Is my local pet store rite?

[Jay1501]

A local pet store i buy my locusts an worms from are puting dog biscuits (bone shaped) and some seeds that look like sunflour seeds in with the container as a gut loading is this rite? As ive not came acros this on the forum before and theyv just started doing it

 

[Kate]

I wouldn't use dog biscuit . When you get them home put in your own gut load and feed 24-48 hrs later. Check out Sandrachameleons blogs for ideas.

 

[JonRich]

NO!!! You don't want any kind of animal (mammal) processed food as a gut load. Most of them are high in animal protein which may cause gout from raised uric acid levels in you Cham.

 

[cubanbee]

No, that's not an adequate gutload. I'd recommend this blog from forum member sandrachameleon.

www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading

Maybe the guys at your pet store would be interested as well.

 

[carol5208]

A local pet store i buy my locusts an worms from are puting dog biscuits (bone shaped) and some seeds that look like sunflour seeds in with the container as a gut loading is this rite? As ive not came acros this on the forum before and theyv just started doing it

biscuits no, sunflower seeds are ok.

 

[SaintJimmy]

Definitely not the dog bones or anything like that.

Sunflower seeds maybe.

 

[Jay1501]

Ok thanks guys this just realy frustrates me as the shop (pets at home) have always been wrong on so many things for instance i was told barck chiping and sand was ok to use when i first got a cham but since have learnt thats a big NO these people dont have a clue what theyre doing imagine i brought them biscket loaded locust its not ideal is it

 

[Lathelia]

Any kind of dog/cat/fish food will do no good to your chameleon. If you have to buy from them, wait 24h to get rid of that stuff from their system and then feed them some fruit and veggies.

 

[Echoezra]

It's not a good gutload period, but I wouldn't panic specifically about the "high levels of animal proteins" in a bone shaped dog biscuit, because sadly any biscuit cheap enough for the store to waste on bugs, doubtfully has much if any animal protein in it. Most of those milkbone type biscuits have barely any meat in them. Maybe a little bit of fat for flavour. They're mostly wheat. Which is sad, since they're intended for carnivores. So they probably are more appropriate for the bugs than the dogs they're intended for.

 

[jshaffer740]

It's not a good gutload period, but I wouldn't panic specifically about the "high levels of animal proteins" in a bone shaped dog biscuit, because sadly any biscuit cheap enough for the store to waste on bugs, doubtfully has much if any animal protein in it. Most of those milkbone type biscuits have barely any meat in them. Maybe a little bit of fat for flavour. They're mostly wheat. Which is sad, since they're intended for carnivores. So they probably are more appropriate for the bugs than the dogs they're intended for.

This. The majority of commercial dog and cat food is actually quite a poor diet for both of these animals. Probably even more so for cats, as they are "obligate carnivores" and really should not be eating much of anything other than animal protein. Sadly most cat food has many other fillers, and the cats' health suffers from this.

Anyway, not to hijack the thread. As others have stated, check out SandraChameleon's blog posts on the topic. They are quite useful.