Just Crickets?

cstorms

New Member
Should I be feeding my cham anything other than crickets?

I am not sure where I would be able to get anything else.. but I am making sure to change what I am gutloading so my cham gets a variety of nutrients. I have had him for about a week and I started his crickets on apples, then switched to carrots, now I have a mixture of chopped up kale, orange and a little apple. If someone could point me in the right direction that would be great! thanks

(Male Jackson's, will have photo up as avatar shortly)
 
You can search local feeder suppliers. Your cham will def be more happy with a varied diet or could go on a hunger strike. If there are no local suppliers you could always catch your own bugs raise them healthily and feed them off.
 
What should I ask for at the local pet shop?

What bugs could I find to feed my chameleon?

Crickets are a good staple meaning primary food. You can try to order hornworms or silk worms those are very good at around 20% of ur chams diet as they are loaded with calcium and grest hydrators. Local pet stores should have meal worms super worms wax worms, those are less than 15% of there diet as the meal and super worms have a tough outter shell and wax worms are very high in fat but soft bodied.. I am currently starting a dubia roach colony as my staple feeder. (good cricket alternative, and very heavy breeders) my leopard geckos and turtles love em but my cham hasn't tried one yet.. :(

There are lots of other options from stick bugs mantids other worms phoenix, butters, the list goes on!

If u want nutritional info or how often should somethig be fed sandrachameleon has a blog on just about everything gutloading and feeders... Shes very intelligent on the matter :)
 
Thanks.. so should it's diet be: 20% silk worms/hornworms, 15% mealworms, 65% crickets?

Or 80% crickets/20% silk worms
Or 85% crickets/15% mealworms?
 
Thanks.. so should it's diet be: 20% silk worms/hornworms, 15% mealworms, 65% crickets?

Or 80% crickets/20% silk worms
Or 85% crickets/15% mealworms?

I would really leave the mealworms out. People say that no single insect should make up more than 20% of your chams diet but that can be difficult to achieve!

Here's what I do

Day one locusts

Day two crickets

Day three silk worms

Day four roaches

It's really great to have a varied diet of healthy gutloaded bugs and your Cham would thank you for it :)
 
I would really leave the mealworms out. People say that no single insect should make up more than 20% of your chams diet but that can be difficult to achieve!

Here's what I do

Day one locusts

Day two crickets

Day three silk worms

Day four roaches

It's really great to have a varied diet of healthy gutloaded bugs and your Cham would thank you for it :)

Wow that really is a varied diet. At the moment I only have access to crickets.

I will see what I can find but I will probably need to place an order off the internet. Do you breed most of your insects or do you purchase them from a store? Can you recommend a good way for a beginner to achieve a varied diet for a jacksons chameleon?
 
Wow that really is a varied diet. At the moment I only have access to crickets.

I will see what I can find but I will probably need to place an order off the internet. Do you breed most of your insects or do you purchase them from a store? Can you recommend a good way for a beginner to achieve a varied diet for a jacksons chameleon?

I buy my crickets and locusts at the local store and order anything else online. I've ordered from a couple of sites and it always comes within 2 days of ordering so it's a good service.

I don't breed anything as of yet but we do keep them well fed and watered to help keep them alive!

If you can buy a selection of insects in small quantities that would be a good way to see which bugs work for you and your cham. A varied diet is great but sometimes it's a matter of finding what your Cham likes. Lucky for me, my little girl will eat anything that moves! She is also offered fresh fruit and veg daily and gobbles that up too!

If you're uk I can recommend a couple of good feeder sites. If you're US then I'm sure someone in here can put you in the right direction :)
 
I buy my crickets and locusts at the local store and order anything else online. I've ordered from a couple of sites and it always comes within 2 days of ordering so it's a good service.

I don't breed anything as of yet but we do keep them well fed and watered to help keep them alive!

If you can buy a selection of insects in small quantities that would be a good way to see which bugs work for you and your cham. A varied diet is great but sometimes it's a matter of finding what your Cham likes. Lucky for me, my little girl will eat anything that moves! She is also offered fresh fruit and veg daily and gobbles that up too!

If you're uk I can recommend a couple of good feeder sites. If you're US then I'm sure someone in here can put you in the right direction :)

Thanks! I am in the US, so unfortunately I would need some other recommendations. Does anyone here order feeders that arrive within a few days? I would love to be able to place orders every week instead of breeding roaches, etc.
 
What should I ask for at the local pet shop?

What bugs could I find to feed my chameleon?

dubias are a awesome feeder allot better for chams as well more meat meaning you need to feed them less of them.
 
dubias are a awesome feeder allot better for chams as well more meat meaning you need to feed them less of them.

The only bugs that pet stores carry nearby are crickets and mealworms (i think). Do you know a good website that delivers within a couple of days?
 
The only bugs that pet stores carry nearby are crickets and mealworms (i think). Do you know a good website that delivers within a couple of days?

I know a good PERSON that sells for way cheap and fast shipping (I'll PM you ;)) Dubias are fantastic feeders. I feed my guy crickets, dubias, superworms, collard greens, and occasional waxworms.

Dubia roaches are normally 50 cents each so his prices are fantastic.
 
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