Jevin
Chameleon Enthusiast
I was just reading one of my many biology books and stumbled across a couple that had panther chameleons in them. They listed their diet as insects and some crustaceans, immediately, my mind jumped to the crawfish as I know they are capable of surviving for extended periods of time outside the water. Curiously, Madagascar has an endemic species of crawfish, Astacoides, so the possibility of panther chameleon eating one in the wild I think would be a possibility. It certainly would not be a challenge for a Panther Chameleon to crush the shell of a crawfish either.
From keeping them myself, I know that crawfish are actually quite adept at climbing and can survive outside of water for a long period of time, pretty much as long as their gills stay wet. Also, it would seem like a good source of calcium for a chameleon considering that the shell of a crawfish is made hard due to calcium carbonate, although I may be off about this I am a geologist not a biologist, in the shell which is easily broken down when exposed to acid. And upon further research, a whole crayfish composition has a calcium percentage of 12.3% and a phosphorus ratio of 1%. As for the rest of the nutrition, they seem to stand similar to hissing cockroaches. Interestingly, I found an article about the nutritional value of a different species of crawfish that that found in Madagascar, however, I would think that the nutritional value would be similar.
Here is the link to the research article: http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/aku/akuw90001/akuw90001_pt-5a.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjsr_z3r-DXAhUX82MKHQKzAtAQFggiMAA&usg=AOvVaw2_bISVEH37oKrVNAehCJ21
It's also noteworthy that if anyone has gone out to collect crawfish in the wild to eat themselves, that the claws are actually easily avoided. By picking them up by grabbing either side of the carapace, they cannot get you with their claws. Interestingly, this is similar to how I believe a Panther Chameleon would hit a crawfish with their tongue, in the area that is protected from the claws. Also due to the nervous system of a crawfish, this would very likely stun them upon the impact of the chameleon's tongue.
So I'm wondering if in the wild, at least for panther chameleons, if the crawfish serves as the source for some of its calcium. What are your thoughts?
From keeping them myself, I know that crawfish are actually quite adept at climbing and can survive outside of water for a long period of time, pretty much as long as their gills stay wet. Also, it would seem like a good source of calcium for a chameleon considering that the shell of a crawfish is made hard due to calcium carbonate, although I may be off about this I am a geologist not a biologist, in the shell which is easily broken down when exposed to acid. And upon further research, a whole crayfish composition has a calcium percentage of 12.3% and a phosphorus ratio of 1%. As for the rest of the nutrition, they seem to stand similar to hissing cockroaches. Interestingly, I found an article about the nutritional value of a different species of crawfish that that found in Madagascar, however, I would think that the nutritional value would be similar.
Here is the link to the research article: http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/aku/akuw90001/akuw90001_pt-5a.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjsr_z3r-DXAhUX82MKHQKzAtAQFggiMAA&usg=AOvVaw2_bISVEH37oKrVNAehCJ21
It's also noteworthy that if anyone has gone out to collect crawfish in the wild to eat themselves, that the claws are actually easily avoided. By picking them up by grabbing either side of the carapace, they cannot get you with their claws. Interestingly, this is similar to how I believe a Panther Chameleon would hit a crawfish with their tongue, in the area that is protected from the claws. Also due to the nervous system of a crawfish, this would very likely stun them upon the impact of the chameleon's tongue.
So I'm wondering if in the wild, at least for panther chameleons, if the crawfish serves as the source for some of its calcium. What are your thoughts?
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