The one thing I don't like about keeping chameleons

[del33]

I love all of our chams, but I don't like the fact that they only eat live prey. Call me soft or whatever,,, but I just really despise having to watch something die in order to support the life of another. I know,,, that's nature..... but I'm still in control... I guess I get somewhat connected to the insects especially when I go through the trouble of making sure that they are well fed and hydrated. It's like raising a pet just to feed another.... Oh well,, it comes with the territory I guess.... Am I alone in this sentiment???

 

[melrito]

Hey, I'm vegan and wouldn't kill anything if it were up to me, but chams are basically insectivores, just like dogs are basically carnivores. If I were against letting them eat their natural food, I wouldn't have the chams (or the dogs).

Just my opinion...

 

[Synapse]

I used to feel that way when I started keeping chams. I've become a cold-hearted monster because of my chams!!!

I still feel bad feeding off some of my bigger dubias sometimes lol. It's like I raised these for months!!! Just to feed off

I hate crickets though so I have no problem feeding them off. Luckily for me they are the staple of my chams diets.

 

[del33]

Hey, I'm vegan and wouldn't kill anything if it were up to me, but chams are basically insectivores, just like dogs are basically carnivores. If I were against letting them eat their natural food, I wouldn't have the chams (or the dogs).

Just my opinion...

Point well made and I totally agree.. It's nature.. Just wish there was some way in feeding them already dead/preserved crickets so it wasn't ME that caused their death

 

[mychamybilo]

I dont feel bad when they are insects, I mean come on your not bonding with your crickets are you? I can understand feeling bad about feeding a snake a live mouse or hamster or something but a cricket come on... Plus I spent all this money on my beautiful chameleon, if anything I'm happy whenever he eats because its supporting him who I actually like.

edit: plus these insects life spans are already short its no big deal... I understand what your getting at though

 

[kinyonga]

Don't plants sense/feel things?

Click the directional arrows to read more...
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/plants/news-feeling-plants-how-sensitive-flora?image=1

http://www.uncoveror.com/plants.htm

 

[DavidBuchan]

Yeah, I reckon I'd be a hypocrite to eat a cow, but feel at all squeamish about feeding insects to something......
The food web is how it is, celebrate it or get out the kitchen.........cheeseburgers and dubias for dinner today, very tasty and natural

 

[TheSeymoursDOTcom]

My crickets get cricket crack till they cant climb.. Lolol they woulda never ate this good in their life so i dont feel bad sending them off lol.. We all gotta die, some just sooner than others..

Sadly i say "Finish Him" now when my chams chomp down lol!
"Reptile Wins!" haha

In control? Hah i wish us humans were really in control so to speak i kid i kid but funny points

 

[James45]

Lol Reptile Wins. FATALITY!!!!!

 

[del33]

My crickets get cricket crack till they cant climb.. Lolol

Sadly i say "Finish Him" now when my chams chomp down lol!
"Reptile Wins!" haha

Haha too funny!!

 

[fluxlizard]

The uncomfortable truth is- life always feeds off of other life. It isn't a food chain like we are taught in school beginning with plants and ending with the biggest predator. It is a circle of life and just goes through changes from one life to another. Even plants eaten by animals eventually "eat" animals again as animals die and provide necessary enrichment for the soil, without which plant life would be impossible over time. Even if you are a vegetarian- if you believe you aren't killing animals to eat those vegetables, you are just fooling yourself. Any garden requires habitat loss not to mention vegetable farming on commercial scale and what it has done to wildlife and habitat and the environment.

So, it doesn't make me feel uncomfortable or bad to feed an animal to another animal. But it does make me feel grateful that one gives life to the other.

I think the monks who feed their dead to the birds have the right idea.

Being preserved and put in a box where I cannot give back and end up able to nourish nothing- that is what makes me feel uncomfortable when I think about it...

 

[okiroo]

The uncomfortable truth is- life always feeds off of other life. It isn't a food chain like we are taught in school beginning with plants and ending with the biggest predator. It is a circle of life and just goes through changes from one life to another. Even plants eaten by animals eventually "eat" animals again as animals die and provide necessary enrichment for the soil, without which plant life would be impossible over time. Even if you are a vegetarian- if you believe you aren't killing animals to eat those vegetables, you are just fooling yourself. Any garden requires habitat loss not to mention vegetable farming on commercial scale and what it has done to wildlife and habitat and the environment.

So, it doesn't make me feel uncomfortable or bad to feed an animal to another animal. But it does make me feel grateful that one gives life to the other.

I think the monks who feed their dead to the birds have the right idea.

Being preserved and put in a box where I cannot give back and end up able to nourish nothing- that is what makes me feel uncomfortable when I think about it...

i agree. I'd never allow myself to be like that when i die; however, being eaten really freaks me out. So yeah, ashes sound like a happy medium. lol.

 

[Meow Kitty]

Peronsally i hate bugs i hate handling them but i love chams sooooo its like a win for me and the chameleon he eats and somthing i dislikes gets eaten

 

[emilybier]

Well, the way I see it, a big reason that insects are around is to feed other things
I also heard somewhere that they don't feel pain in the same way we do or maybe not even at all. I'm not sure if I buy into it, but if it helps you feel better there are people that believe it.
I mostly hate feeding bugs because I hate bugs!

I always have to buy my rodents pre-killed, I understand. It is mostly for the safety of my snakes but also because I don't want to watch them be killed.

 

[Robyrango]

I know the feeling, but I'm keep saying to myself that I'm giving the crickets the best time of their life comparing the way the've been kept in the pet shop!
Nice fresh food every second day, lots of space and fresh air!

 

[ChameleonsInMyHouse]

i weirdly enough ONLY feel bad feeding silkworms. lol, i think silkworms are cute for bugs haha, yet i have no problem feeding live pinkies (if the time is appropriate for my veiled) and feeding live to my amieva.

when its feeding time, i dont mind. but if its a helpless bug (ant, spider) in the wild, i just cant do it lol. so dont feel bad, we all have different preferences

 

[Solid Snake]

Well I have developed a strong hatred of crickets! I don't mind feeding them at all! I hate to see the mantids go, they have a ton more personality than crickets, but I still don't mind feeding them. Stella takes priority! I understand why people keep mantids as pets, I came across a blog recently on "How to care for your pet cricket" In which it told how to care for a single "pet" cricket. It cracked me up...

 

[Olimpia]

I feel nothing for the insects I use as feeders. I don't believe in squashing bugs in the wild if possible, since they don't deserve to die just because I find them icky. But the feeders are feeders. I find it hard to relate to something that has such a weird face...

 

[bigcappa]

I must be a monster lol, but I don't feel bad about any of my feeders.... although I did see a video of a chameleon eating another smaller chameleon in the wild and that did make me cringe a little...