See I have been trying to do that but they are too determined to wiggle out. Can you help me out with dusting? That is the only other part I am worried about. Well that and I have just been keeping either squash or oranges in my crickets cage all the time so I hope that it an ok way to gutload.
I need a bit of help
- Thread starter Treymb6
- Start date
Matt Vanilla Gorilla
Chameleon Enthusiast
It is a good idea to buy a high quality dry gutload to give the bugs. I spent hundreds of hours researching ingredients and developed my own. As for dusting I have a container with a lid that is deep enough that the crickets can't jump out. I use the back of a teaspoon spoon (handle tip) and scoop a small amount of calcium up and dump it in the container. Then I put the crickets in and put the lid on. I then gently swirl the container around and get the crickets (or other bugs) covered in dust. I try to put just enough calcium in the container that once the bugs are coated there is not hardly any dust left in the container. I then feed the bugs to my chameleon. The bugs I hand feed does not get dusted. It just rubs off during handling of the bug if I do.
So about how many crickets do you dust in calcium a day. The directions on this container says 12 crickets a week and I just want to know if that is accurate, especially with its age. And I guess I have been dusting a little too much then. I guess I won't dust anything else for the rest of the week. Yeah, I think I am going to buy some either cricket crack or bug burger, unless there is something else you recommend. This is such a crazy learning curve lol.
Matt Vanilla Gorilla
Chameleon Enthusiast
I dust non-adult-chameleon food with every meal. All the bugs they eat. I do Calcium with D one day a week. I do multivitamin one day a week and the rest of the time Calcium without D.
Matt Vanilla Gorilla
Chameleon Enthusiast
The best place I know of to help you learn about gut loading is to do a search on this site for "sandrachameleon" she has some amazing info!
I think I am good about the gutloading, I have already read that post, but I was just wondering if just leaving veggies with dry gutload in the cage all the time is ok. Thanks for the help! I am glad you told you me you do every feeder with dust. So I assume that when it vitamin and calcium with D3 day, you dust every feeder in those as well? I just don't want to over-supplement because I hear that can kill :/
guanagator
Avid Member
You can leave the veggies/ oranges with the crickets. Just don't leave too much or they get soggy and will spike your humidity. A roach colony is a good way to start raising your own feeders, roaches are much better for the chameleon than crickets. Dusting with cal no d every feeding except 2x each per month they should get cal with D3 and Multivitamin, I alternate between those every Saturday. Also don't think they have been mentioned yet but BSF larvae/ Phoenix/ reptiworms are a great feeder and can be a staple. They are smaller but have a good phosphorus to calcium ratio for chameleons and don't need any dusting. My chameleons all love the flies as well if I pupate them.
That's great to know about reptiworms, and they are apparently pretty cheap for the quantity. Thanks! I don't want to mess with flies lol. Would anyone happen to know why my chameleon coughs after every drink? He drinks it from the dripper or off of a branch. I don't know what is happening and it is scaring me.
