Reptile & Amphibian Forums

our chamleon is coming tomarrow morning and i picked up some small crickets for him. will it be ok to feed them apple wedges? is there any fruit to stay away from?

dennis
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compasscreek backcountry adventures

I feed mine apple. potato (tho' it goes bad quick!), dried apricots and have tried a few more. Apple, by far, is their favorite. I also have cricket chow from WALKABOUT FARM (link below) that I got as a sample. I originally got "crix gut load" but it's all a bunch of dried stuff with a very limited shelf life. Go for the apples just remember to change regularly - esp. in this heat!

lele

>>our chamleon is coming tomarrow morning and i picked up some small crickets for him. will it be ok to feed them apple wedges? is there any fruit to stay away from?
>>
>>dennis
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>>compasscreek backcountry adventures
Link

I do a combination: 1) Cricket Food (aka gut load), 2) fruit (chopped grapes, apple, oranges, etc.) and 3) a dish of that gelatin water stuff.

I cut the bottoms off of plastic water bottles and made them into little cricket food dishes. They clean real easy and are just the right size.

I also clean the cricket cages every three to four days to keep it healthy---and not smelly!

I am proud to say that I have very low cricket death rate (I would guess that maybe 3 die by the time I clean the cage).
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4 Month Old Ambanja Male I - LESTER
4 Month Old Ambanja Male II - SHOGO

I checked into the easy water, but it seems they get enough moisture from the fruit. With my big crix for my T I, too had low mortality, but I'll tell you, these 1/4"-ers drop dead daily! Very frustrating!

>>I do a combination: 1) Cricket Food (aka gut load), 2) fruit (chopped grapes, apple, oranges, etc.) and 3) a dish of that gelatin water stuff.
>>
>>I cut the bottoms off of plastic water bottles and made them into little cricket food dishes. They clean real easy and are just the right size.
>>
>>I also clean the cricket cages every three to four days to keep it healthy---and not smelly!
>>
>>I am proud to say that I have very low cricket death rate (I would guess that maybe 3 die by the time I clean the cage).
>>-----
>>4 Month Old Ambanja Male I - LESTER
>>4 Month Old Ambanja Male II - SHOGO

I agree. Easy water is is an unnecceaary drain on the wallet. Crickets naturaly derive their fluid needs from the food they eat so there's no real need for a sperate water supply as long as moist foods are being offered. I have one more thing to add to your list that I'm having alot of succes with. CARROTS

I don't disagree that crickets get the water they need from fruits & veggies, etc. But, those need to be changed daily and if not, can get a little smelly. I can get two days out of one spoonful of the gelatin, so I swear by the stuff.

As far as cost goes, I spent $3.50 for a jar of the gelatin and that was nearly two months ago and the jar still has about a third of the stuff left, so it's not too expensive (of course, I'm just feeding two chams, so I've only been ordering 500 crickets at a time).

I was ordering those 1/4" crix and had tremendous success with them. In fact, they grew so large initially that I had to trade them in for some smaller ones!
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4 Month Old Ambanja Male I - LESTER
4 Month Old Ambanja Male II - SHOGO

where do you get this gel? I have never used or seen it. I'd be very interested in trying it out.

Dennis-

Apples are fine, but go bad fast as do bananas. I find oranges and carrots to last longer, but verity is key they love greens to like romaine lettuce. All are good for a water source and extra nutrition. You will still need to provide a gutload for them as well. Hope this helps!
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John @ Chameleon Paradise
1.1 Ambilobe Panthers
1.1 Nosy Be Panthers
1.1 Sambava Panthers
1.2 Rhampholeon uluguruensis