Variety

[mgebbie]

I've been feeding my 5 month old veiled (male) about 15-20 gut loaded crickets per day. When should I be introducing other feeders? I was thinking of silk worms or goliaths, but I wasn't sure when. I didn't want to introduce something new and have him go on hunger strike, and never eat crickets again.

Any ideas?

 

[Olimpia]

It's never too early to introduce new foods to his diet. Both worms are excellent feeders, and he'll probably love both of them.

I've never had a chameleon go on any sort of strike, I think because I offer a lot of variety all the time. So crickets are the staple but they aren't 90% of the diet, so there are weeks where they may not see crickets at all and others where they will see them a lot more often, but I add in horn (goliath) worms, silkworms, butterworms, grasshoppers, supperworms, 3 types of roaches, and whatever I find outside that's safe to feed off. They get an average of 3-4 different insects a week.

Mixing it up for him will keep all food items more interesting, I think. And if he does get tired of one then don't use it for a little bit and reintroduce it after a few days. Feeder variety is also good for stimulating them mentally, it keeps things interesting for them.

 

[mgebbie]

Thank you so much! I guess it's time for Christmas shopping for Thorium!