Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, here is something that perplexes me.

My 1.5 yr old male Jax has always eaten crickets. He will eat all I offer to him, whenever I offer them. Luckily, he is not a fussy eater at all. I have never needed to feed him anything but crickets.

I have seen a lot of talk about insect variety, but if one uses a high quality gutload (I use Susan Donoghue's Quantam Series Montane Radiance) why would one need to vary insect prey? I mean, we all know that the inherent nutritional value of raw, un-gutloaded insects isn't that great, so what does it matter? Aren't the feeder insects pretty much just a "medium" for the gutload, where the real nutrition is?

I'm just looking for some insight! Thanks.

I said the Walkabout Farms Quantam Series Montane Radiance was a gutload. It is not. That is the insect dust. I do, however, use the Walkabout Farms Cricket food as gutload, which is highly regarded.

Good Point i really dont know but if if you find out more please post it becuase you really got me interested in that would make things easier for all of us

You'll have to excuse me, I'm no entemolgist, nor a nutrition expert here. The only thing I have to offer is my own humble opinion.
In the wild, chameleons eat a variety of prey items. They're (prey items) all pretty much eating the same thing, but they're processing the foods in slightly different ways. They each contain slightly different trace elements and minerals. Chameleons are able to keep healthier on a varied diet. Maybe they have a better chance of getting these trace elements and minerals from a more varied diet, I dunno! All I know is that the more variety you can offer your chameleon, the healthier they are.
Just my opinions.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

...pun intended

Many folks say that silkies are a good staple yet they can't be gutloaded, only dusted. Same with butterworms, supers and other non-gutloadable (how's that for a new word?) critters. Since chams don't gnosh on silkies in the wild how do we know that mulberry and silkworm are enough as a staple - we don't. So, like Victor, my humble opinion is give your cham whatever variety she/he will accept and respect their peculiarities. LOL!

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica the j sisters were sent to freedom last month
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

np
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

I'm not a owner of any herps, just a domicile attendant.

My image Gallery

I know they will eat a few different grains, veggies and fruits but is it varied enough? Never really thought about it...
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica the j sisters were sent to freedom last month
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Superworms will eat pretty much anything that crickets will eat. They have a bigger gut too.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

good to know...never thought about it and usually just give them stuff to keep their protein and moisture up... Luna's not eating these days anyway so gutloading is the last thing I am thinking of - just want those damn eggs to drop! All my feeder insects have become pets! LOL!
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica the j sisters were sent to freedom last month
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

I agree my male and female jax eat nothing but crickets and never get bored of them. i think with proper gutload and dusting they are fine. maybe jax arent fussy eaters

Have to agree with gomezi here...cham nutrition is not an exact science even with WalkAbout Farms good stuff. There's also the simple structural differences in the insects too. Soft bodied vs chitin. Some chams do better if there is a range of soft bodied insects than others. Also, you are really lucky if your cham doesn't get bored with one type. Almost all my chams refused something at some time (sometimes at a particular season) and a new insect really got them going again. Variety also gives a bit of mental exercise to a caged animal. I don't think a cham's gut is designed to take a really simplified diet as they are very far from being "domesticated", so I try to mimic their natural prey variety. If I did that with my dog there would be h---l to pay.

Yeah, I am just one of the lucky ones I guess. I had to vary the diet of my last Jax quite a bit, but my current just eats all the crickets I will give him.

Who knows, he might burst into flames out of sheer excitement if I offered something new.

???