blue bottle flys

[Lazy Boy]

How big do they get? Do they get to big for a 3 month old panther or will he be fine? Think I want to add blue bottle flys and Indian stick bugs to my chams diet.

 

[SirToppemHat]

They are slightly smaller than a regular house fly, perfect size for your cham.

 

[Lazy Boy]

They are slightly smaller than a regular house fly, perfect size for your cham.

Smaller? I thought blue bottles are bigger.

 

[johnnyev]

Well my adult pygmies can & do eat them, so your three month old panther should be able to. Just look out for extra large ones & avoid offering those. As there can be quite a size difference i have found, (well uk ones anyway).
Anyway i have found i get a better feeding response, offering larger as opposed to smaller prey. Not only from pygmies, but "ordinary" chameleons too.

 

[CarlC]

Blue bottles are the biggest fly commonly available. Houseflies are smaller then blue's.

Start with houseflies on your little guy and see how he handles them. If there aren't any issues next time order blue's.

Carl

 

[Lazy Boy]

Can I use water crystals in my cup-o-fly or do I got to use pine wood chips?

 

[kplatvoet]

I use water crystals (as I have a ton of them that were given to me) and the fly food Rebecca sells at mantisplace.
The blue bottle's will probably be ok but I would go with a small order of house flies - blue bottles last longer and keep better but if he doesn't like them (very unlikely) you'll know -
I usually order a small of the blue bottle pupae and a large on the spikes- spikes stay good in the fridge for a couple of weeks. (hide them in a paper lunch bag - for some reason flies in the fridge grosses some people out ) With the house flies they don't keep as long so you have to order smaller amounts more often.