Lol! Had to chuckle at that. One of my kids has a true bug phobia. She made me swear to never bring a roach into the house.
Like you, I researched chams for at least a year before getting one. She watched & listened....
To answer your question on feeders; at the moment, crickets, stable flies(his favorite!), soon to feed silk worms. I've also fed super worms, hornworms, Indian stcks, & pink wings with other babies.
I've got a lot of different critters, but none has fascinated me as much as these, little guys.