Variety in diet in young chameleon

[lainezor]

My little guy Floyd, is a 5 month old male panther. I have had him for about 2 weeks now and I have only feed him with dusted crickets. I went to the pet store and they had silkworms but they were 75 cents each! Butterworms were 50cents and superworms were pretty cheap. Since my little guy is tiny I dont want him to choke on anything. I have been feeding him 10-12(sometimes more because he is a hungry hippo) crickets a day with calcium with no d3 in the 3/4inch size. Three questions: 1- Why are silkworms and other worms so expensive, is there a cheaper source? 2-How do I care for the other insects 3-what can I safely feed him without worrying about him choking. Thanks

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. The larger variety of feeders the better. You can offer him all that you mentions of the appropriate size which is no wider that the space between his eyes. Since you only have one cham it might not be a bad idea to just buy him a few different worms at a time. I buy large quantity via interment but I have 6 mouths to feed. You might find my blog for new keeps helpful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[deadhd5]

That is cool that you have a store that actually has those insects in stock, though $.75 is pricey. They are great feeders though, high in calcium and other nutrients and full of moisture to help with hydration. You can order eggs online and hatch them yourself for much cheaper. I breed my own.

A good rule for size of the feeder insect is that they should be no wider than the space between your chameleon's eyes.

The husbandry for insects varies by the type. I raise silkworms, snails, crickets, and roaches. Roaches are by far the easiest. There are blogs by Pigglet on how to raise silks that I would highly recommend if you go that route. Sandrachameleon has great blogs on gutloading, which is the most important part of preparing your feeders for Floyd.