How to Dust Feeder Insects for Chameleons

January 4, 2016September 22, 2018 ~ BackwaterReptiles

Keeping chameleons in captivity can be a challenge. These delicate lizards have very specific care requirements and need their wild habitats to be replicated as closely as possible in order to thrive as pets. Dusting their feeder insects properly is a key to keeping chameleons successfully.

How to dust feeder insects — Pictured is one of our extremely healthy female Oustalets chameleon, fed a diet of properly dusted insects.

Besides requiring a mesh enclosure or cage, a dripping and misting system to meet humidity requirements, and UV lights and heat, chameleons also require their invertebrate meals to be extremely nutritious. This means that you can’t just feed your pet chameleon any old feeder insects. You will need to make sure your chameleon’s insects are gut-loaded and vitamin dusted regularly.

So what is vitamin dusting? What vitamin dusts do you give a chameleon and how often do you need to do so? How do you go about dusting the insects? These are all questions we will address in this blog article, so read on if you want to make sure your chameleon stays healthy and strong.

What is vitamin dusting?

The answer to this question is actually very simple.

Vitamin dusting is where you coat your feeder insects in a film of powdered vitamin supplements before feeding time.

Do you take a multivitamin pill daily? How about a vitamin C tablet every now and then? Well, dusting your chameleon’s feeder insects is basically the same concept. The only difference is that because it would stress the animal to try to get it to ingest a vitamin pill, reptile hobbyists have invented a clever way to get the animals their vitamins. By coating the insects, the chameleons don’t even notice they’re eating the vitamins they need.

What types of vitamin dusts are good for chameleons? How often do you need to dust your feeder insects for your pet chameleon?

These are questions we get a lot at Backwater Reptiles. This is because there’s no manual on how frequently dusting needs to be done and the frequency as well as type of vitamin dusts required can vary from species to species.

At Backwater Reptiles, we use five main vitamin dusts for our chameleons – bee pollen, spirulina, a calcium + D3 supplement, a calcium supplement, and Herptivite/Supervite supplement.

The general rule of thumb with baby chameleons is to dust pinhead crickets (or whatever food source you give them) fairly frequently with calcium. Babies are growing fast and their little bodies need lots of nutrients to make sure their growth process happens smoothly.

Listed below are the vitamins used at Backwater Reptiles and the schedule we subscribe to when it comes to dusting feeder insects for our chameleons.

Bee pollen

In the wild, chameleons eat insects that could have recently pollinated a flower. Supplementing with bee pollen is said to help avoid chameleon “hunger strikes.”

Frequency:
Babies: once monthly
Sub-adults: twice monthly
Adults: twice monthly

LoD (calcium + D3)

Calcium and Vitamin Supplement — This Repashy vitamin and calcium supplement is what we use at Backwater Reptiles.

At Backwater Reptiles, the type of LoD vitamin supplement we use is called “Repashy Superfoods Calcium plus LoD.”

Frequency:
Babies: once monthly
Sub-adults: twice monthly
Adults: twice monthly

NoD (calcium)

Powdered Calcium Supplement — This powdered calcium supplement is used frequently when feeding baby chameleons.

The kind of calcium supplement used at Backwater Reptiles is called “Repashy Superfoods Supercal NoD.”

Frequency:
Babies: 10-15 times monthly
Sub-adults: 5-7 times monthly
Adults: 2-3 times monthly

Spirulina

Spirulina is an algae that commonly grows in freshwater ponds and lakes. The kind fed to our chameleons is dried and powdered. Any powdered spirulina will be fine for your chameleons, but we use an organic, non-irradiated, and non-GMO spirulina from www.nuts.com.

Frequency:
Babies: once monthly
Sub-adults: twice monthly
Adults: twice monthly

Herptivite/Supervite

Multivitamin Supplement for Chameleons — This is the multivitamin supplement used at Backwater Reptiles.

These are general vitamin supplements or multivitamins. The kind we use at Backwater Reptiles is “RepCal Hertivite with Beta Carotene Multivitamins.”

Frequency:
Babies: twice monthly
Sub-adults: twice monthly
Adults: once monthly

How do you dust your feeder insects?

The good news is that the physical process of dusting your feeder insects with vitamins is not as tedious as it sounds.

All you will need to complete the process is a small plastic bag, your vitamin of choice, and your feeder insects.

Reptile Feeder Crickets — At Backwater Reptiles, we opt to dust our crickets in a bucket instead of a plastic bag simply because we have so many animals to feed. It makes sense for us to do it on a larger scale. But a plastic bag works just fine in most cases.

