Newbie Question about Feeding

[SimplyJess]

Hey all,

I am new to these forums and soon to be a new chameleon owner. I am hoping to pick up a Jackson chameleon (Bartholomew, it's a long story) after I graduate from college, something I have been wanting to do for years now. I live out in the country, which is great. Most of the insects would be excellent for my chameleon, lots of healthy crickets. My concern is the winter months. Because I live out in the country, we sometimes get snowed in. I am still working on a plan for in case the power goes out, but that does not happen so much as we get snowed in. Should that happen, I want to have an extra stash for Bartholomew. While researching, I came across this at Pets Smart

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752544

which I would use to serve Bartholomew

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752653&keepsr=0

or the mini grass hoppers, snails, or shrimp. Has anyone used this before? Did your chameleon like it? I want to test one at the PetSmart before I purchase it as the only thing that concerns me with it at the moment is I do not know what the sound level is. But other people I have talked with who have used it, namely gecko and bearded dragon owners like it and find that it is a great way to feed their little ones. I figured that if I got it, I would try it out while in the summer or while having a nice supply of other things for Bartholomew to eat to see whether he liked it. Thanks!

 

[Chase]

The problem is that you can't gutload them. Plus, they aren't in the greatest feeders. What you need is real insects. You can buy bulk of like anything on the internet. Also, most of the bugs that you might see, probably would be bad for them, they might have ran across Pesticides, which would be bad. If you want a chameleon, you should buy it from a breeder, it would be a little more, but it would most likely be because of shipping. The problem with Pet Stores is that they don't really take care of their animal that great. Yesterday, I went to Petsmart, they were keeping a Tortoise and a Red Ear Slider together, completely different needs. Also, if it's your first chameleon, I suggest a Veiled Chameleon. They are much more Hardy, and aren't that expensive, but turn out beautiful. Here are some links for bugs and breeders.

http://coastalsilkworms.com/splash.html
http://www.ghann.com/
http://luckylurecricketfarm.com/
http://www.flchams.com/
http://www.tikitikireptiles.com/

 

[SimplyJess]

Thank you

Thanks very much. I'll keep all of this in mind definitely since what I want most of all is to have a healthy chameleon, and, under no circumstances, would I want to torture the poor thing. Another quick question about wild insects. I live out in the country in the middle of a woods surrounded by fields. For about a fifteen minute walk in most directions, there are no fields that are sprayed. The field closest that goes on for quite a ways has been made into a wild life preserve of sorts to grow wildflowers and fir trees. When I move to Virginia, I have no intention of picking up the bugs out there because I'll be in the city. But would the sort of crickets, etc. that I find here still be risky?

And yes, as I'm doing research, I think I may be leaning toward getting a Veiled or a Panther now due to the fact that I have never raised a chameleon. My one concern with the Veileds is that I've heard that they're the more aggressive of the three breeds, and, while I don't expect a pet who wants to cuddle and go for long walks on the beach, I would also prefer to have one that isn't going to lay my finger open when I have to take him out to clean his cage. What has your experience been?

 

[sandrachameleon]

Hi there

I would recommend against the vibrating dish for the winter, and instead suggest you raise a couple types of insect yourself, so that you always have live bugs on hand. This may help you in the summer as well, should you be unable to chase down wild insects for some reason or another. There are several easy to keep insects you could choose from, including Zophobas (often called superworms or kingworms) and various tropical cockroaches.

Using wild caught insects carries some risk, but the situation you describe sounds like it could be okay. Keep in mind that your chameleon may be exposed to more parasites this way as well, so you will need to do regular check-ups at a vet than specializes in / has a good understanding of chameleons or at least reptiles and can do fecal exams, etc.
Be sure also about which insects are okay and which may be poisonous (not just from pestacide contact, but from what the bugs eat or just natural yuckiness - for instance lady beetles are bad).

For winter power-outs, do you have a wood burning fireplace or other means of keeping the house warm? If your chameleon has to go without UVB lights for a couple days that will be okay, so long as at least the ambient temp stays within tolerances.

I dont know about Jacksons, but Panthers are less aggressive than some vieleds, in terms of occassional necessary handling.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Link to a thread that covers basics of breeding superworms (aka kingworms, aka Zophobas)
https://www.chameleonforums.com/can-i-breed-my-19747/

Info on commonly used roaches
dubia (aka papaya beetle) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaptica_dubia
hissing roach: https://www.chameleonforums.com/madag...g-roach-14584/

Here is a link to a site that lists various types of insects, including some that might be suitable for wild collection: http://web.archive.org/web/20060503233712/www.chameleonjournals.com/husbandry/
(note: I'd be extra cautious about using wild caught hornworms - what they naturally eat is toxic to chameleons)

 

[SimplyJess]

Thanks Again

Yes, I do have a fireplace. It's a beautiful stone fireplace large enough to keep the whole house warm.

Yes, that's a good idea about raising insects. I've raised crickets and ants before. I already decided that if I should end up feeding my chameleon wild crickets then I would follow the guide either on this site or another for cleaning and gut loading them. It's funny. I started raising some bugs to get over my fear of bugs. I started doing it also to demonstrate that I could handle owning a chameleon, but before the end, though I realized how simple it was to care for crickets, I decided I wanted to wait until I was secure enough financially to be able to support a chameleon. I'm still trying to figure out how much to budget out for a chameleon on a yearly basis, but I need to talk to the vet to find out his experience with chameleons. I know he has worked with snakes, turtles, and salamanders, but I'm not too sure about chameleons.

 

[Hilikus311]

Hello, and good luck getting your Cham, but i have to say you should really look into getting a backup generator for your sake and your chams. This would help in the case of an outage, and would make things alot easier for you. As far as bugs go, i would just invest in a colony of hissing cockroaches and crickets to bread on your own as well as some silk worm eggs that you can hatch in 3 month invtervals since i believe you can freeze the eggs till you want to hatch them?! And as far as catching wilk caught insects, there is ALWAYS the possiblilty of pesticide poisioning unless you live in the Galopagos Islands or some remote location hundreds of miles away from civilization. U have to keep in mind that with todays crop dusters the chances of the pesticide being spread by wind onto a seemingly untouched place is pretty high and Well i just wouldn't risk it? would you? Simply put just invest in your own colonies of feeder insects.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I do think the pesticide issue is much less of an issue some places than in others.

Frankly the amount of pesticides on much of the produce people commonly eat and feed to crickets is coated in the stuff. So many people are essentially giving doses of it to their captive feeders anyhow.

There are organic certified farms round where my parental units live. No pesticides within miles or they cant get certified. Limited motorized vehicles on their farms - they actually even have animal plows.

I catch grasshoppers on the fallow fields several times each summer. And they gladly gives me cabbage loppers. I feel the benefits outweigh risks.
Im not saying its not an issue, but I do think some people can use wild caught insects safely.

I actually think the harder part would be finding a sufficient amount, having sufficient time to catch them. I would not rely soley on wild caught bugs. I think of them as enrichments only.

Some ideas in this thread re power outages: https://www.chameleonforums.com/emergency-18350/