Dragonfly

[Chamster]

i found a dragonfly today so i put it for my 3 month old veiled....is that ok?


he ate it after giving it a good 10 min stare down.


any thoughts?

 

[Stanly]

I seem to recall someone saying they use dragonflies to break hunger strikes, but I really haven't heard much about using them as feeders/treats other wise.

I would be interested to know this as well, also isn't there different types of "dragonflies"?
These are one of those cool bugs like mantids, that while in a way I'd like to feed my cham, I think I would sorta hate to see it get eaten...( unlike crickets)

 

[Chamster]

i think i was more excited than the cham ...he liked it alright.. my main concern is that i just wanted to know if it was ok that i fed him that dragonfly...

 

[Ste]

Only problem I would forsee is that the dragonfly may have been hanging out on crops/stream near fields that have been sprayed with insecticides or pesticides that may harm the chameleon.

 

[Ekproject]

I have never thought of feeding my chams things i find. Do people do that often?

 

[kirekameleon]

I'm not going too. I could catch bugs all day long by my light but I do not know if it has been sprayed or where the bug has been. Around here in Illinois, to save money, instead of cutting the ditches they just spray them now. If a bug was around the ditches I would be feeding the Cham weed killer. Maybe bugs that don't fly and I found deep in the woods I would feed to my cham. I am not going to feed any bugs to my cham that I find around a house or building either. Like someone said, fertilizer and pesticides get to water streams.

 

[Todnedo]

Wild bugs are a staple food for my chams in the summer months.
As far as insecticides or pesticides well they kill bugs so if the bug is alive chances are it is clean. In most casses the greens from the grocery store will have more poison on them than any bug you will catch.

 

[Ekproject]

But cricketsdont creep me out. Everything else does. Haha

 

[kirekameleon]

Wild bugs are a staple food for my chams in the summer months.
As far as insecticides or pesticides well they kill bugs so if the bug is alive chances are it is clean. In most casses the greens from the grocery store will have more poison on them than any bug you will catch.

Good point! I have sprayed for bugs and I know it takes a little time to kill them, I just want to mitigate any vet bills or poisoning my Cham. If you have never had any problems I may rethink it and offer a caught bug sometimes, it does help with variety. Good point about the greens, I am sure they have seen some chemicals.

 

[Willardi]

Chameleons like things that have wings. If I could find a steady suppy of moths, or lionants, or dragonflys I would be very happy.

 

[CalaMala]

I feed Sayid crickets as his staple food but he gets a variety of purchased worms (horns, meal, supers and silk) and wild caught fliers as I call them. I have a Zoo Med Bug Napper and everyday I catch a plethora of insects. I separate them by category (fliers, hoppers, crawlers) and put them in deli cups. I gut load for a few days. That way I know they are nutritious and chances are if they were exposed to pesticides they would not survive the few days in captivity. During the day I catch dragonflies and mantis and do the same thing. Sayid loves both of those the best and flies!!! I haven't tried spiders yet, and G_d knows I can find them a dime a dozen, but the creep me out

 

[Chamster]

insecticides in canada is illegal...so im guessing nothing is sprayed or will be sprayed.

 

[MATT2504]

Wild bugs are a staple food for my chams in the summer months.
As far as insecticides or pesticides well they kill bugs so if the bug is alive chances are it is clean. In most casses the greens from the grocery store will have more poison on them than any bug you will catch.

I'll second that, when it comes to insecticides!

 

[ghettomike]

Chamster i thought you should know that comercial pesticides are still in use. My buddy travels from one end of Canada spraying nasty stuff along the sides of hiways, electrical lines and train tracks so just be aware of where you are getting wild caught insects. My cham loves wild caught moths, dragonflies and grasshoppers and I've yet to have any problems with it but I know where I'm collecting these insects is pesticide free.