What Do Chameleons Eat?
Chameleons are insectivores. Their diet in the wild consists primarily
of a wide variety of insects and other invertebrates. In addition to hunting
live prey, some chameleon species are also occasionally observed eating plant
vegetation. It’s important to know that in captivity we're unable to provide
the variety and quality of food that chameleons receive in nature, and to
compensate for that gutloaded feeders and supplements are required. This is
crucial to proper chameleon care, and long term failure to provide a balanced
and nutritious diet is one of the leading causes of premature death in captive
chameleons. Please make sure to review the gutload and supplement sections
below.
Common Feeders - Offer your chameleon a variety of food items. Doing so
will not only help provide a balanced and nutritious diet, but also help
prevent your chameleon from becoming bored with one particular insect. Some of
the best feeders commonly used with captive chameleons include crickets,
locusts, roaches, silkworms, hornworms, butterworms, and superworms. Feeders
such as mealworms and waxworms are high in fat and harder to digest so they
should only be used occasionally.
Other Feeders - Wild caught insects can be a great way to add additional
variety to your chameleon’s regular diet. Keepers should be careful about
pesticides and also realize that wild insects are potentially more exposed to
parasites. Some recommended insects to try and catch include crickets,
grasshoppers, locusts, stick bugs, mantids, moths, and katydids. Be careful
with wild hornworms that have been eating tomato plants as they can be toxic.
To be safe it’s best to know the species of insect you are dealing with before
feeding to your chameleon.
Plants - Some chameleons, most notably veileds, may occasionally eat
vegetation in addition to insects. That is why it's very important to keep only
non-toxic plants in chameleon cages. The same vegetables used for gutloading
can also be offered to your veiled chameleon to snack on. Leafy greens, sliced
vegetables and fruit, and berries can all be attached to cage furnishings with
a clip or placed in a feeding cup for easy feeding.
How often
In the wild chameleons feed on a wide variety of insects and those prey
items themselves feed on many different sources of nutrition. It is through
this natural cycle of life that chameleons in nature receive a properly
balanced diet. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to replicate that system in
captivity so to compensate chameleon owners must properly gutload the food
items they feed their animals. Gutloading is the process of increasing the
nutritional value of insects that you feed your chameleon. It involves feeding
the insects a special diet so they can ultimately provide your chameleon with
the proper nutrition it requires. Supplementing with a calcium and multivitamin
powder is important, but not sufficient alone for any species.
Gutloading ingredients should be higher in calcium than phosphorus, as
well as low in oxalates and goitrogens. High phosphorus levels inhibit calcium
absorption. While convenient, most commercially available gutloads are low in
calcium, imbalanced and/or insufficient for good nutrition. Creating a well
rounded gutload at home can seem daunting but can actually be fairly
inexpensive and easy to make! Use these brief guidelines to guide your choices
of produce when going to the store. Each time you go get two or three options,
then rotate them for something else next time. Make sure you wash all produce
to eliminate pesticide residues and cut off the peel of fruits and vegetables
as they have waxes and pesticides you can't wash off. The time from feeding
insects, to your chameleon eating those insects, should be no more than 12
hours.
Whats amounts?
Food Size - The rule of thumb is to feed insects no wider than the width
of your chameleon's head in order to prevent choking.
Food Quantity - Only feed as many crickets as your chameleon should eat
at a time - this depends on the age, gender and species. See Species Specific
Caresheets for more information about your chameleon. Crickets left in the cage
overnight may bite a sleeping chameleon. Some people add a little gutload to
the cage to distract uneaten crickets, but do not ever put gel crystals/cubes
in the cage - accidentally eating these can cause fatal impactions due to
re-expansion in the gut.
Feeding Time - Chameleons should always be fed in the first half of the
day to give them time to bask and digest their food properly.
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