ColorCham427
Avid Member
Hey all, does anybody feed their chams locusts as treats? Do they make good sources of nutrition? I read that they can hold alot of food in their stomache, easily gutloaded. Is this true? thanks,
Brian
Brian
Feeding Locusts
- Thread starter ColorCham427
- Start date
Kent67
Retired Moderator
Locusts and grasshoppers are usually very nutritious(if not starved, etc). They are high in protein and chams love them. I remove the jumping legs of any large ones because of the little spikes and overall "hardness" of the legs. Make sure you collect them from pesticide-free areas too. I wish there was still a place producing them commercially!
littleliz
Member
Are they nutritionaly good enough to feed often or only as a treat? In the UK locusts are used as feeder insects for many lizards/spiders etc but I can not find out much about how good they are??? Most articles just say that they are good 
All I know is that chameleons LOVE them with a passion.
All I know is that chameleons LOVE them with a passion.
Miss Lily
Chameleon Enthusiast
Lily has locusts as her staple along with crickets and supers. Not sure about their nutritional info though, but they are popular feeders in the UK. Like crickets they come in various sizes from small right through to adult. I remove the hopping legs too. Lily loves them but she doesn't like them climbing on her - you can see her cringe if she gets one on her!!
Loz
New Member
Are they nutritionaly good enough to feed often or only as a treat? In the UK locusts are used as feeder insects for many lizards/spiders etc but I can not find out much about how good they are??? Most articles just say that they are good
I would be interested to know the answer, as my veiled has locusts as his main staple - I would hate to think that this is no good for him
veiledchamguy
Member
This is very true the colored ones most likely contain pesticides i wouldnt reccomend feeding any wild hoppers/locusts.
Miss Lily
Chameleon Enthusiast
I've been doing some searching on the internet about nutritional values of locusts, but I can't find much info! What I did find is that they apparently taste better than crickets (not so bitter). Also that there isn't much difference, but, as with any feeder, their nutritional values increase when they are properly gutloaded.
I read in my Chameleon Handbook that locusts are grass eaters so are a chameleon's main calcium source in the wild. I grew wheat grass last summer from wheat grains that I bought from a health food shop, and from the way that they devoured it it's easy to see how a plague can totally destroy crops!! The only downside is that you have to have a continual supply of grass growing for them, which is more time consuming than buying gutload from the shop!
I read in my Chameleon Handbook that locusts are grass eaters so are a chameleon's main calcium source in the wild. I grew wheat grass last summer from wheat grains that I bought from a health food shop, and from the way that they devoured it it's easy to see how a plague can totally destroy crops!! The only downside is that you have to have a continual supply of grass growing for them, which is more time consuming than buying gutload from the shop!
littleliz
Member
Wow never even thought about gutloading with grass! But I guess it makes sense so long as chams like grassgutloaded critters. Does grass have good stuff in it for chams? I guess it must do if it is their natural calcium scorce! It is really strange that there does not seem to be any nutritional data for locusts like there is for other live foods?
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GooglezNvincent
New Member
Where in the US can people get locust or grasshoppers?
Jason4045
New Member
Miss Lily
Chameleon Enthusiast
Grass is rich in calcium - think cows and milk!!
As I said in an earlier post, locusts seem to be the main source of calcium for wild chams. I grew wheat grass rather than normal garden grass, but don't know if it makes any difference what sort of grass it is though.Similar threads
