I like to try and use both Acheta and Gryllodes.
This shows the difference between acheta domesticus (house crickets) and gryllus bimaculatus (field crickets). Banded crickets are gryllodes sigillatus. Here’s a link with info, though every major online feeder store, along with Google and YouTube, have comparisons, as well.
I just now recognized that
. I would still use both, variety is better than trying to choose one “best”.
Thanks. I've been feeding crickets, silkworms and dubias.
It never hurts to try new feeders or supplement different ones to your feeding rotation! Try to get some flying bugs, your chameleon will LOVE them, especially if they’re brightly colored!
. Looking at websites that sell a lot of different types of roaches too.
Hopefully the mealworms are‘n’t for your cham(s)?Currently feed mealworms, superworms, dubia roaches, acheta crickets (petco), banded crickets (petsmart), Hornworms, and I’m still trying to get my gecko to eat silkworms
I don’t own a chameleon, I’m just here to seek more knowledge on the nutrition of insectivores. If I did then I would have no problem feeding them mealworms. Every food seems to be out to cause a health problem when they’re not supplemented with something else or has the incorrect role in a diet.
Mealworms are an absolute no-no to feed chameleons! Don’t do that if you ever get one! They are hard to digest and have no nutritional value. In the resourecs tab on here, under care images, you can see a list of healthy feeder options
Mealworms do have nutritional value though. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing wrong with them as long as other healthy feeders are provided.
While that might be true for other reptiles and amphibians (though I’m still not sure), they aren’t to chameleons. And why would you feed them when there are so many healthier options available that can hold more gutload? Besides, chameleons don’t eat them in the wild, unlike moths and flies that you can feed here.
Do you have proof that chameleons get no nutrition from mealworms? They’re an easy to access feeder that can be added for variety and do you have proof that they can’t hold gutload well? Chameleons probably don’t eat quite a few of the commercial feeder species we have for them in captivity.
Look up the ash content in mealworms, it’s low, which means they can’t hold gutload as well as they need to. There’s your proof. They also aren’t easy to digest and can cause impaction in chameleons from their high chitin levels. They have a bad calcium-to-phosphorus ratio and are fatty, too. They don’t make top feeder lists for bearded dragons, leopard geckos, chameleons and more. Go through at least the first two pages of this Google search if you want:
