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what worms r the healthiest for chams?
i have never fed my cham worms. i was woundering which i should start out? for feeding worms to a veild. and advice will be great, thanks

John,

When we say "worms" we mean caterpillars or larva, as opposed to earthworms (though I think some folks feed them). The most common are:

silkworms and hornworms. these are both actually the larval stage of moths: silk moths, sphinx moths respectively. Silkies are great, have a soft integument - “skin” - high(er) in calcium. Downside is that if you do not have access to Mulberry Leaves (and a good supply) you need to feed them an artificial diet "chow" but a viable option, just can get a little pricey. Mulberry is the ONLY host plant this species will eat. These are readily available and worth getting at least some. here are some sites: (first two are fellow KS posters and I can personally recommend both)
www.californiasilkworms.com/
www.silkwormfarm.com/
www.mulberryfarms.com/ (sell hornworms, too)

then there are waxworms, which are the larva of a wax moth (PLEASE NEVER EVER let the adult moths of these loose. They infest honeybee hives and do very serious damage). They are very high in fat and are recommended as a treat not a staple
Here is some info: http://home.earthlink.net/~kenuy/waxmoths.htm
You can get them at many sites (herpfood.com, nyworms.com, etc.)

There are also meal worms Tenebrio molito and superworms Zophobus morio (NOT the same thing) which are the larval stage of a beetle. The mealworms are OK, have a tougher skin. Superworms are larger and have a more digestible skin. Both of these are readily available, too.

Keep in mind that you want to vary your feeders and include other insects such as crickets (well gut loaded, preferably not with commercial gutload with the exception of a couple), flies, roaches, etc.). Some folks use both silkies and supers as staple diet, but again, variety is what they would have in the wild so we try to mimic the best we can within our limitations.

OK - confused??? Hope not! Here are some articles on rearing, nutrition, etc.

www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/index2003.html
http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2002/index2002.html
{url]http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2002/sept2002/nutrition/nutrition_sept_02.html[/url]

Hope this has helped!!
lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

I would avoid the Superworms. My last Jackson's got a NASTY infection after one bit the corner of his mouth while he was trying to eat it.

I hold them in a pair of flat forceps and Luna makes every effort to get them head first. But the other day she got it more in the middle and it did grab hold on to her mouth so I pulled it off until she could safely get it into her mouth. They do have very strong mouth parts and legs. I would never leave her alone with them. LOL! I will sometimes put them on the screen and she will pick them off, but again, I stick around - plus they fall easily and I sure don't want it crawling around her cage. My cat got into their bedding yesterday and I found three of them out on the floor - I hope I got them all. They can be nasty!

lele ;/

>>I would avoid the Superworms. My last Jackson's got a NASTY infection after one bit the corner of his mouth while he was trying to eat it.
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta