Gut loading, or feeding the insects a nutritious diet before serving them to the veiled chameleon, provides optimal health benefits for the animal. Feed the insects either a vitamin-packed powdered diet or go natural with squash and dark leafy greens such as mustard or collard greens.

All chameleons are omnivorous. This is more than just a dietary preference; chameleons in their natural habitat must eat a mixture of meat and veggies to obtain all the nutrients they require for survival. Juvenile chameleons eat constantly compared to adults and should always have access to food. Feeding can be reduced to once daily or every other day after your chameleon reached adulthood. While insects will often be snapped up rather quickly, your chameleon may not always be as interested in his greens. Any greens not eaten after a full day should be replaced. Not all chameleons, even members of the same species, will display the same eating habits. https://www.chameleonforums.com/

Best Staple Insects for Chameleons

Chameleons require real insects as the staple of their diet, so you may have a harder time finding them online than other commercial reptile foods. When shopping for chameleon food, just look for products that are as natural as possible. If you’re still not sure where to start in looking for a chameleon food, try out one of the top 5 best chameleon foods we’ve reviewed above. Good luck!.

The majority of your veiled chameleons diet will always be live feeders. The movements of live bugs piques the interest of your chameleon and causes them to want to hunt. Being opportunistic hunters, they will pretty much eat anything that comes along, so it is essential for you only to offer them insects that will be safe for them to eat and will maintain their health. Here are some of the insects that will make up your chameleon's everyday and occasional diet. Staple insects: dubia roaches dubia roaches are the best staple feeder for a lot of reptiles, well-balanced in nutrients, protein, calcium, and vitamins and come in all sizes.

Insects to Feed Sparingly

You should allow insects purchased for chameleons to themselves feed upon a healthful diet for several days, in order to increase their nutritional value (this process is often termed “gut loading”). Please see the following articles to learn about the proper care of feeder insects: cricket care when wild-caught insects are unavailable, the main portion of the diet should not be crickets, but rather a mix of roaches, crickets, butterworms, super mealworms and waxworms. Caterpillars such as silkworms and tomato hornworms are available via internet dealers, and should be offered regularly. I use mealworms and super mealworms sparingly, and select only newly-molted (white) individuals.

Panther chameleons will readily accept almost any feeder insect. Some common feeder insects include crickets, roaches, walking stick bugs, silkworms, super worms, mealworms, wax worms, hornworms, butter worms and flies. Each feeder insect has its pros and cons. Some can be fed daily, while others should be offered only as treats. The most common daily feeder is the cricket, which is also the easiest to acquire but be sure to cover them with a light dusting of calcium with or without vitamin d based on how well your uv lighting is. The panther chameleon is easily the most gorgeous colored and easiest to handle of all species of pet chameleon for sale.

We all love the sight of a chameleons slingshot tongue gobbling up what would be considered creepy crawlers, however there are 4 important factors when it comes to feeding our beloved bug killers: 1. Which insects to feed? 2. Gut-loading your insects 3. How many to feed? 4. Vitamins and supplement dusting watching chameleons snatch prey from two whole body lengths away is a truly an amazing sight. Their projectile tongue, with an insect engulfing suction-cup like tip, will go from 0 to 60 mph in 0. 01 seconds, striking their prey in the blink of an eye. Learn more about your chameleons nutrition gut-loading your feeders is an integral part of your chameleon’s diet.