Just put your insects in the plastic bag along with your vitamins and seal the bag shut. Then shake the insects around in the bag with the dust for a few seconds until you can see that they are visibly coated with the dust.

Now your feeder insects are ready to be eaten!

A quick tip – if you are feeding your chameleon dusted crickets, be sure to feed them to the animal quickly after the dusting process has been completed. Crickets have good hygiene and will clean themselves of the dust as quickly as they can, so the sooner they are eaten, the more vitamins the chameleon will ingest.

Vitamin Dusted Crickets — When your feeder insects are coated like these crickets, they are ready to be served to your chameleon.

How to dust chameleon feeder insects – Conclusion

A healthy, happy chameleon will require supplemental vitamins in its diet. This can be achieved by dusting your pet chameleon’s feeder insects with a number of multivitamins.

The Best Small Pet Snake

January 1, 2016December 31, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

Are you considering a new snake, but would like to know what species would make the best small pet snake? Probably the smallest pet snake sold by Backwater Reptiles is the Ringneck Snake (Diadphis sp.), with the Worm snake another contender.

This snake is perfect for someone who definitely wants a small pet snake and doesn’t want to deal with having a large tank or enclosure in their home. They’re great compact little pets and can be kept in a home as small as a shoe box quite happily.

Maybe you’re someone who is attracted to the cuteness of small animals or baby animals. Although the Ringneck Snake won’t be a baby forever, it can certainly pass for a baby snake!

Ringnecks won’t get longer than 15 inches and usually won’t surpass the diameter of a pencil in thickness of body. This means that a full-grown Ringneck Snake is the size most “normal-sized” pet snakes start off as when they’re hatchlings. Now that’s a small snake!

Best small pet snake — This photo shows the scale of the Ringneck Snake. They’re definitely little animals and are considered the best “small” pet snakes.

Ringnecks are a dark brown, black, or grey base color with a bright orange or yellow ring around their neck, which explains the origin of their common name. It’s almost like these little snakes wear orange necklaces. The bellies of Ringnecks are yellow or orange to match their neck band. Depending on the specific region the snake is from, the belly might also have black speckles or bars.

The Ringneck Snake has a very widespread distribution in the wild. They can be found throughout most of the United States and even into Southern Canada. They can acclimate to many types of habitats but seem to prefer wooded areas with plenty of hiding places like rocks, logs, and leaf litter. Due to their small size, a good hiding place is an essential survival tool for these little snakes.

Believe it or not, Ringnecks actually have a small amount of venom in their saliva that they utilize when hunting prey. This venom is harmless to people however, so don’t let that frighten you off. Their teeth are also so small that even if you were bitten by your pet Ringneck snake, you probably wouldn’t even feel it! We’ve never even had one attempt to bite, though.

In captivity, Ringnecks are pretty easy to maintain. They like to hide a lot, so they’re not the most entertaining or energetic pet, but they can still be rewarding to care for.

Although we always recommend replicating natural environments through substrate, hiding spaces, and other cage accessories and methods, Ringnecks can actually thrive with a very minimal cage set up. As previously mentioned, they need not have a large living space – a plastic shoe box will do just fine. This is great news for people who live in small spaces and have minimal room to store a tank or vivarium.

You can use paper towels as a substrate or go with something more traditional like peat moss and soil. Just be aware that no matter what you line the enclosure with, your pet Ringneck will more than likely burrow underneath it.

This is why we don’t advise that lots of heavy accessories be kept inside the enclosure with the snake. You don’t want the snake to accidentally dislodge a heavy fake plant or unnecessarily large water dish and injure itself.

Obviously these snakes are too small to consume the standard snake fare of frozen/thawed pinkies, fuzzies, and other rodents. This is good news for the squeamish who don’t want to have to feed their pet snake rodents! Well then, you might be wondering – what do you feed such a tiny carnivore?

At Backwater Reptiles, we have had success feeding our Ringneck Snakes nightcrawlers. In the wild, they eat lots of small invertebrates and sometimes even vertebrates that will fit in their mouth, so you can also try to feed your Ringneck crickets and other appropriately-sized insects, although earthworms are the tried and true food that we recommend.

Diadphis sp. — Even fully stretched out, Ringneck Snakes rarely get longer than 15 inches.

The best small pet snake – Conclusion

Ringnecks are fairly secretive snakes and can be a bit squirmy when held, but this behavior can be mitigated with frequent handling. Like any snake, your pet Ringneck will never be domesticated, but you can usually safely get it acclimated and used to being taken out of its cage.

