Furcifer oustaleti Footage Feeding on Bees

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Here's some great footage of a adult male Furcifer oustaleti feeding on bees outside of what seems to be a dinning room at a resort somewhere in Madagascar. If there was any debate whether wild chameleons fed on bees in the wild this great footage ends it. If you have not seen this footage it is a great video.

 

[NHenn]

Very cool video, thanks for sharing!

 

[SaintJimmy]

I wonder why the stingers aren't an issue with the bees?

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

I wonder why the stingers aren't an issue with the bees?

Wild chameleons from my experience seem to be capable/experienced to feeding on more dangerous prey. Trial and error lessons.

 

[chameleonowner32]

Nice male but i dont think he is full grown. He looks like the tulear locale to me.

 

[LLGabriel]

Nice video.. love that little guy.

 

[fluxlizard]

I wonder why the stingers aren't an issue with the bees?

Lizards are just good at it. It's what they do. Bees are one of the top 3 prey items found in wild chameleons.

One of my favorite memories is a time when a bee got into one of my giant day gecko cages. That pair of geckos went absolutely nuts going after that bee. It was by far and away the most excited I have ever seen a lizard by a prey item. They were very fast, and very careful catching it. They took a few alternating test snaps and releases of it to incapacitate it before one actually took it and chewed it and swallowed it.

 

[laurie]

That is a neat video, thanks for sharing. I am sure a lot of us have no idea what chams really eat in the wild.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Nice male but i dont think he is full grown. He looks like the tulear locale to me.

Nice video.. love your little guy.

This male is not mine it is a (to the best of my knowledge) video of a male Furcifer oustaleti in Madagascar if you read post #1. This is a video that has been floating around YouTube for a long time. He appears to be an adult to me although he is not a giant.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Lizards are just good at it. It's what they do. Bees are one of the top 3 prey items found in wild chameleons.

One of my favorite memories is a time when a bee got into one of my giant day gecko cages. That pair of geckos went absolutely nuts going after that bee. It was by far and away the most excited I have ever seen a lizard by a prey item. They were very fast, and very careful catching it. They took a few alternating test snaps and releases of it to incapacitate it before one actually took it and chewed it and swallowed it.

I heard there was some kind of study that did an examination on the stomach contents of wild chameleons that stated honey bees were a major portion of a wild chameleons diet . However I have never seen that study however it would be a great read though if anyone has access to a copy.

I have heard many reports from a couple of keepers about other chameleons hunting honey bees. However most of the reports stated that the chameleons absolutely developed a taste for them. Except they were no where near as skilled as this individual and had occasionally had to deal with mouth and tongue stings to heal. Although after they allegedly healed they would go back to hunting honey bees again.

 

[fluxlizard]

I heard there was some kind of study that did an examination on the stomach contents of wild chameleons that stated honey bees were a major portion of a wild chameleons diet . However I have never seen that study however it would be a great read though if anyone has access to a copy.

I posted a link to the study somewhere but I'm too lazy to find it again. That is why I stated they consume lots of them in the wild with confidence. I never bullsh*t the facts- I either state my experience and say that is what I am doing when I post or I state facts that I know have been verified. If I speculate I always say so. I never insist a speculation leading to a belief on my part is a fact. I'm pretty careful about that. It bugs the heck out of me when I see others doing that sometimes- especially when their "fact" belief contradicts my personal experience over a lengthy period of time- LOL.

You can search through all my back posts the past few years and find the link to the study if you really need proof or if you are just interested in seeing the study.

It was bees and wasps as a single category by the way in at least one of the stomach content studies. Now that I think of it, if I remember correctly I posted links to 2 different studies.

Except they were no where near as skilled as this individual and had occasionally had to deal with mouth and tongue stings to heal. Although after they allegedly healed they would go back to hunting honey bees again.

This to me sounds like urban myth along the lines of mealworms chewing their way out of living lizards.
Why, for example, would an owner permit a chameleon to continue to eat bees if it was stinging and hurting their lizard and the lizard had to heal? Presumably healing would imply no feeding for a while too...

 

[spawn]

Thanks for posting this.

 

[chameleonowner32]

Thanks for posting this.

Post a pic of your 2. ill post one of mine. Ill show you mine if you show me yours

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

I posted a link to the study somewhere but I'm too lazy to find it again. That is why I stated they consume lots of them in the wild with confidence. I never bullsh*t the facts- I either state my experience and say that is what I am doing when I post or I state facts that I know have been verified. If I speculate I always say so. I never insist a speculation leading to a belief on my part is a fact. I'm pretty careful about that. It bugs the heck out of me when I see others doing that sometimes- especially when their "fact" belief contradicts my personal experience over a lengthy period of time- LOL.

You can search through all my back posts the past few years and find the link to the study if you really need proof or if you are just interested in seeing the study.

It was bees and wasps as a single category by the way in at least one of the stomach content studies. Now that I think of it, if I remember correctly I posted links to 2 different studies.



This to me sounds like urban myth along the lines of mealworms chewing their way out of living lizards.
Why, for example, would an owner permit a chameleon to continue to eat bees if it was stinging and hurting their lizard and the lizard had to heal? Presumably healing would imply no feeding for a while too...

I actually was not questioning you. I was just asking for a link if you do not want to post that is up to you. However to make a claim without proof or a link no matter what you pride yourself on it mostly sounds like unsubstantiated BS. Even though I think this report is probably true. However to say you do not bulls#$% the facts however you cannot post a link because you are lazy is kind of weak and sounds like a whole bunch of BS.

It actually is not an urban myth it is a report that comes from a friend (The Panther Pad) of mine who is an Furcifer ousaleti breeder. He has got a Giant Outdoor Enclosure and says this happens inside his GOE with his Furcifer pardalis and oustaleti occasionally. Pollen is an extremely nutritious part of a chameleons diet meaning it is logical that chameleons would continue to hunt them even after being stung.

 

[fluxlizard]

That's fine, I was just clarifying where my statement is coming from- I wasn't speaking directly to you with that, sorry.

Did your friend happen to mention how long it took his chams to recover from stings or what the symptoms were?

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

That's fine, I was just clarifying where my statement is coming from- I wasn't speaking directly to you with that, sorry.

Did your friend happen to mention how long it took his chams to recover from stings or what the symptoms were?

My recollection was similar to people about 2 to 5 days. However he said they normally still feed depending on where the sting was. However there was a technique (as seen with this wild Furcifer ousaleti) that when learned from captive ones they could eat honey bees like popcorn. I still do not recommended these dangerous foods for your chameleons. I would just gut load your feeder insects with pollen.