Are Chameleons Negatively Impacted By Black Crickets?

Chameleons are primarily carnivores and do not need fruits and vegetables to survive. However, some enjoy nibbling at foliage in their tanks and may also enjoy kiwi, apples, bananas, kale, and mustard greens. They are insectivores, but may take the occasional piece of plant matter. Invertebrate prey such as house crickets, black crickets, and locusts should form the majority of their diet.

The song pattern of crickets, such as frequency spectrum, is controversial, but a recent study failed to detect body-size effects on calling and courtship. The native Australian insect, Teleogryllus commodus, is known as the black field cricket and is significant pests to most plants in Australia and New Zealand. Chameleons communicate with color change, hunt with lightning-fast tongues, and live in some of Earth’s most threatened habitats.

Black crickets are an excellent choice as reptile livefood due to their low fat content and nutritional value. They are aggressive crickets and hide well until it is dark. It is generally never a good idea to feed dead crickets to reptiles, as they lose most of their nutritional value when they die. Black soldier fly larvae are a great natural source of calcium for chameleons and make a good regular feeder. However, they must be stored properly and never feed wild-caught insects to veiled chameleons, as they can be contaminated with pesticides or carry diseases.