While boas and pythons can make wonderful pet snakes, some people prefer a species much more manageable in size, which is why we endeavored to write an article about the best small pet snake, which in our opinion is the Ringneck.

If you think you’re ready to spring for a small pet snake of your own, Backwater Reptiles has Ringneck Snakes for sale.

The Biggest Chameleon Species

December 29, 2015December 29, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

A while back, we wrote about the four largest chameleon species and you learned that the biggest chameleon species in the world is the Parson’s Chameleon (Calumma parsonii).

Now, we’re going to tell you a bit more about the gigantic Parson’s Chameleon and why we recommend that only experienced reptile enthusiasts keep these gorgeous and impressive lizards.

Parson’s chameleons are usually a blue-ish greenish teal in color with accent colors of brown, yellow, or green. There are two main varieties seen in the reptile trade: orange eyes, and yellow-lips.

Orange eyes are much more common, and are named so because their eye turrets are a bright, vivid orange color.

Yellow-lips are far less commonly seen in the hobby. Males have yellow trimming on their lips with diagonal stripes along their sides, while females are similarly patterned but generally lack the yellow-lips.

Males Parson’s are larger than females, although not by much. Males also have pronounced nose bumps or protrusions, whereas females do not.

So, we’ve already established that the Parson’s Chameleon is the biggest chameleon species in the world, but how large is it really?

Well, they can reach lengths of up to 30 inches and weigh anywhere from a pound to two pounds. This might not seem like a lot, but when compared to what other chameleons weigh, it’s monstrous! It’s possible that they are not the longest chameleon in the world, but they are certainly the biggest chameleon when it comes to overall mass.

They also have thick, bulky torsos with very strong limbs. In fact, if you ever get the chance to hold one, it might be wise to wear gloves as they have sharp toe claws and can grip hard enough to leave marks and draw blood, although we think it’s worth it!

Often times, it is said that Parson’s chameleons can get as big as a small house cat. This is only partially true as they can get as long as a small cat, but definitely will never weigh as much or be as bulky. They can definitely live as long as a house cat though – some have been reported to live to well over twenty years of age!

Because of their large size, it would make sense that Parson’s chameleons require a large enclosure. A full-grown male or female being housed solitarily should have a mesh cage that is at least 24 inches long and 48 inches high, but the larger the better.

Parson’s are arboreal and will need as much space as possible to climb, so considering how big the animal can be, vertical space is definitely important. Make absolutely sure the vines and branches are strong enough to support their weight easily. Also make sure they cannot wrap their claws all the way around the entire vine/branch width, as this can cause issues for them.

Largest Female Parson's Chameleon — This is our resident female Yellow-lipped Parson’s chameleon. She laid us a clutch of 68 healthy eggs earlier this year!

In addition to requiring a large cage, we don’t recommend Parson’s chameleons for beginners because they also need large food items. In the wild, it has been reported that Parson’s eat small birds (finches), so they definitely have appetites and will need to be fed accordingly.

At Backwater Reptiles, we feed ours large roaches, large crickets, and large hornworms. If your Parson’s is particularly well-trained, you might even try feeding it pinkie mice, but it’s usually hard to get chameleons of any species to eat on cue, especially if the food item is already deceased.

Parson’s chameleons are quite rare in the reptile hobby and breeding world for several reasons. Probably the most impactful reason is that these chameleons are listed as “near threatened” on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.

What this ultimately means is that trade and exportation of these large lizards has been strictly regulated since 1994. It wasn’t until just recently that legal export quotas opened up in their home country of Madagascar, but there are still very few of these animals for sale in captivity, and that’s probably a good thing. Regardless, it’s always best to start with captive bred animals if possible.

Male Parsons Chameleon (Calumma parsonii) — Notice the diagonal accent stripes on this male’s sides.

The rarity of the Parson’s chameleon means that it comes with a steep price point. Most chameleon species have been captive bred in the U.S. for long enough that that they are not too hard to come by at reptile expos or through private breeders.

But due to the toughness of acquisition as well as the lack of captive breeding projects, Parson’s are still extremely expensive, particularly when compared to other pet chameleon species, often times fetching a price of $1,500 to $3,000, depending upon the locale.

So now let’s assume that you can meet the requirements mentioned above – you’ve got the large cage, you can supply the large food, and you can meet the steep price point. We still recommend that only owners who have kept other species of chameleons own Parson’s chameleons.

