What do you feed your chameleon?

[Reptilelover47]

Hey, I have a 4 month old male panther chameleon. So, far I've only been feeding him crickets, but I only got him a week ago. What does everyone else feed their chameleon other than crickets? I know that they need a lot of variety. I've heard about silkworms and green cockroaches.

 

[ReptileLove18]

as you said, a varied diet is the best diet. many keepers feed their chams crickets, silkworms, hornworms, roaches, and superworms or mealworms as treats. theres a lot of options to go with, this blog goes over different feeders for your cham as well as how much they can make of your chams diet and be healthy https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

 

[JohnDoe]

Phoenix worms, Hornworms, sillks, superworms. for the 4 month old i would feed phoenix worms, small hornworms and you can find small butter worms

 

[Reptilelover47]

Can I feed him hornworms, butterworms, earthworms, or caterpillars?

 

[Reptilelover47]

SOrry, when reloading your answers ddnt show up, until I posted that last question. lol

 

[Reptilelover47]

Thanks for that info. I'm gonna order some hornworms along with some other stuff now. Thank you!

 

[Reptilelover47]

How small should they be? No longer than the width of the chams head correct?

 

[ReptileLove18]

i was told in this thread https://www.chameleonforums.com/food-baby-veileds-102464/ that young chams can eat the same things adults can as long as the are the right size for your individual cham. the rule of thumb is dont feed anything that is longer then the width of your chams head!

earthworms are not recommended as chams would not eat them in the wild because they wouldnt encounter them while hunting in the trees. some caterpillars might be okay but you always want to check to make sure they arent toxic before feeding them to your cham!

 

[ReptileLove18]

How small should they be? No longer than the width of the chams head correct?

yup thats right according to the caresheets!

 

[reefercheefer]

roaches are the best. They help your cham grow faster. Alot more nutritious than crickets

 

[Reptilelover47]

i was told in this thread https://www.chameleonforums.com/food-baby-veileds-102464/ that young chams can eat the same things adults can as long as the are the right size for your individual cham. the rule of thumb is dont feed anything that is longer then the width of your chams head!

earthworms are not recommended as chams would not eat them in the wild because they wouldnt encounter them while hunting in the trees. some caterpillars might be okay but you always want to check to make sure they arent toxic before feeding them to your cham!

Thank you

 

[cubanbee]

Make that no Wider than the width of your chams head. Longer (like a worm would almost assuredly be) is fine.

 

[Chameleonmaster]

a list of my feeders i give on a regular basis.
roaches, crickets, fruit flies, regular house flies, soon to be mantises.
for snacks horn worms, silk worms when i can find them and wild caught insects like moths ,flies, and grass hoppers, ect.
i don't feed any worms with hard exoskeletons.
only feed a chameleon food thats the width between the eyes.
hope this helps.

 

[pepezkakap]

I don't have roaches back here. I do have cocroach and they're wild and nasty.
I do have meal and super worms but I am so confused that my Chams won't entertain any worm, is there something wrong?

 

[Chameleonmaster]

i wouldn't use the wild roaches because of the chemicals people spray to try and kill them and i honestly don't like meal worms or super worms because of the hard exoskeleton but thats just me.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Hey, I have a 4 month old male panther chameleon. So, far I've only been feeding him crickets, but I only got him a week ago. What does everyone else feed their chameleon other than crickets? I know that they need a lot of variety. I've heard about silkworms and green cockroaches.

Crickets
Dubia Roaches (captive bred only)
Hisser Roaches (captive bred only)
Turkish Roaches (captive bred only)
Indian Walking Stick Insects /Phasmatodea (captive bred only)
Terrestrial isopods (captive bred only)
land snails (captive bred only)
Silkworms
Hornworms (captive fed only)
Termites
Blue bottle flies (captive bred only)
Butterworms
Superworms
Mealworms
Moths
most types of grasshopper /Locust
Katydid

 

[Decadancin]

How small should they be? No longer than the width of the chams head correct?

Actually, it should be no "wider" than your cham's space between the eyes. A bit longer should be no problem because they will take the food head first and be able to swallow it.

(As cubanbee has already pointed out! )

 

[ReptileLove18]

Actually, it should be no "wider" than your cham's space between the eyes. A bit longer should be no problem because they will take the food head first and be able to swallow it.

(As cubanbee has already pointed out! )

sorry guys,i'll keep that in mind next time i said that because thats what the caresheets say! this is from the veiled caresheet:
"The rule of thumb is to not feed insects that are longer than the width of your chameleon's head."

 

[sandrachameleon]

The width of the prey should be no wider than the space between the chams eyes. To be safe, best if it is also no longer than twice the length of its head, unless the cham is an adult, a good chewer, and you keep an eye on it for any trouble swallowing (too large of prey could also lead to impaction /defecation issues in susceptible animals)

 

[ReptileLove18]

The width of the prey should be no wider than the space between the chams eyes. To be safe, best if it is also no longer than twice the length of its head, unless the cham is an adult, a good chewer, and you keep an eye on it for any trouble swallowing (too large of prey could also lead to impaction /defecation issues in susceptible animals)

thank you for the specific info sandra