So i'm looking for a primary feeder

[wontbme]

I would not like to feed her crickets. i'll feed them every now and then. like once a week. but can you please suggest to me something ican feed every day? worms/beetles/ etc

 

[chachilla]

Its a good idea to feed a variety of healthy gut loaded insect to your chameleons. Crickets are a main staple along with other insects. If your not digging the crickets as a main feeder, you can try your hand at with dubia roaches and or other roaches. I personally prefer the roaches since they are self sustaining and breed like crazy. However, I still feed my chameleons crickets, silkworms, hornworms, superworms, fruits flies since they are available to me most of the time.

 

[wontbme]

hornworms are pretty expensive though, no?
can they be used as a staple?

 

[ijmccollum]

I generally use superworms as a staple and supplement with horns, butters, silks and store crix. Kind of got tired of the smell and the mess so I just use the pet store and gut load good before feeding. I have recently purchased some dubai --shhhhh--the other half doesn't know yet, he'd freak. Actually they are more for my T's because I don't gut load them w/high Ca++ and the Ca++ is not so good for T's.

And besides, those black crix on the market right now make me scream like a little girl!

Which reminds me, I should probably visit Mullberry's soon.

 

[wontbme]

yeah i despise crickets.. sadly i cant keep roaches a secret. i dont get it...

anyway. are silkworms hard to maintain?

 

[chachilla]

Hornworms can be expensive to purchase when compared to other readily available feeders and they grow real fast when proper temperatures are maintain with a constant food supply. I personally don't use them as a staple basted on the 2 reasons above, expensive and grow too fast for some chameleons that are small to eat. That doesn't mean they are not a good feeder to use, especially along hand with a typical staple feeder such as crickets and roaches. Hornworms are a good treat that can help a dehydrated chameleon get hydrated. Horworms tend to make urates a little runny or loose if enough of them have been eaten.I think properly gutloaded crickets and roaches make a better staple, but hornworms can and should be incorporated into a chameleons diet if you have access to them.

 

[ijmccollum]

I order in cups of silks and horn worms that already have food in them and replenish with silk/horn worm medium that comes in a bag and needs to be "cooked". I don't use them as a staple. Visit the sponsor site and check out the links. It'll give you an idea of how to keep the feeders.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I would not like to feed her crickets. i'll feed them every now and then. like once a week. but can you please suggest to me something ican feed every day? worms/beetles/ etc

Variety is best. IMHO you dont want a "staple" but rather a selection of prey choices. No one feeder should make up the bulk of the chameleon's diet. So with crickets once a week, your other 4 or 5 choices could be any of these:
Hissing roach nymps, Dubia and other roaches
silkworms
butterworms
locust / grasshopper
terrestrial isopods
indian walking sticks
blue bottles
Superworms

see this link for a good list of the typicaly choices: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html