CNorton
Avid Member
One of my panthers got lucky today...video here.
Chameleon eats a bumblebee
- Thread starter CNorton
- Start date
krknieriem
New Member
he had that look on him afterwards like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, are they safe to eat?
KatiLemons
Established Member
he totally did look like he got BUSTED!!! lol. I have wondered myself about them eating bees whether they are regular or bumble. I feel like they have some intuition as to what they can and shouldn't eat!
millerman6401
Member
well i dont belive they like to eat bright colored bugs as in nature this means they could be poisonous. but i have stopped my veiled from eating jellowjackets and wasps many times. I think if i can catch one and remove the stinger they will be fine tho, anyone els tried this?
KatiLemons
Established Member
someone just posted a thread on this. they catch them and then put them in the freezer for a minute or more and then while they are frozen/stunned, they remoce the stinger! Tedious, but safe!!
millerman6401
Member
i used to tie bees to dental floss and then to a stcik so they couldnt fly at me, then thaw them out like that when i was a kid. then i chased my brother with them! >
CNorton
Avid Member
Ha! Somehow chams have a way of sorting out what is okay for them to eat and what is not. I have fed tomato hornworms that were picked off of tomato plants just hours prior and my chams spit them out. After the worms cleared their gut, the cham took another go and ate them up. There's something about the tomato plant that is irritating to the cham.
I caught the bee with a butterfly net. After catching the bee, with the bee forced to the end of the net by my swinging motion, twist the end of the net to trap the insect. Then I grabbed a plastic container and took off the lid, pushed the net into the container and slid the lid onto the container. Then I cracked the container and put it into the enclosure!
Chams regularly eat bees in the wild. I'm not sure about hornets, wasps, and yellow jackets.
I caught the bee with a butterfly net. After catching the bee, with the bee forced to the end of the net by my swinging motion, twist the end of the net to trap the insect. Then I grabbed a plastic container and took off the lid, pushed the net into the container and slid the lid onto the container. Then I cracked the container and put it into the enclosure!
Chams regularly eat bees in the wild. I'm not sure about hornets, wasps, and yellow jackets.
RAFASTAR23
New Member
Doesn't the bee sting the cham when it is chewing it?
Motherlode Chameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
Feeding bee's is a big gamble of your chameleon getting stung. The main reason why I won't feed any to my chameleon. However chameleons do seem to eat them. There was a good video in Madagascar where an Ousteleti was sitting in a flowering tree at a resort and ate bee's for quite a while in front of tourist. That chameleon seemed quite fond of the bee's and not bothered by the bees sting at all. Like I said though it is a huge gamble that I would not recommend.
fluxlizard
Avid Member
Bees and wasps are the #2 food item found in wild chameleon stomachs, flies are the number 1. They should be pretty safe as they are a very natural preferred food item of wild chameleons, proven by stomach content analysis.
