wild caught insects?

[savannahblue]

I was wondering what type of insects are "safe" to catch and feed to my v. cham. How can i tell if an insect is dangerous or not? of course i would be collecting from a pesticide free area. I live and go to school in charleston, sc so i was thinking about gathering field plankton from marsh grass or sand dunes.

any input is greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[cambech]

You pretty much just have to do your own research. catch a bug and look it up on the internet. or post a photo on this forum and someone can tell you if they know. Otherwise, unless you are 100% sure that the insect is safe and pesticide free I wouldn't feed it off your veild.

 

[GooglezNvincent]

In regards to the pesticide part, as long at the insect is not tainted yellow and is not dead it should be free of pesticide. I asked Dr. Greek about this and he told me if the insect had enough pesticide to harm my cham then the insect would be dead. I have known some people to quarantine the insects for a day or so to be 100% sure, so you could do that too. Hope this helps a little!

-Trevor

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Basically your safe feeding: grasshoppers, katydids, stick bugs, dragon flies, roaches, moths, & butterflies. I personally dont feed many butterflies as i can only identify a few and I play it safe. I also keep all mine overnight and try to gutload them with romaine or greens.

 

[Texas Ranger]

IMO. I wouldnt use WC insects. Just because you may know the area you collect them from is safe, but where have those insects traveled from. Also I would be scared of bacteria they could be carrying. But Its totally up to you. If I did collect them, I would only catch bugs that I could reconize. Bugs that I knew about, (grasshoppers, crickets, etc...)

 

[Texas Panther Man]

IMO. I wouldnt use WC insects. Just because you may know the area you collect them from is safe, but where have those insects traveled from. Also I would be scared of bacteria they could be carrying. But Its totally up to you. If I did collect them, I would only catch bugs that I could reconize. Bugs that I knew about, (grasshoppers, crickets, etc...)

Bacteria? Parasites yes, but bacteria no. The vast majority of those bugs listed are herbivores. They arent feeding on dead carcasses. How are they going to pass a deadly bacteria to your cham? All feeders can pass parasites on to your chams, not just wc bugs.

 

[sandrachameleon]

There are risks and benefits

There is potential risk to using wild caught insects. Parasites, pesticides, and one that is often overlooked:the bug may have eaten something good for it but BAD for chamelones (like tomatoe leaves). What type of wild prey you choose is significant. Note: Flies, a common prey item, can carry bacteria - Wild ones more so. Wild terrestrial isopods are heavy metal bioacumulators. Catepillars collected near roadsides may have pollutants on them. Many beetles will eat dead animals/ fecal matter. There is also the risk of you accidentally offering a bug that is in and of itself toxic.
etc.

Most of the risks can be mitigated.

I breed plenty of insects, have several stores locally and online from which to buy, yet I do still use wild caught insects. Not from a suburb or city area (which I consider poor collection areas, high risk), but rather an organic farm in the country and a park/wilderness area.

Im still knowingly running the risk of bringing home parasites to my chameleons. I believe that chameleons normally likely have some small level of parasites with them all the time. If the chameleon is otherwise healthy, and the particular parasite(s) not too awful, well then likely no harm done.

I do have fecal tests done with some regularity and have enough money saved to ensure any treatment costs are easily covered, if required. I also monitor weights and pay attention to "attitude" and "activity".

As there is some risk a wild caught bug ate something that will stay in its system long enough to cause harm to my chameleons. I try to reduce this risk this by keeping and feeding the wc bugs for at least a day to clear anything in their guts. This does not entirely remove the risk.

So far I've not had anything too serious result.

For me, the perceived benefits of occassional use of certain wild-caught bugs (different nutrients, chameleon interest/excitement) makes the risks worth it. But I mostly rely on / use bugs I breed myself, plus store bought crickets. There are lots of bugs you can breed easily, with little effort or cost.