food

[Tom Holwerda]

Can I feed my veiled the random bugs I find around the house, roaches, spiders, etc?

 

[Beman]

It is not something I would do... You do not know what they have been exposed to like pesticides or what they have been eating. Or if the insect your feeding is poisonous.
I would order your feeders so you get better prices than in a pet store.

 

[MissSkittles]

Some of the on line vendors sell variety packs, which are a good way to give your chameleon a rounded out and interesting diet. Check out the forum sponsors. To save on costs, many of us breed some of our own feeders. Roaches (dubia and discoid) are really easy and simple to set up a colony.

 

[Tom Holwerda]

How do I set up a roach farm?

 

[MissSkittles]

Dubia and discoid aren’t good climbers and aren’t able to climb smooth sides, so get a decently sized Rubbermaid type bin. I believe the clear ones have smoother sides. If you are fearful of escapes, you could always go the extra and get a bin that has a gasket lid to better seal. Provide some ventilation. I cut out parts of the top lid and hot glue window screen in. Get some adult roaches, preferably more females than males if able. Some people use eggcrate to provide them space to climb and hide and keep a clean bottom (no substrate) to the bin. Depending on how many roaches you have will determine how often you’ll need to clean the frass (poo). They breed best when kept at warmer temps, like around 90F. It usually takes a couple of months before you’ll start seeing babies. You’ll want to feed them the same as the gutloading items. Fresh produce of greens, variety of squashes, sweet potato, a little bit of fruit and you can add something like Repashy Bug Burger to ensure full nutrition. Many people just feed them the scraps from their own produce and the roaches do just fine.
I keep my roaches bioactively, which is easiest for me. They have a couple of inches of organic soil mixed with some coco coir, horticultural charcoal and a little cut up moss and a light layer of leaf litter. The clean up crew is springtails and dwarf white isopods. For their climbing and hiding needs, I use cork bark pieces or a large wood hide. It’s very low maintenance, but finding and sorting out the baby roaches is a pain in the butt.

 

[suprdude]

Dubia and discoid aren’t good climbers and aren’t able to climb smooth sides

It's ironic that dubia's are the easier thing on earth to keep alive, and chameleons are one of the hardest!