What Do Chameleons Eat?

In their natural habitat, these unique lizards live in the treetops of tropical or subtropical forests, eating all different kinds of insects from the trees and the air around them.

So when future chameleon owners think they can simply feed these little guys any bugs they come across and keep their chameleons healthy, they are incorrect.

While pet chameleons will never have access to the kind of varied diet as do wild chameleons, owners can take measures to make their diets as similar as possible.

Insect Variety

The best way to imitate a wild chameleon’s diet is to provide variety—a variety of insects, that is. This variety should not be random, but should include certain kinds of insects.

Variety, consisting of about four to five different types of insects, will ensure that the chameleon receives more nutritional value than if it ate only one type of insect. The following explains what types of insects are recommended to be in a chameleon diet.

Crickets

Crickets are a great base for a chameleon diet, for several reasons.

They are easy to get and store. They can be easily kept in a plastic tub or other plastic container with a screen lid that fits tightly.
Crickets themselves are easy to feed. By feeding crickets high-vitamin foods before the chameleon in turn eats the crickets, the crickets can pass along their nutritional intake to the chameleons. This is sometimes referred to as “gut-loading,” and reptile veterinarians recommend the practice as the best way to ensure that your chameleon gets the nutrients it needs.

It is important that the crickets are fed appropriate foods that are free of additives. Dark green vegetables, including broccoli, spinach, and other leafy greens, work well, and provide lots of Vitamin A. Crickets devour fruits and vegetables. Some people feed their crickets dog food, but this is not recommended because the artificial additives in dog food can harm chameleons.

Crickets have huge appetites, and will gobble up any food put before them. The crickets can then be fed to the chameleon as needed.

Grasshoppers

Grasshoppers are larger than crickets and have more substance to them, so they provide a lot of nourishment to chameleons. They are also quite familiar to chameleons, as they live in the same natural habitats as most chameleon species. However, they are more difficult to find than crickets, so some people may not be able to get them.

Worms

Different kinds of hornworms can be fed to chameleons, and most can be shipped to you.

Tomato Hornworms - Tomato hornworms eat tomatoes and tobacco hornworms eat tobacco (hence their names). Once these have arrived in their plastic containers, pet owners should feed them so that they grow into large worms, and then feed them to the chameleon once they have grown. Most hornworms should be fed to chameleons as worms, but it can be a good idea to allow a few to grow into hawk moths. Chameleons enjoy chasing hawk moths and catching them to eat once in a while.
Silk Worms - Silk worms are another option. Like hornworms, these can be shipped to you, and come in two forms: as eggs or as hatchlings. When your silkworms arrive they will come with ground mulberry leaves, which should be fed to the silkworms to help them grow until they are nice and plump. Once nice and plump, they are great chameleon food!
Waxworms - Not as nutritious as the insects mentioned so far are waxworms. These can often be found at pet stores, and should only be used as a treat for chameleons every so often.
Mealworms - Mealworms are also found in pet stores, and tend to come in deli cups or small plastic tubs. Like crickets, they can be gut-loaded to make them more nutritious.
Cockroaches - Cockroaches can also be gut-loaded and purchased on the Internet, and if your chameleon likes them, you can easily help them breed by giving them food and water; this will supply you with continuous food for your chameleon.

Wild Chameleons

In the wild, chameleons might also eat locusts, mantids, and numerous other insects, with large ones sometimes eating small birds and other lizards. You don’t, however, need to provide these food types to pet lizards.

As for water, chameleons like running water rather than still water.

Lots of insects that have eaten lots of other nutritious food! Just keeping a pet chameleon fed well can be a lot of work – so make sure you’re up for the job before bringing one home.