How long has it been since you bought feeders?

[Cainschams]

For me its been quite some time. All summer, some of Spring and still got some of Fall. I collect all my food in the warmer months from mother nature.

So far my animals have gotten various spider species, various moths, various safe butterflies, various hoppers, katydids, gnats, aphids, other grass bugs, two species of crickets and I am sure I am forgetting more.

Anyone else close to safe insect collecting sites? What do you collect and how often do you buy feeders?

In the colder months Ill just buy crickets and flies. I dont see any sense in buying insects when I can safely collect them.

 

[JoeG]

Hey Jared, your chams are lucky having all that variety. Around here there are too many pesticides around to safely collect feeders. I have to buy them all year long

 

[MollyT]

I live around a bunch of power plants. I wouldn't trust anything I caught in this area! That is really cool though, that you catch their food in the warmer months! I'm sure they thrive on the variety.

 

[BriAlme]

I raise katydids and roaches, and buy silks, hornworms and supers.
I'm not 100% comfortable collecting wild caught insects due to pesticides being sprayed for mosquitoes in my area.

 

[Olimpia]

I actually just bought a couple dollars worth of crickets not 40 minutes ago, just to give my roaches a small break lol I've been going through the tiny ones a lot lately.

I breed a lot of my own bugs so I may only need to order a box of crickets once a month or so, otherwise they live off of things I breed or catch as well. Here we'll have grasshoppers, leafhoppers, and other things along that line right up until December if it stays mild. I haven't had as much time lately to go out because it's a certain drive out of the way but when I do go I always return victorious with things for everyone.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Exactly 3 days ago. 24,000 crickets and 1000 superworms on Tuesday.

 

[shaunaroxanne]

It's been 23 hours. My babies are eating 1,000 crickets a week. And they cleaned out every single nymph from my Dubia colony.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

LOL I'm almost self sustaining. I breed 2 species of grasshoppers, 3 species of roaches, snails, and a couple other insects. I'm making plans to start breeding my own superworms as well. Plus field collected Mantis, Katydids, moths and other field plankton that I have found available here in the rural California setting. Lately I have only occasionally been buying silkworms and crickets. I'm going to say 2 times a week for crickets.

I'm big about breeding grasshoppers.

 

[d3s5]

For me it's been quite sometime since I bought feeders also - but not for the same reason as Jared. When you are one of the few people on the forum with only ONE adult chameleon who eats one, maybe two things a day . . . well, you tend not to need to buy feeders too often! Especially when I breed silkworms and three kinds of roaches - plus whatever I can catch outside!

 

[sandrachameleon]

Summer, and the end of summer especially, is also good time for me in terms of catching wild prey. The grasshoppers and termites are fabulous right now.

Combined with what I breed, or trade with others who breed different things, I likely dont need to buy anything, ever.
But I still buy crickets and butterworms now and then, for additional variety.

 

[pssh]

Well I had to buy some crickets because of a picky baby I have, but before that i hadn't bought any more months. Since very early spring. In the winter I buy silks, hornworms, butterworms, etc.for more variety.

I breed 5 species of roach, mealworms, supers, buffalo worms, occationally butterflies/moths, mantids, etc. I collect a lot of hoppers, moths/butterflies, mantids and other things from a nice field by my house. I can get moths and cabbage white butterflies all but one month a year, so I'm lucky with those. Mantids are here all but 4 months too (and I can collect some ooths to hatch in the winter.)

 

[sandrachameleon]

pssh, what are buffalo worms?
I wonder if I can get them in Canada - would be great to have another prey choice to add to my list!

 

[pssh]

They are A. diaperinus. Also known as lesser mealworms. I got them in a shipment of roaches one time and have been breeding them since. I also keep them in the live bearing roach bins as a clean up crew. The smaller chameleons love them!

 

[Cainschams]

Cool to hear what you guys are collecting and or breeding. Steve, Id hate to deal with that many bugs LOL!!!

 

[sandrachameleon]

keeping Bugs does take up some time! But its worth it, if you can.

What I've recently done is joined a local group. We each breed a few things, and trade amongst each other for other bugs. That way we arent all having to breed everything under the sun.

I was able to stop keeping indian walking sticks, turk roaches, and silkworms - vastly reducing the time I had to allocate to bugs. I now trade the things I do raise for stuff I dont breed but others in the group do, so that my chams still get some of the other stuff now and again. works great!​

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Cool to hear what you guys are collecting and or breeding. Steve, Id hate to deal with that many bugs LOL!!!

26,000 crickets and 1000 superworms this week. I do a co-op thing so these are for a few chameleon keepers.

 

[JackP308]

some chameleons I didnt have to pay a dime for this summer or collect anything. Large chicken wire outdoor enclosures.

the rest of the indoor chams/reptiles still cost me monthly even if i collected

 

[Chameleonmaster]

I bought some crickets and horn worms 3 days ago such a long time jk

 

[Lamour]

I buy crickets every week, I calculated it to around $500 a year. I'm such a failure lol
I can't bring myself to do the work for insect breeding, just cleaning out my small cricket holder is gross enough! I only have one male veiled to feed though and he is starting to eat less (hopefully just from getting older).