Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I have grubco.com for my flies. Very good service by the way.

Californiasilkworms.com seems to be the place for silks. And the roaches offered look very good as well. I do wonder where this place is located and if I could pick up my order direct (it is only an 858 number, possibly close). I live in San Diego.

Today I got a Mantis eggsack from a local nursery. Hopefully I can breed a few and feed the rest (as well as let some go).

Crickets are doing pretty well, store bought. Gutloaded via cricketfood.com. Wouldn't suggest serving wet, many seemed to die. My best way was what someone here posted, dry gutload and also chopped carrot lightly coated in the gutload for moisture.

I even have a few mealworms hatching out into beetles just to try them out. The waxworms I don't want to try for fear of affecting local bee populations should I screw up.

So what else is there? Can I puchase lace-winged bugs somewhere? Are ladybugs ok to feed or do they produce a toxic defense? Anywhere sell grasshoppers?

P.S. My female two days ago after being put on a large ficus outside snatched a bee within 10 seconds. I rushed over when I heard the crunching and freaked. It's butt was still poised outside her mouth (perhaps moved there by her) and I grabbed that stinger so fast without hesitation, you woulnd't even think I am allergic (which I am). The stinger was intact with the end 1mm of the butt, so I hope no harm was done. She actually eats more now, being less picky with crickets and such. Just goes to show how careful you need to be though, chams are just too skilled at what they do.

I would tend to doubt that harm would come from eating a bee though I maybe very wrong, as we are not out there to protect Chameleons from eating them in the wild and they seem to have survived very well. My Veil ate one recently that had flown into the enclosed porch and seems none for the worst Any one with expiernce in this area please comment.

last year and this my chams seem to go looking for the wasps and bees or maby just luck that they are near the bushes i put them on out side. anyways the seem to reconize (sp?) that they are bad at one end and crunch every little bit even bitting the stinger in half somtimes. anywasy they seem to not be harmed by this but i still need improve on keeping the wasps and bees away from the chams just in case.

i have heard that ladybugs are toxic to chams

I heard that a ladybugs defense was a foul smelling chemical, which I would then classify them as toxic and non-edible.