Generally speaking, live insects are necessary, yes. I agree with C that if you dont like bugs or can not provide a good variety of live insects, a chameleon is the wrong pet for you.

I suggest offering as many types of live insects as possible: butterworms, crickets (gut loaded & dusted), roaches, moths, hornworms, silk worms, meal worms (gutloaded and dusted), king worms, wood sows, grasshoppers, phasmids, etc. IMHO offering only crickets and mealworms is NOT recommended. Feed water several times a day. If you're going to let the insects roam around in the cage for awhile, make sure the insects have something to eat so that they remain nutritious for when the cham finally finds and eats them.

Having said all that, I do have one "runt" chameleon that I frequently hand-feed, as she is a poor hunter. Because she is acustomed to taking food from my fingers or tweezers, I suspect she would eat anything I offered in this manner, live or dead. So it's possible you could "train" your chameleon to do the same. I dont suggest this, as it goes against their natural behaviour and may not be healthy for them, may cause a weakening of the tongue,etc.
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Sandra
BC Canada

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