Help with improvements on care

[wst0209a]

Cereal? What kind. is that all they need to be fed? It would be nice to breed them but I don't know the first thing in that. I'll Have to do some research. Any information or tips you might have will be great. Is it difficult to breed in your opinion? I go to college full time and don't want to have all of my free time taking care of them. Is there a lot of time involved in it?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I don't think breeding them is that hard but for what I pay for them it's better for me to just buy 1000.
Yes, bran or special K or Total and some apple slices is all I give them.
About two inches deep with 3 or 4 apple slices on top.
I put new apple in when it gets dried out. That's it! They're in a sterilite drawer and I basically spend about 3 minutes a week caring for them.
I wish they were better nutritionally but you can't have everything.

-Brad

 

[Tygerr]

Check out the instructions on this site: Feeder Insects

and check out the Food Items section on the article list at Chameleons! Online

There are some great tips on both sites regarding both feeding and breeding the various feeder insects.

 

[wst0209a]

can you feed the beetles to the chameleons? Just curious.

 

[Tygerr]

Don Wells recommends feeding the Tenebrio (mealworm) beetles to chams (http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/oct2003/mealworms/mealworms.html), but he does mention that most reptiles won't eat the Zophoba beetles.
I don't think they will be harmful to your cham though, so if he'll eat them, you may as well feed them to him.
They are much bigger than the darkling beetles, so you need to make sure they're not too big for your cham.

Beetles are actually easier to gutload than the worms because they'll eat fruits and veggies.

 

[Heika]

The beetles bite.. most chameleons are leery of them. My fat panther Spencer will eat them, though. Of course, he will eat pretty much anything except for hornworms.

Heika

 

[Tygerr]

You're right Heika. They do bite. In fact the worms bite too. I always notice them clamping down on my finger when I lift them out of their container.

So I guess there is a risk when feeding them to a cham, though I guess most healthy chams should be able to deal with them.

I personally don't use the beetles as feeders since I my cham is disinterested in most beetles. I rather keep the few beetles that I allow to develop as breeders to keep the colony going.

 

[wst0209a]

I think I have another problem. Iggy my male chameleon won't pay any attention to the crickets. He is being too picky right now. Ever since I gave him a waxworm he has been craven for them. He usually eats in the morning right after the lights go on and he grabs like 10 crickets, now it looks like he won't eat them. He will eat superworms and some of the pothos plant. What should I do to get him hooked back on crickets. I don't want him to get too hungry and I don't want to keep giving him waxworms. What do you think I should do?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Don't offer crickets for a couple of days.
Maybe give him a day off food completely.
This is common. He'll eat them again he's just being a picky teenager.

-Brad

 

[wst0209a]

Should I still put crickets in there so that he can go to it anytime. Should I stop feeding him the superworms also for a little bit?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

It wouldn't hurt to have a day off from everything.
At 13 weeks they can handle a 24 hour fast.
The idea is the day after the cham will be hungrier than usual and
hopefully not so picky.
You could also just eliminate crickets for a day or two until he gets bored of
the zophobas, then reintroduce crickets only.
Silkworms helped me with this problem. I took everything away except
silkies for 5 or 6 days, then reintroduced roaches, zophobas and crickets.
He's eating everything like a rockstar now.
Probably not the last time I'll have to do this but it's not a problem if
you keep a large variety of feeders.

-Brad

 

[wst0209a]

do you happen to breed silkworms? If so what do you think about that? Is it pretty simple? And not to hard.

 

[wst0209a]

forgot to add. I am trying to change the superworm into a beetle right now. Only one. I pt him in a little film thing and covered it with a lid with some holes. There is no bedding or nothing it in. Also what temp does it have to be for them to morph?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Don't know yet....I'm getting ready to try it tho.
There are several people on here who do.
You can also order eggs from Coastal or Mulberry and they're
pretty cheap.

-Brad

 

[wst0209a]

Was that the answer to the superworms or the silkworms. sorry.

 

[wst0209a]

Another question. About how often should I expect them to shed? How often did kitty shed at around 13 weeks? Also do they tend to make themselves bigger when they are basking? How long and when should they be basking?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

The answer was to the silkworm question.
At 13 weeks I would expect shedding every 3 - 5 weeks but there is no exact schedule.
They all grow differently.
Yes, chams expand and flatten to create more surface area for absorbing heat at their basking spot.
I leave both lights on for 12 hours each day. Some people limit basking hours..I wouldn't do less than 5 hours a day.

-Brad

 

[wst0209a]

Its like onse they find a nice basking spot it seems like they just stay there for hours. is that alright and normal? Iggy also just ate 3 crickets from off of the screen. Im glad he took them.

 

[Jordan]

I would not try turning superworms into beetles tell your guy gets substainal size. These beetles are fairly large and they sound pretty darn crunchy. Both of my veileds will eat them. Again both of my chameleons are very large though. I just started offering them this last month and are a new feeder for me. The ones I have are probably just as big as your chameleon is now.

 

[wst0209a]

I don't think breeding them is that hard but for what I pay for them it's better for me to just buy 1000.
Yes, bran or special K or Total and some apple slices is all I give them.
About two inches deep with 3 or 4 apple slices on top.
I put new apple in when it gets dried out. That's it! They're in a sterilite drawer and I basically spend about 3 minutes a week caring for them.
I wish they were better nutritionally but you can't have everything.

-Brad

For the cereal, do you just blend it up and throw it into the superworms? How much do you put in there. Is this all you need to give them besides apples?