Cham Diet

Question
Hello Thea,
i have a young adult veiled chameleon. ive been feeding him crickets and superworms, prior to his diet my question is what other variety of insects could i feed him? i just recently purchased waxworms; im aware that they're considered to be "treats" due to them having a high concentration of fat. how many times should i feed the waxworms to my cham per week? and the quantity? also are butterworms a good bulk source to regularly feed my cham everyday?

Answer
Hi Alicia,

Waxworms were always something that I offered about once a week to my veileds and usually 3 or 4 per adult. I would always wait 2 or 3 weeks before buying them again so that they never developed a reliance on them ( lol, the dreaded waxworm "addiction").

Butterworms can definitely be offered more frequently then that. Most sources list their fat content as similar to crickets with a good calcium level. Variety is always the key with reptiles. Silkworms are another good choice for chams, soft bodied with good calcium levels as well. Feeder roaches like Dubia are another good option although I seem to recall that they are illegal in Florida. Pheonix worms are usually well-liked but they are quite small and can be expensive.

Gut-loading the insects is also an easy way to improve the nutritional value of feeder insects. This really isn't possible with waxworms and butterworms due to their specialized diets but crickets, mealworms and roaches are easy to gutload. Silkworms eat mulberry leaves which many people have growing nearby or you can use a commercial "chow" made for them.

I make my own insect gutload with a mixture of equal amounts of oats, dry cat food and powdered milk put through a blender. Shredded carrots or other dark leafy greens are used for moisture.

Insect nutritional values can be confusing depending on the units used and how the percentages are measured. This chart had the values that are very commonly used:

http://www.elliotsbutterworms.com/nutrition.htm