Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I hear wax worms are a good treat for chameleons, so I think I'm going to try buying a batch from the internet. What kind of setup and materials are best for caring for them? And how many should be fed to my veiled? I also feed my veileds crickets, so I will probably give them a combo.

Thanks, these forums are great.

Here are some sites for you.

http://home.earthlink.net/~kenuy/waxmoths.htm
http://www.adcham.com/html/insects/insects-waxworm-rearing.html
http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/misc/ef011.htm

They are high in fat and should only be used as a treat or if a cham is recouperating from illness or trying to fatten up after laying. They shouldn't be a regular part of the diet. Silkworms are much better for this. Here is a link to a Bug's Nutrition - very helpful chart included
http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2002/sept2002/nutrition/nutrition_sept_02.html

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

Ok, thanks. I have just fed them crickets for the 5 months I've had them. Is there a better combination than just crickets, or are all bugs equally good for them?

And also, what's the best way to gut-load my crickets?

Thanks

Hi - I'm surprised he didn't refuse after awhile. Many chams get tired of the same old thing - you're lucky! but it is good to vary the diet. Silkworms, roaches, butterworms, superworms (mmmmm- Luna loves supers!), you can collect the ocasional wild insect but make sure no pesticides, herbicides, etc. have been sprayed. A relatively safe one is moths at your lights (please no luna or polyphemus moths!). Some adult moths don't feed at all and those that do feed on nectar (pesticide issue is only real concern). it's also good to have something flying around for him to catch for tongue exercise

The link I gave you for Bugs' Nutrition has the chart - check it out - the whole artciel is good. Check out their other issues -it's a great online cham e-zine!

As for gutloading - feed your crickets quality foods: fresh fruit and veggies (no spinach) and a good dry gutload. Since crix will eat just about anything they are easy. Just keep the food fresh so no mold/bacteria grows. Just remember - what you feed your crix is what you are feeding your cham. What have you been doing so far? Do you use calcium and vitamin supplements?

lele

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

So far I have just fed my crickets a dry oat-type food. Haven't really tried gut loading. I use a calcium supplement powder on them before I feed them to my chameleons.

What kind of grocery store veggies are the best for feeding crickets? And would oatmeal be good?

When I was feeding my crickets veggies I was using either escarole, romaine, or red/green leaf lettuce. I would also shred some carrot, yellow and green zucchini and a slice of orange. I did this everyday for my crickets then I switched to a commercial gutload cricketfood.com and I use that and for a water source use a slice of orange. Found the commercial gutload with the orange as a water source much easier.