What are safe insects to feed?

[lovepicasso]

Now that spring has sprung the woods and backyard are full of wild insects and worms of all kinds.....is there a safe insect sheet or does anyone know which would be safe or not?

 

[sandrachameleon]

Here are links to fairly comprehensive info:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/213-use-wild-caught-insects.html
http://www.ivanalfonso.com/2011/06/chameleon-diets-wild-collected-insects/


some bugs to avoid/potentially dangerous/toxic:

assassins bugs
centipedes
monarch butterflies (most butterflies actually)
fireflies
ladybugs
lubber grasshoppers (other grasshoppers/locust are usually fine)
boxelder beetles
hornworms that have been eating nightshade plants such as tomatoe leaves (captive ones fed appropriately are fine)
hairy caterpillars
milkweed bugs
bees (they are a threatened and necessary species, please don't kill them unnecessarily!)
wasps (Unless stingers removed).
spiders (potentially bad, but some people still use them)
wild caught terrestrial isopods/ rollie polly / wood bug (captive bred ones are great though)
wild caught flies (bacteria risk - use cultured ones)
anything with spikes that could damage the tongue (like large mantids, some beetles, Soldier termites)
fireants (most ants actually)
most brightly coloured bugs
slugs
water snails (captive cultured land snails are great though)
earth worms (usually not good, though growing your own and gut clearing helps)
any bug that may have been eating a plant that is toxic to chams

 

[lovepicasso]

Thank you Sandra, this is just what I needed.

 

[Lovereps]

Sandrachameleon, that is a wonderful list.
Thanks so much for sharing your extensive knowledge!

 

[sandrachameleon]

One wild caught bug I use a fair bit is the harvestman (Opiliones / longlegs) which are kinda like a spider, but are not spiders.

 

[lovepicasso]

One wild caught bug I use a fair bit is the harvestman (Opiliones / longlegs) which are kinda like a spider, but are not spiders.

I thought those were poisonous to everyone except humans, but if not, we have tons of those around here.....thanks Sandra.
What about all those legs, do the chams eat those or do you pull the legs off?

 

[sandrachameleon]

I thought those were poisonous to everyone except humans, but if not, we have tons of those around here.....thanks Sandra.
What about all those legs, do the chams eat those or do you pull the legs off?

I offer them 100% intact.
my chams havent died so far and I've offered these for years (just a few here and there though, not as a staple).

As with all wild caught foods, there's a risk of parasite transfer.

Termites are another good wild caught option.

 

[Riktor Scale]

My backyard is full of to many of the no-no list O.O

Why a no go on a ladybug?