Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there,

I have 2 adult veiled chamelons and are planning on getting 4 panthers soon. I feed them mainly crickets, with some superworms or the odd butterfly or moth. I used to feed the crickets whole to my chameleon, then read somewhere that the legs sometimes become stuck in the chameleons mouth and cause mouthrot and other potentially dangerous infections. Since then i started ripping the hind legs of the crickets, the "Jumping legs". Sometimes when i pull the legs their barbs cut me, and if they can cut the thick skin of my hand, why cant they cut the relatively soft tissue in the mouth of my chams? More people should start taking the legs off, the cricket cannot jump and the chameleon is safer. Just thought I'd share.

well in the wild the chams eat crickets grasshoppers and stuff..... would those be legless? also i think it would be a lot easier to just use wax or silkworms as staple food besause if you have multiple chams you can end up sepnding a lot of time pulling (plus it isn't very nice to the crickets) this is just my opinion i could very well be wrong.
JonK.

Waxworms and Silkworms should not be fed as staples. they are like "candy" to chameleons. too much of it isn't good for chameleons. Waxworms are extremely high in fat, and silworms somethimes cause constipation and and posible impaction. Another downside is, they are a lot more expensive than crickets. Breaking the legs of crickets is actually a very healthy thing to do for yoru chameleon, altough extremely tedious. Shamefully, i do not do thsi myself.

Hi-

Silkworms are the BEST staple diet you can feed your chameleon. See this Article. Waxworms are not good for a staple diet because they contain to much fat and should be fed as treats. Yes silkworms do cost more then crickets but they are worth every penny. 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

with crickets you just let them loose in the enclosure, how do you apply silkworms to the enclosure? is this only recommended for juviniles and adults? also where did the idea of silkworms cause constipation and and posible impaction? is this true and to what extent?

dennis
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compasscreek backcountry adventures

I won't go as far as to say That Silkworms are the BEST staple diet out there. From personal experience, i noticed that when i feed my chameleons too many silkworms, i noticed some undigested material that looks asactly like the silkworm on the cage floor, Only a little sticky and gooey.I also saw my chameleon regurgitate a silkworm before my very eyes. As for wheter too much silkworms can cause constipation and impaction is true or not, I read it in some website or article(which currently manages to escape my memory) and about two books, one of which is entitled "Essential Care of chameleons" by Philippe De Vosjoli, and the other , which i can't asactly rememeber(but could be titled "care and breeding of chameleons". SO i can't say that is teh absolute 100 percent truth, but there are many credible sources out there that seem to agree that silworms should be fed, but not as a staple.

i think for now i will stick with crickets and maybe the occasional "candy" for our little guy. i'm to new of a keeper to stray from the "basics"...at least for now. the zoo data is newer and even states that until now(2002)there hasn't been any scientific data on the the nutritional benifits of wax ans silk worms. De Vosjoli's data was published in 1995( at least the book i have of his, "care and breeding...".

a couple questions though. is there an age when i can introduce our chameleon to silks and wax? our chamelon is about 3 1/2 months old. also how/where do you put the silks and wax worms in the enclosure?

dennis
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compasscreek backcountry adventures

Hi-

Are you talking about the urate in the feces? It is healthy to have a white urate in the feces, not a little orange one. If you over feed any food item you might cause the chameleon to regurgitate, or cause an impaction and so on. I see no harm in feeding silkworms, they should digest better then crickets so I don't see how there would be any undigested parts like you would find with crickets from the exo skeleton. 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

Dennis-

The silkworms will grab on to the screen, trees/plants, sticks, vines, and so on in the cage. As shown in the article silkworms are the best food item shown in blue and waxworms are the worst item shown in red. I don't know where he got the idea of a silkworm causing an impaction, I have not read anything of the sort anywhere. All the breeders I talk to have nothing but good things to say about silkworms. I have feed my chameleons silkworms for there staple diet and use crickets, supperworms, hornworms, and so on as a treat to change things up for them so they don't get bored of the same food item. So short answer false! 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

Silks are great. My veiled certainly thinks so. I also go with the experience of the masses on this one. Plenty of people feed them as staples with no problems.

However, when he was younger (4-5 mos.) I think he ate too many or something happened and he wouldn't touch them for a month or so. Now he eats them greedily with no problems. I still feed waxes, crix and roaches to change things up.

If you look around, there are definitely sources that say too many will cause digestive problems. I just think that this is outdated info, cuz for every one source that says they could cause a problem, there's probably 10 times as many that say they're great and you don't have to worry.

Once you go with silks, you'll realize that crickets have some drawbacks.

Joel Fish

I don't swear by what i read to be the 100% absolute god sent truth and that there is absolutely no substitute! I am merely sharing my exprince and what i have read. To state "I don't know where he got the idea of a silkworm causing an impaction" Even though i clearly indicated that i got it from several sources and primamrily in the book "Essential care of chameleons" , indicates that either you have a short memeory, or just fail to read properly. We are here for the health of our chameleons, and not for joustings of our knowledge. Again, chameleon care and husbandry is still very subjective to many and is an ongoing study, and there hasn't been enough years to confirm in concrete what is best for our chameleons. I am not saying you shouldn't feed silkworms to your chams, or you should stop using it as a staple. Just sharing my opinion. Just be open to suggestions and experience of others.

np

I do that but I leave the upper part of the leg, the "thigh" because it has alot of meat in it. Just pinch the lower part off with fingernails. You shouldnt use words like "rip" the legs off and stuff 'cause people think you are sadistic or something, but maybe thats what you want?? LOL, mabe thats just how young ones talk now. hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Anyway I agree devel hunter

Well, I know that in the wild they dont get their prey item's legs ripped off, but in captivity, our aim is to make the cham as healthy as possible right? Oh and alanvines, I take the hole back leg, the meaty part isnt all that meaty,so why bother leaving the leg there? Hope i cleared things up.

Anthony

quick squeeze on meaty part of leg is easyest way to remove.
healthy chams wouldnt need this,certain prolapses and/or mouth-tounge problems could warrent it. Mayby if you don't have a life!!!!!!: )

STNMAN--HD tech