Can superworm be a staple food for chameleons?

[SOLO_0629]

Can superworm be a staple food for chameleons? Can it be fed for a long time?

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. I see your other posts but will answer for all in just this one. First, no, superworms are not a staple feeder and are just for treats. They are very fatty. It’s much better to have a variety of a few different staple feeders, like roaches, crickets or locusts, silkworm, black soldier fly larvae, etc. I’m attaching a couple of graphics to help guide you. Just as important as what you feed to your chameleon, is what you feed to your feeder bugs. You need to keep your bugs well fed and cared for with fresh greens, vegetables and a little fruit. A healthy bug is much more nutritious for your chameleon.
Now for your guys walking and head tilt. What supplements are you using? What schedule are you using them? What kind of uvb light do you have? Can you post some photos of your whole enclosure?
I will probably not be around later to respond to your answers, so I do hope another member will finish helping you. If not, I’ll hopefully return in about 10-12 hours.

 

[SOLO_0629]

if my chameleon is skinny, can i temporarily feed it superworm?

 

[MissSkittles]

It would be much better to feed it more nutritious bugs.

 

[SOLO_0629]

what insects are ntritious and can be fed for a long time?

 

[redhorse]

Can you share a picture of your chameleon? Thanks

 

[MissSkittles]

what insects are ntritious and can be fed for a long time?

The top two rows in the graphic are all excellent insects that you can feed on a regular basis - Crickets, mantids, silkworms, locusts, stick bugs, moths, blue bottle flies, black soldier fly larvae, farmed roaches and farmed snails.

 

[nightanole]

The top two rows are "meat" and most of them can be gut loaded for an additional body weight of 50-120%.

Supers, while easy to digest and higher in fat, cant really be gut loaded. They can only increase in weight by 10%.

So a super could technically be considered a staple, if you consider a staple less than 25% of the weekly calories.

The problem with running supers as 50-66% of the calories, is chameleons REALLY like them. So what are you going to do when a hunger strike hits, and they wont eat supers...

cant have just crickets
cant have just dubia
cant have just anything

I try to space out my crew into about 3 different gut loads. The silkies are going to eat the mulberry tree. The dubia are going to be the garbage disposal. The supers are going to eat the bran and hard veggies. And ill have the seasonal bug like BSL or cicada or stink bugs.

 

[suprdude]

The top two rows are "meat" and most of them can be gut loaded for an additional body weight of 50-120%.

Supers, while easy to digest and higher in fat, cant really be gut loaded. They can only increase in weight by 10%.

So a super could technically be considered a staple, if you consider a staple less than 25% of the weekly calories.

The problem with running supers as 50-66% of the calories, is chameleons REALLY like them. So what are you going to do when a hunger strike hits, and they wont eat supers...

cant have just crickets
cant have just dubia
cant have just anything

I try to space out my crew into about 3 different gut loads. The silkies are going to eat the mulberry tree. The dubia are going to be the garbage disposal. The supers are going to eat the bran and hard veggies. And ill have the seasonal bug like BSL or cicada or stink bugs.

Everything you said is correct, but not all chameleons will eat everything. Even then, their tastes change over time.

 

[SOLO_0629]

The chameleon's head had been tilted to one side for two days. No trauma, no falls. Always leaning to the left when walking, unable to walk in a straight line, turning left all the time, feeling unbalanced. I'm concerned and hope this can be resolved.

 

[SOLO_0629]

你能分享一张你的变色龙的照片吗？谢谢

 

[SOLO_0629]

图中前两行都是您可以定期喂食的优质昆虫 - 蟋蟀、螳螂、蚕、蝗虫、竹节虫、飞蛾、蓝瓶蝇、黑水蝇幼虫、养殖蟑螂和养殖蜗牛。

Alright thank you

 

[SOLO_0629]

The chameleon's head had been tilted to one side for two days. No trauma, no falls. Always leaning to the left when walking, unable to walk in a straight line, turning left all the time, feeling unbalanced. I'm concerned and hope this can be resolved.

 

[MissSkittles]

It looks like you have him outside. How much direct sun does he get? Do you give him any vitamins or minerals like calcium, vitamin D3 or a multivitamin? When he’s inside the house, do you have a uvb light for him? It’s very important that chameleons get the correct vitamin and mineral supplements and have either real sunlight or uvb. I’m wondering if your boys problem is from one of those things. I am also concerned that one of his legs doesn’t look right…looks crooked. Can you get a better photo of that leg?

