wild caught bugs

[mary prefontaine]

back when i had my jackson chameleons i used a bug napper to catch moths at night to feed to them and they loved it, but yet on some reference pages i see that you should never feed any wild caught insects to your chameleons which one is correct?after all they eat many assorted bugs maybe not paticularly from florida but im sure moths were on their diet in madagascar too.

 

[ken2414]

they both are kinda right. if you feed wild bugs to your cham you introduce the possibilty of parasites. i feed my chamleon house flies. its really up to you and where you live. if you live by a farm i wouldnt or by any place else like a chemical plant otherwise it shouldnt do anything to cham.

 

[SuperRad]

they both are kinda right. if you feed wild bugs to your cham you introduce the possibilty of parasites. i feed my chamleon house flies. its really up to you and where you live. if you live by a farm i wouldnt or by any place else like a chemical plant otherwise it shouldnt do anything to cham.

It's not really parasites as your chameleons immune should be healthy enough to kill most parasites. It's really mostly pesticides that those insects may have traces of, whether in their system, or externally.
When feeding any live feeders to your chameleons, you always risk the chance of introducing parasites.

 

[mary prefontaine]

well i live pretty muh in a small town in a small community and have never seen any bug machines comming around to spray for mosquitos or anything i have woods on one side of me and simple neighbors on all other sides, with no signs of bug pesticide companies spraying the yards.

 

[SuperRad]

a good rule of thumb to also remember is, if an insect can survive in a container for about 3 days or so, it usually is a sign that they are not carrying any pesticide residues as they would have certainly died.

 

[Nicodemayo]

a good rule of thumb to also remember is, if an insect can survive in a container for about 3 days or so, it usually is a sign that they are not carrying any pesticide residues as they would have certainly died.

thats pretty clever.

 

[Orchidartist]

What about bugs caught from your compost heap? Is that ok?

 

[Sean1978]

How about if you had a bud napper and you made a "bug quarantine" 10 gallon aquarium, you could put some gut load food in it and let them sit for a few days.

 

[mary prefontaine]

all good ideas i think i will do that but im afraid moths wont live in a containe for 3 days will they? i thought they dies off quick naturally

 

[ken2414]

if you give the moth a dark place and a stick and food it should live.

 

[mary prefontaine]

what the heck do moths eat?lol

 

[mary prefontaine]

what like veggie matter? what do moths eat?

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

what the heck do moths eat?lol

Just stick a t-shirt in there. I heard moths love to eat clothes in your closets