Parson’s are particularly delicate, despite their large frames. They stress easily and don’t reproduce in captivity as readily as other species do. And just like all chameleon species, they require high humidity, and a dripping/misting system so that they’ll drink water. They drink a lot of water.

Calumma parsonii - biggest chameleon in the world — Large adult Parson’s chameleons require an equally large enclosure.

Biggest chameleon species – Conclusion

While Parson’s Chameleons are highly sought after due to their large size, magnificent coloration, and rarity, Backwater Reptiles would like to stress that these animals do best when kept by an experienced reptile hobbyist.

If you think you are interested in one of these chameleons, Backwater Reptiles does have Parson’s Chameleons for sale. We’re always here for questions or pictures of the exact Parson’s chameleons we offer.

The Best Pet Salamanders for Beginners

December 26, 2015May 3, 2022 ~ BackwaterReptiles

Salamanders can make rewarding and entertaining pets. They are hardy little creatures, have cute features, and live long lives for such small animals.

Interested in getting a pet salamander for yourself or your family? Wondering where to begin or what species is good to start out with? Well then, read on! We put together this simple list all about which salamander species make the best pets just for you!

5. Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus)

A better name for the Slimy Salamander might actually be the “Sticky Salamander.” While all salamanders are generally moist to the touch, the Slimy Salamander can leave a glutinous, clingy clear substance on your hands if you handle it. The substance, while annoying, is not at all harmful to people, but some might find it off-putting. This is the reason why we’ve had to put the Slimy Salamander at #5 on our list.

Besides their stickiness, Slimies can make great little pets. They have minimal care requirements and can be kept in an enclosure as small as a plastic shoe box. They eat small invertebrates like crickets and will spend most of their time hiding, so be sure to provide a hide spot or two.

4. Fire Salamander (Salamandra salamandra)

Fire Salamanders are stunning little amphibians. Their skin is dark black and is accented with bold, yellow blotches and stripes. Most will have spots on their backs, but some can have more yellow on their top sides/backs than black.

These salamanders are known as being the first species of salamander described taxonomically and will grow to lengths of up to twelve inches. It has been reported that they can live to be ten years old in captivity.

Fire Salamanders are actually not burrowers like most salamanders, so they can do just fine on a substrate of moist paper towels, however most hobbyists enjoy creating natural-looking habitats, so they will also thrive on any typical salamander substrate that retains moisture well.

Feeding your Fire Salamander is simple. Their food of choice is night crawlers, AKA earth worms. Interestingly enough, if your salamander is small, you can even cut the worms up into pieces and the salamander will still eat it. This is uncommon for salamanders as most will need to see live insects wriggling, crawling, or hopping in order to recognize them as food.

3. Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)

Marbled Salamanders have chunky bodies with shorter limbs (at least when compared directly with other salamanders). They have black bodies with contrasting white or grayish colored bars and stripes on their backs and heads.

These are considered medium-sized salamanders and will grow to be around 5 inches long. They are also very avid burrowers. If you provide a substrate that supports burrowing, be aware that you will rarely see your pet salamander. In fact, Marbled Salamanders spend so much time burrowed underground that they have been nicknamed “mole salamanders.”

2. Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)

Of all the salamanders available in the pet trade, the Spotted Salamander is the least common. This is not because it is endangered, hard to keep, or expensive to buy – it’s simply because they have sort of a “cult following.” People who have kept them before sing their praises, but people who are not familiar with them probably don’t know much about them.

Spotted Salamanders are another medium-sized amphibian. Adult females can grow as large as ten inches long, although six to seven inches is a more common size. Males are also noticeably smaller than the females.

People who keep Spotted Salamanders as pets are usually initially attracted to the animal due to its vibrant combination of yellow and/or orange spots on its back.

1.Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum)

Tiger Salamanders are number one on our list because of how readily available they are. This means that any tiger salamanders available in the pet trade are most likely captive bred animals reducing or altogether eliminating any internal parasites that wild-caught animals might carry. Their care requirements are also widely known meaning that even large pet stores know at least the basics of caring for these amphibians.

Tiger Salamanders are the largest of the salamanders on our list of best pet salamanders. They can grow to be as big as 14 inches long.

Pet Tiger Salamander — Pet Tiger salamanders like this guy have bars or stripes on their back and ribs that give them their common names.

They have very healthy appetites and will almost always eat anything you offer them. Some of the larger ones will even eat pinkie mice. They can even be trained to accept food from their owner’s hand.

