT: I just read your post about removing the crickets' legs. If you don't want to do that, you can just hand feed him the crickets with tongs if you want, and try to get him to stretch out his tongue a little bit if he can. It's always good to let some feeders free range in his enclosure to get up his predator instinct though.

 

[Psychobunny]

Cricks are popular because they make great gut load vehicles, they will eat
anything, dubia roaches too, but dubia are naturally higher in protein (I
think?!)

 

[symphonica]

I'd much rather prefer dubias than crickets. If they can replace crickets, I'd most definitely go that route.

 

[pigglett79]

I do not use crickets for a variety of reasons. My boys get dubias, silks, horn worms, isopods, snails, butter worms, super worms, moths and the occasional wax worm.

 

[Psychobunny]

I do not use crickets for a variety of reasons. My boys get dubias, silks, horn worms, isopods, snails, butter worms, super worms, moths and the occasional wax worm.

I have thought of getting iospods for my guyz, but there a so many species,
I have no clue which makes the best feeder
What species are you using? and where did you get them?

 

[pigglett79]

I have thought of getting iospods for my guyz, but there a so many species,
I have no clue which makes the best feeder
What species are you using? and where did you get them?

I have porcellio laevis/ tan sow bugs from doubleds
http://www.doubleds.org/Uniquefeederpg.html

They breed pretty fast. Everyone likes them so that's a plus.

 

[Swayne8998]

I'd much rather prefer dubias than crickets. If they can replace crickets, I'd most definitely go that route.

You can buy some from some members on this site for relatively cheap. They make a good replacement for crickets but you should still provide a variety of feeders.

 

[symphonica]

thanks. I am not really into breeding my own feeders, so would much rather just spend the money to have someone else do that for me. Lol.

Mine loves supers, but heard those are tough to digest. He's not really a fan of the crickets.

 

[Swayne8998]

thanks. I am not really into breeding my own feeders, so would much rather just spend the money to have someone else do that for me. Lol.

Mine loves supers, but heard those are tough to digest. He's not really a fan of the crickets.

Dubias are very easy to breed and are much cleaner than other roaches... they don't smell, they can't climb or fly, and they breed like crazy. If you have the space and ability to fill a food bowl every couple of days, I would seriously recommend doing it. It would save you some money too. I have a blog on breeding them if you're interested at all.

Supers are actually a decent staple feeder, and can be gutloaded just like every other feeder. The only dispute is the amount of fat they contain, and the shells. Yoshi never had any problems with them, so I don't see them as a feeder to directly avoid.

 

[jmwhitel]

I'd much rather prefer dubias than crickets. If they can replace crickets, I'd most definitely go that route.

This. Blaptica Dubia are they way to go! I now use crickets and worms as treats

Just watch this:

http://youtu.be/nedCYxxfd5g