Feeding my Jackson wild bugs. A few ?s

[paulkaranik]

Hey everyone I recently found a gold mine place here in hawaii for finding wild bugs farrr away from any sort of 'civilization' a few miles from my house for my wild caught Jackson. I have been able to find multiple kinds of beetles, roaches, pillbugs and crickets here and there on a very consistent basis. The bugs all look super well fed and healthy to my knowledge. I think all of the bugs are far from any contaminates. My cham hates anything that resembles a worm for some reason but goes nuts over these wild caught bugs.

My questions - 1. do you think this is sufficient for feeding and should i be too worried about gut loading them? I am just giving them that cricket crack stuff and a few moist carrots to keep them alive and healthy. I usually only keep a week worth of bugs and re up on my day off.

2. I bought a ton of mealworms before i found this spot and after realizing he hates them I have decided to turn them into beetles and feed them off to him after they turn. Is this safe? (they are a little harder shelled than the juicy softer ones i have been catching in the wild)

his poop looks healthy and he seems really happy. (i swear he smiles at me when i mist him lol)

My cham's name is Yoshi, Ive had him for about 40 days and this is my first post! Mahalo for your feedback/comments!

 

[Onemorecast]

The rule of thumb is dont feed it anything thats as wide as the space between the chams eyes, so stick to that and when in doubt go down a size and feed a couple more to make up for if need be. Mealworms themselves ppl advise only use once jn a whole because of impaction from their exoskeleton, if beetle is the samr or more I personally wouldnt. Theres a ton of ither bugs that are better/safer.

 

[brownie64]

Wild bugs are great however there is a significant increase of parasite infestation. I was told by a vet once that wild caught insects were so much more beneficial that it was well worth the risk. That being said I don't take the chance I just gut load my insects real well. So I guess use your best judgment.

 

[happy]

my very first chameleon, a Jackson, choked on a beetle and died. i would suggest... if feeding them to him, i would watch until they are gone.

 

[paulkaranik]

Wow sorry to hear that. Sometimes I feed bigger bugs , will definitely be cautious about the size of bugs I feed.

 

[Andee]

If you do feed wild insects, get regular fecals done, do them about every six months. Otherwise you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[ChamDE86]

Use the eyes rule for hard-bodied feeders. You can get away with a slightly larger soft-bodied feeder. As mentioned in the above comments, please use your better judgment.