Can butterflies be posinous?

Howdy..i should be getting my chameleon very soon and i was wondering if any buterflies can be posinous to chameleons.What about moths?Any info is appreciated..thanks a bunch.

well i dont know about poisonous but some butterflies eat toxic plants as catipillars and in turn when adult butterflies they ward off some predators with bright colors that indicate that they are foul tasting.......

my cham loves moths

i see..moths are safe though?

monarchs can pack a nasty punch, and i would stay away from wild caught insects if I were you. But if wou want to go ahead, but stay away from the monarchs

I dont know I never feed them the moths, they eat them on their own. But better safe then sorry ya know.

yep..thanks everyone.

With regards to butterflies, moths, etc, being toxic. There certainly are the caterpillar stages of some that are exceedingly toxic, and capable of nasty stings via poisonous spines, to you or anything else. Chameleons show a remarkable ability to discriminate, usually avoiding the more brightly colored insects. There are few documented instances of any insect which is toxic being consumed by an unsuspecting lizard ... but a huge exception would be bearded dragons having no fear of consuming fireflies, with fatal results. It is a safe assumption that firefles are toxic to many lizards. I think you are OK with any moth or butterfly that your animal chooses to eat.

Jim Flaherty
The Chameleon Company, LLC

Does anyone know of any companies that sell moths, or any other insects that are not crickets and suitable for sub-adult to adult chameleons? I was talking to a very well respected exotic veterinarian (Dr. Terry Campbell at CSU) and sees a fairly high caseload of chameleons. He said from his experience it seems very important to provide a wide variety of insects in their diet. All of the local pet stores here sell only crickets and meal or wax worms, which I have read are not terribly nutritious for chams.

-Julie

Howdy Julie,

http://www.mulberryfarms.com/
http://www.californiasilkworms.com/catalog/
http://www.silkwormwholesale.com/

http://www.blaberus.com/ try orange spotted or discoids
http://www.herpfood.com/
http://grubco.netstorekeeper.com/ get the big housefly larvae and hatch them.


There are a ton of places that sell feeders.

I use:
silkworms
superworms
orange spotted roaches (no smell no glass climbing)
madagascar hissing roaches (no smell but climb glass)
lobster roaches. ( full grown is still not too big. Cheap, climb glass, some tank odor but not bad.)
silkmoths
crickets


Once you get a roach colony established, you'll never have to buy another one again! Fort Collins is great weather to keep roaches under control. In the unlikely event that one should escape, the dry air or winter cold will finish them off. They're tropical...