Gut loading and color question

[Jon S]

Is there any correlation between different kinds of gut load (potatoes, carrots, greens, grains, etc.) and the coloration of chameleons? I thought I remember reading a post where someone said that their cham's colors were getting dull and it was suggested to gut load with more carrots. I was curious if there are different food items to gut load with that increase coloration. I'm not having any coloration issues, just curious

 

[jannb]

To my knowledge there in no difference in the coloration of gutload for different colors of chameleons.

 

[CNorton]

This is a question I have been researching recently.

So far my conclusion is that chameleons get their color based off 4 factors: sun exposure, mood, health, and diet. As many of us have observed, your chameleon will thrive with a varied diet that includes supplementation as well as gutloading of feeeders. Also the more sun the better!

Check this link out:

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-flamingo.html

 

[Surfrat]

Is there any correlation between different kinds of gut load (potatoes, carrots, greens, grains, etc.) and the coloration of chameleons? I thought I remember reading a post where someone said that their cham's colors were getting dull and it was suggested to gut load with more carrots. I was curious if there are different food items to gut load with that increase coloration. I'm not having any coloration issues, just curious

Well sort of. If you were to gutload only potatoes for instance, your cham would get zero benefit as potatoes carry very little nutritional value. Therefore your cham would not be very healthy and would exhibit poor coloration. In contrast, if you gutload with mixed greens, carrots, oranges, etc, and a high quality dry gut load that is rich in vitamins and minerals, then you cham will be healthy and exhibit a healthy coloration.

 

[hallenhe]

Some creatures have a direct correlation of food to color (e.g. you can buy "color-enhancing" fish flakes, which really do seem to enhance tropical fish color; flamingos get their pink color from the shrimp they eat). I know of nothing specific like that in chams - as people say, a good, varied diet will bring out the best in your cham, but I don't think gutloading with blueberries will necessarily bring out the purples. (RE carotenes, in extreme cases humans have taken on a yellowish tint from excessive carrot consumption, or reddish from excessive tomato consumption [lycopene pigment], but even if you fed your crix nothing but carrots and tomatoes, I think the effect would be diluted by the time it got to the cham - probably not very balanced, either.)

 

[Jon S]

I didn't really mean that the color of the gutload will produce different colors. I know that my blue bar ambilobe is a blue bar and its colors will depend on its genes. I meant more of how bright or quickly the colors begin to come in as opposed to dull looking colors and perhaps the colors showing slower. Thank you all for the info.