Sick Veiled

[Vince]

I've tried Wax and roaches and he didn't want anything to do with either of those.

A chameleon that wont take a wax worm? Crazy My first jacksons wouldnt eat a meal worm. Maybe they know whats bad for them.

 

[blackbetty]

Wax worms.. Are they supposed to be alive? I bought some from Petsmart that came refrigerated..and they are cold and Im sure, dead. Someone said to stick them under some warm lighting and they would wiggle.. These dont..They melt.. Should they have been alive? I looked on Mulberryfarms and theirs said DO NOT refrigerated.. Not that it matters now but gonna see if I could get the frogs to eat them, but I cant since they are..dead...


Yoshi, Glad to hear things are turning around for ya..Keep up the good work.

 

[jmdavis]

When I bought some wax worms a few weeks ago from a pet store they pulled them right out of the fridge.You put them in the refrigerator to slow there metabolism down so they last longer. i don't think high heat is good for them so i just leave them out at room temp for like 10 min and then there ready to go, but they didn't really seem to move around to much. My cham wouldn't touch them so i don't think i will be buying them anytime soon

 

[leid]

Omg Amanda,

Im having the SAME problem This is the second time I've purchased wax worms and they've been dead. Petco and Petsmart have crappy feeders imo. Healthy crix but that's about it. They don't check their feeders enough and wax worms are supposed to only be good for several weeks, and they had some for MONTHS sitting in there.

To answer your question, YES. Wax worms should be alive.

They're supposed to wriggle, and since Fred doesn't eat anything not wriggling Im SOL on this new qt. Luckily I can take them back and get my money back since I talked to the manager about this.

 

[jmdavis]

I'm pretty sure that when they die they turn black and get hard. If you bought some and they look like that I would just take them back. I only had a few die and i had mine for a couple of weeks.

 

[blackbetty]

Hm..these are white and squishy..like limp.. and when I leave them at room temp..they are still..as they were.. Dead. LOL..Or at least pretending.

 

[leid]

I would -try- leaving them out for a couple hours, if you haven't. The lizard lady at Petco told me it might take some time for them to thaw completely since they are frozen.

 

[jmdavis]

That's weird. Mine were really squishy also and they just moved around a little. i wasn't impressed by them at all, so i think in going to try horn worms instead

 

[leid]

hornworms are the ones you have to poke a hole in, right?

 

[jmdavis]

From what i hear some people do and some don't. I think most people just feed them as is

 

[leid]

Okay. That's good to know because I didn't want to have to touch them, but they're really beneficial to the cham.

 

[blackbetty]

Yea but they are more meant as a Treat as they are high in fat/sugar. They are awesome looking though..If they didnt change, Id keep one as a pet. LOL.

I never poked holes..I just put em in the cage and when I returned, they were gone and Leo looked happy..

 

[leid]

Oh really? Didn't realize. I knew wax was high in fat. thanks for telling me that.

 

[dodolah]

Phoenix worm is a chitinous maggot of Black soldier fly.
This is the one that needed to be pricked.
Even so, I do not do that since all my chameleons chew when they eat. I have not yet so far see any intact phoenix worms coming out of their poop..

Horn worm is soft caterpillar.
If you prick them, they will ooze their gut content like a leaky faucet.
Why do that? You will have a messy enclosure..

The horn on its back is soft and harmless. It won't stab, jab, or prick your chameleon. Cutting its horn will also cause them to leak.

Actually, hornworm is high in protein, calcium, and water.
Not as much fat as you think..

Here is from GLHornworms' website:
Protein: 9%
fat: 3.07%
Calcium: 46.4mg/100g
Moisture: 85%

Wax worm (from some random site I google):
Protein: 16%
Fat: 20%
Moisture: 62%

So, i would recommend hornworms than wax worms any day.

 

[leid]

So i could feed them to my cham more frequently than wax worms. But are they still not considered a good "often" meal?

 

[dodolah]

So i could feed them to my cham more frequently than wax worms. But are they still not considered a good "often" meal?

Definitely more frequently than wax worms, yeah.
How often is "often"?

 

[leid]

like say, an alternative to crix?

 

[dave101]

Ive had my chameleons for three day, i have a couple of questions... I bought 2 veiled chameleons, one of them is eating and the other is not.. Is there a reason why she (we think that she is a girl) not eating? any info would be greatly appreciated...

If you just got him/her then him/her will probably not eat for 2-3 days because he or she is just getting use to his new enviroment and is probably stressed out but eventaully he/she will start eatting hopefully

 

[dodolah]

like say, an alternative to crix?

It can get real expensive y'know.
I would not recommend feeding your cham hornworms every day.
always feed your cham everything with moderation.

 

[leid]

Alright. Thanks.