Need a more affordable way feed!!!

JennaBug

JennaBug

New Member
Hey guys :)...this is my first post here. I have what I believe is a 6 or 7 month old veiled chameleon female. I happened to be buying things for my beta fish at the local petsmart when I fell completely in love with a tiny little chameleon in a glass aquarium. The employee took her out and let me handle her, and she said that she was about 6 or 7 months old then (i think she was muuuch younger than that now). Long story short, everything they told me at the pet store about the cham and raising her would have been the death of her had I not done my research. Sorry if Im being redundant here, but I was wondering what some strategies/tutorials were for breeding crickets, superworms, or any other bugs safe for my cham to eat. Shes costing me an arm and a leg to feed her and I was actually in the process of buying another one from a guy who can no longer care for him(keeping in a seperate room of course...) She free ranges and spends most of her time in her hibiscus tree and eats the flowers once in a blue moon. But I dont want to buy the other one if I cant find a more affordable way to feed. Any suggestions are appreciated...thanks guys :cool:
 
Yesss unfortunately I'm driving 20 some minutes away to buy crickets and superworms at petsmart...and I don't think they give me near as many as what they write on the bag either :( ...but I will definately look into both of those websites thank you :)
 
How about a dubia or some other type of roach colony? With only 2 chameleons to feed once you get the colony going you wont have to purchase crickets.
 
JennaBug said:
Yesss unfortunately I'm driving 20 some minutes away to buy crickets and superworms at petsmart...and I don't think they give me near as many as what they write on the bag either :( ...but I will definately look into both of those websites thank you :)
Click to expand...

Good idea. I think the petstores sell their crickets for like 13 cents a piece and online you can get them for about 3 cents a piece in bulk. Plus you dont have to spend gas money and waste your time and drive :D
 
Grow your own and search for ideas on how on here and youtube there are great tutorials how to do it. Dubia and superworms are pretty easy to breed.
 
Buy crickets, superworms, and in bulk from flukerfarms.com They have the cheapest prices. Start a dubia colony this week as it will take a few months to get it going. You can also breed superworms and crickets rather easily but again it takes some time and effort.
 
I would suggest you to invest in some dubias might be pricy at the beginning but worth it if you get a large colony started.
 
If you want a cheap, fast food that is extremely easy to breed, buy some Blatta lateralis roaches. They don't get too big so they are great for babies/smaller chams, and they reproduce like no other animal you can think of!

As for crickets, place a few females in a container with some damp soil as a substrate. Leave them alone for a while and when you see baby crickets jumping about, take them out and start feeding the baby crickets and keep them warm!

Superworms are a little harder, you need to separate the largest worms and wait for them to turn into pupae, then allow them to turn into adults and let them breed. It takes a lot longer.
 
Here are some ways to cut down on your costs, but they will all require start up costs, though you will find that you have probably saved enough in a few months to easily afford another cham -
I personally use LLL for crickets, I've just always had good luck with them. Get yourself a plastic garbage can or tote ($12-18) plus a clamp lamp ($7) to keep the crickets warm and growing & order the crickets in bulk- it's much cheaper this way. I pay $45 for 2000 crickets, and that will easily last me close to a month if not better with my current 3 Panthers.

http://www.sialis.org/raisingmealworms.htm#super - I use a 3 drawer plastic storage unit I picked up at Walmart for about $15, plus the cost of 3 big cans of whole oats- $6 plus 1000 mealies from LLL $25 includes shipping - $46 spent about 1 year ago, and I haven't spent a dime on mealies since then, and I am feeding 3 adult Panthers.

http://www.pygmychameleon.co.uk/feeder/348-culturing-pill-bugs-rolly-pollies-sow-bugs.html - Good old rollie pollies - get a couple of shoe box size containers from where ever, put some holes in them around them towards the top of each side for ventilation - start one with wild caught and as they breed transfer the babies to the other already set up box - cheap easy to maintain source of calcium. Everyone else has already mentioned the roaches- and I know there are members here who breed and sell them so check the classifieds.
Gut load is key to making any feeders worth their cost & effort- so check the threads here for some different recipes on dry mixes & the different veggies all your feeders should be using
 
Roaches + plastic garbage can + table scraps/gutload = endless free feeders

Sweep net = nutritional diversity

light bulb on at night outside + white sheet = moths, katydids, spiders, ......
 
Monzon said:
Roaches + plastic garbage can + table scraps/gutload = endless free feeders

Sweep net = nutritional diversity

light bulb on at night outside + white sheet = moths, katydids, spiders, ......
Click to expand...

That's the rocknroll way to do it! :cool: Personally, I'm happier with the Crickets and Locusts for staple breeding purposes...........if I do get more Chams I'm going to add a Roach bin...........:)
 
JennaBug said:
Yesss unfortunately I'm driving 20 some minutes away to buy crickets and superworms at petsmart...and I don't think they give me near as many as what they write on the bag either :( ...but I will definately look into both of those websites thank you :)
Click to expand...

omgsh. you sound just like me :eek:! it 20mins for me to get crikets 2! XD and i got clair at petsmart. i had seen them in their alot and always had wanted a cham but once i saw her i knew i had to have her :p! hahaha
 
Ive just started a Dubia colony... I feed off of it occasionally to start out and buy some Crickets to suplement for now... But I say order your Crickets online and start a Dubia colony... Cheap and easy to keep
 
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