Spiny orb weaver spider - feeding my Jackson
- Thread starter paulkaranik
- Start date
Bush baby
Avid Member
As for mine, when I want to take him out to get some real sun, I take out a fake tree with me, and place him in that. I do this because real trees outside can have insects walking around on them that you don't know about. I never take my eye off the fake tree or leave him by himself while he is outside, and I've never seen him nab a random insect (yet). I also have his old cage that I'm going to turn into an outside cage that I can place on my balcony for days I want to leave him outside longer than an hour or so, but have things to do. It'll be easier to place him in a screen cage on the balcony and go about my business while he soaks up some rays because I won't have to worry about watching him, and stray insects won't be able to get into the cage where he can nab them.
Eating wild bugs should the least of your worries with a Cham outside. I had a mockingbird fly down and snatch my cham away, as i stood just 5 feet away!
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
That's why I said I never take my eye off of his tree or walk away from him. I literally sit like right beside the tree and I set it in a small grassy area just off my porch. A bird comes down, I'd jump up and scare it so fast. I hope I never have to deal with that.....
Nicholasdeaan
Avid Member
No doubt. I always let mine crawl around in thick cover and large plants. So they're not sitting out in the open with a target painted on their back.Eating wild bugs should the least of your worries with a Cham outside. I had a mockingbird fly down and snatch my cham away, as i stood just 5 feet away!
JaxyGirl
Avid Member
My Chams love Dady Long Legs/Harvestmen which are not poisonous.I do pretty much agree with you however the way my cages are set up outside I don't have a choice and cannot stop spiders my cages are approximately 10 foot by 8 foot by 7 Foot and are covered mostly in one quarter inch hardware cloth and we also don't really have any venomous spiders like out west or at least for you have the black widows and things like that I would say our most dangerous spider would have to be the daddy long leg and they love those another thing to know is I did pretty much research as many bugs as I could in our area in the only real toxic one we have is the lightning bug but as stated it's a personal choice each person makes and it does involve a little bit of a risk to the chameleon I will always feed wild most of my chameleons are wild-caught rescues from shows so they are already used to eating Wild Things and you do have a good point about raising your own safe wild bugs, I breed isopod, praying mantis, snails, moth and I harvest mosquito larvae for all the babies and praying mantis
The do get confused with the Daddy-longlegs spiders which are poisonous,
http://spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html.
JaxyGirl
Avid Member
I honestly can't wait for the insects to finally show up this spring up here in Maine. My chams look and I'm sure feel great because of all the natural wild insects they get this time of year. Nothing can beat the nutrition they get from the variety of wild insects. Not only do they taste good It also boosts their immune system and its so much better for them. Think about how much better Free Range animals raised on a grain free diets are so much better for human consumption then grain fed animals. So for me the nutritional benefits of Free Range insects out weigh the cons. In fact most wild chams carry parasites but it isn't till the stress of captivity that the parasites start to affect them.
My chams love Dady Long Legs, moths, grasshoppers, June bugs.
I'm the crazy person collecting bugs around our out door lights every night ...Lol.
And I put them in Zip Lock bags in the vegetable bin of our fridge so they will go dormant and last longer haha!
Moths really aren't known to carry very many parasites such as parisitic worms because the majority are so short lived..a few days to a couple of weeks at most. ..it doesn't make sense for parasites to invade their body because their host will be dead in a few days. Moths live to breed and die and that's it. Some may carry mites but probably not really dangerous to chams. Caterpillars can carry parasites but mostly from a Parasitic Wasp that lays eggs on them but those aren't harmful to chams. It usually the longer lived insects that have a long life cycle that carry parasites such, crickets, Grasshoppers, Isopods, Roaches,
and beatles. As for chams eating spiders...I bet that pretty much anything that moves will be eaten by chams living in the wild including spiders. Any hoo, those are my houghts and I'm sticking to them
My chams love Dady Long Legs, moths, grasshoppers, June bugs.
I'm the crazy person collecting bugs around our out door lights every night ...Lol.
And I put them in Zip Lock bags in the vegetable bin of our fridge so they will go dormant and last longer haha!
Moths really aren't known to carry very many parasites such as parisitic worms because the majority are so short lived..a few days to a couple of weeks at most. ..it doesn't make sense for parasites to invade their body because their host will be dead in a few days. Moths live to breed and die and that's it. Some may carry mites but probably not really dangerous to chams. Caterpillars can carry parasites but mostly from a Parasitic Wasp that lays eggs on them but those aren't harmful to chams. It usually the longer lived insects that have a long life cycle that carry parasites such, crickets, Grasshoppers, Isopods, Roaches,
and beatles. As for chams eating spiders...I bet that pretty much anything that moves will be eaten by chams living in the wild including spiders. Any hoo, those are my houghts and I'm sticking to them
JaxyGirl
Avid Member
OMG!! Sooo sorry to hear that...you must have been so heartbrokenEating wild bugs should the least of your worries with a Cham outside. I had a mockingbird fly down and snatch my cham away, as i stood just 5 feet away!
Bush baby
Avid Member
Shocked…and yes, heart-broken.OMG!! Sooo sorry to hear that...you must have been so heartbroken
JaxyGirl
Avid Member
I'm the one that stops everybody from squishing them so I can set them free outside..Lol!I don't care much for spiders... although I am often sent into battle with them as I have 3 kids and wife that don't like them at all!!