Of all of the salamander species on this list, Tiger Salamanders are also the least secretive. They will be the most interactive and adapt to being handled easier than any other species, making them overall a heartier pet, especially if you expect your pet salamander to “play” with children.

Conclusion

Overall, salamanders are good pets because they are very good-natured amphibians. They tend to keep to themselves and will never bite or unintentionally harm their owners. They can be delicate however, and most are somewhat secretive, so if you are seeking a highly interactive pet, you might want to consider a reptile over an amphibian.

Ready to commit to a pet salamander? Backwater Reptiles has all of the salamanders for sale that are named above in our list.

The Grumpy Rain Frog (Breviceps mossambicus)

December 22, 2015December 21, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

Are you familiar with the meme of the “Grumpy Frog?” It’s usually a variation of this picture with text indicating that the frog is unhappy in some way.

If you ever wondered what type of frog Grumpy Toad actually is, you’re in luck! Backwater Reptiles just got in a rare batch of these frogs, which are commonly called Rain Frogs and we’re going to tell you all about them in this post.

There are actually several Rain frog species that appear in the memes, but Backwater Reptiles has a species called the Mozambique Rain Frog (Breviceps mossambicus). They are also known as the Flat-faced Frog due to their squashed-looking faces.

These comical little frogs are balloonish, round, squat-figured amphibians with toes that face inward (i.e they are pigeon-toed). Their manner of walking, grumpy-looking features, and overall compactness generally remind us of bulldogs which makes them very comical, yet aesthetically-appealing pets.

We should also mention that even though these frogs have been nicknamed “Grumpy Frogs,” in reality they are very docile amphibians. They don’t really bite, move pretty slowly, and overall don’t mind being handled. They are not only cute to look at, but they are easy to keep as well.

Here’s a short video we took of one of our Mozambique Rain Frogs on a stroll, just to give you a better idea of how silly these little critters actually are when it comes to locomotion.

As its name suggests, the Mozambique Rain Frog hails from Mozambique, but is also found in other African countries. It’s natural habitat is dry or moist savannah grasslands, scrublands, and rural or pastoral gardens.

When the weather is dry, the Rain Frog will hide under rocks or small crevices in or around tree roots. While hidden, it will eat small invertebrates as an ambush predator. When rainfall occurs, winged termite swarms will emerge and rain frogs will come out from their hiding places en masse to feed on all the termites.

Breviceps mossambicus — Squat, fat, round, and balloon-like are all good adjectives to describe the Mozambique Rain Frog. They’re the bulldogs of the frog world!

While the Mozambique Rain Frog is listed by the IUCN as a species of “least concern” due to its widespread range throughout Africa, they are actually pretty uncommon in the reptile/amphibian hobby world.

These frogs also have very distinct calls. Unlike a traditional frog’s croak or clicking calls, the rain frog lets out a small noise that sounds like a squeak, squeal, or kitten’s cry. It can be very amusing, so long as the frog is not crying out in distress.

When keeping a Mozambique Rain Frog in captivity, keep in mind that these frogs are burrowers. They are not jumpers or climbers and would much prefer having horizontal tank space to walk around in than vertical space as they won’t climb branches or trees. To satisfy the burrowing habits of the rain frog, make sure to coat your enclosure in a substrate that retains moisture and also holds its shape. We also recommend that there are no heavy decorative items in the enclosure since the frog might burrow underneath it and accidentally injure itself. Plastic hide rocks and a small fake plant or two should be suitable.

Since the natural diet of the Mozambique Rain Frog consists of small invertebrates, we feed ours crickets, dubia roaches, meal worms, and occasional wax worms.

flat faced frog — The rain frog’s short legs make it a poor jumper. It much prefers to waddle around.

As we previously mentioned, Backwater Reptiles currently has Mozambique Rain Frogs for sale. We just received a shipment of these humorous little frogs. They are relatively hard to come by in the reptile/amphibian pet trade, so we recommend buying yours now if you’re interested before they sell out since we likely won’t get any more until next breeding season.

Backwater Reptiles Blog

Over 250 Articles for Herp Enthusiasts

How to Dust Feeder Insects for Chameleons

The Best Small Pet Snake

The best small pet snake – Conclusion

The Biggest Chameleon Species

The Best Pet Salamanders for Beginners

The Best Pet Salamanders for Beginners

5. Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus)

4. Fire Salamander (Salamandra salamandra)

3. Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)

2. Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)

1.Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum)

The Grumpy Rain Frog (Breviceps mossambicus)