 

[SOLO_0629]

It looks like you have him outside. How much direct sun does he get? Do you give him any vitamins or minerals like calcium, vitamin D3 or a multivitamin? When he’s inside the house, do you have a uvb light for him? It’s very important that chameleons get the correct vitamin and mineral supplements and have either real sunlight or uvb. I’m wondering if your boys problem is from one of those things. I am also concerned that one of his legs doesn’t look right…looks crooked. Can you get a better photo of that leg?
View attachment 338008

Its legs are normal, not twisted or injured. Every time I feed my nematodes I add calcium powder, vitamin D3 and a multivitamin. In the house, I have UVB lights and sometimes I put them in half sun and half shade. It seemed to be unable to stand upright and kept falling to the left as it climbed the branch. thank you for your reply.

 

[SOLO_0629]

This is the state just now, I feel full of energy, and my eyes roll quickly。

 

[MissSkittles]

Some of the vitamins are fat soluble, meaning they stay in the body and can build up to dangerous levels. What you should be doing is lightly dusting your feeder insects with a calcium powder that does not have vitamin D3 at every feeding. Then one feeding every other week you’ll use a calcium with D3 and do the same with a multivitamin. So on days 1 &15, you use the calcium with D3 and on days 7 & 30, you use the multivitamin. Don’t feed the insects the supplements. Instead, you want to lightly coat the insects with the supplements.
For the uvb light, you should be using a long T5HO fixture with either a 5.0 or 6% uvb bulb. Then you want a distance of about 22 cm between the light and where your chameleon basks. The lights should be in for 12 hours a day and he should have lots of real plants that he can take shade in as he wants.
My guess is that your chameleon is either getting too much or not enough essential minerals and vitamins and correct uvb. Once these are fixed, he should start behaving normal within a few weeks. Of course, I’m not a veterinarian and it’s always good to take your animal to a veterinarian when something is wrong.
This may help you to better understand what your chameleon needs. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-basics/

 

[SOLO_0629]

Some of the vitamins are fat soluble, meaning they stay in the body and can build up to dangerous levels. What you should be doing is lightly dusting your feeder insects with a calcium powder that does not have vitamin D3 at every feeding. Then one feeding every other week you’ll use a calcium with D3 and do the same with a multivitamin. So on days 1 &15, you use the calcium with D3 and on days 7 & 30, you use the multivitamin. Don’t feed the insects the supplements. Instead, you want to lightly coat the insects with the supplements.
For the uvb light, you should be using a long T5HO fixture with either a 5.0 or 6% uvb bulb. Then you want a distance of about 22 cm between the light and where your chameleon basks. The lights should be in for 12 hours a day and he should have lots of real plants that he can take shade in as he wants.
My guess is that your chameleon is either getting too much or not enough essential minerals and vitamins and correct uvb. Once these are fixed, he should start behaving normal within a few weeks. Of course, I’m not a veterinarian and it’s always good to take your animal to a veterinarian when something is wrong.
This may help you to better understand what your chameleon needs. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-basics/

ok i will follow your advice, thank you very much.

 

[SOLO_0629]

Some of the vitamins are fat soluble, meaning they stay in the body and can build up to dangerous levels. What you should be doing is lightly dusting your feeder insects with a calcium powder that does not have vitamin D3 at every feeding. Then one feeding every other week you’ll use a calcium with D3 and do the same with a multivitamin. So on days 1 &15, you use the calcium with D3 and on days 7 & 30, you use the multivitamin. Don’t feed the insects the supplements. Instead, you want to lightly coat the insects with the supplements.
For the uvb light, you should be using a long T5HO fixture with either a 5.0 or 6% uvb bulb. Then you want a distance of about 22 cm between the light and where your chameleon basks. The lights should be in for 12 hours a day and he should have lots of real plants that he can take shade in as he wants.
My guess is that your chameleon is either getting too much or not enough essential minerals and vitamins and correct uvb. Once these are fixed, he should start behaving normal within a few weeks. Of course, I’m not a veterinarian and it’s always good to take your animal to a veterinarian when something is wrong.
This may help you to better understand what your chameleon needs. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-basics/

It was fine for the past few days and today it has been sleeping and then gradually loses strength, vomits, and then vomits painfully until it finally disappears. I'm very sad....what if chameleons don't get enough sleep?

 

[MissSkittles]

I’m so very sorry.