chameleon diet

[viceroy at bellsouth.net]

She's lovely; reminds me of my Aunt Sister Michael, who was a Benedictine nun.

Is there not a Latin tag: Timeo Danaiids et donae ferentes? Which is, roughly translated, "I wouldn't take a Monarch as a gift." 
Captive reptiles may eat critters which in the wilds they would avoid. Butterflies (notably Danaiids) vary in palatability according to their host plant, so that Monarchs pastured on some milkweed, for instance, are perfectly tasty. 
I would think that most people who own and love chameleons would be reluctant to experiment with giving them dodgy provender. 
It's rather like seeing what sort of bugs the baby will eat. Experimenters in this field are not respected in polite society.
I suppose you've tried the herp people and the zoo folks?  
Good luck
Anne Kilmer
Mayo, Ireland 
> 
> From: "Torben Larsen" <torbenlarsen at compuserve.com>
> Date: 2006/07/08 Sat AM 08:57:30 EDT
> To: "LEPS-L" <LEPS-L at lists.yale.edu>
> Subject: chameleon diet
> 
> 
> Dear L-Leps people,
> 
> I am trying to pin down chameleon reactions to different kinds of prey,
> especially to aposematic butterflies. I am interested primarily in African
> chamaeleons and not the Anolis of the Americas.
> 
> Generally, wild caught chameleons in Africa will only touch Danaus or Acraea
> by accident (bad light). They also avoid many beetles and bugs, as well as
> toxic grasshoppers that feed on Asclepiadaeceae. I did a paper on this from
> Botswana in 1992 (Tropical Lepidoptera (Gainesville), 3:103-104). I recently
> had a feeding series in Sierra Leone. I assumed a bit of googling would
> yield long lists chameleon prey and well-executed feeding experiments.
> Virtually nothing useful was found.
> 
> I would be grateful for any information, unpublished data, literature
> references, etc that would help me support or dispove my own experiences.
> There seem to be plenty of captive African chameleons in captivity.
> 
> My Botswana chameleon had the sweetest of temperaments and was even happy to
> take dead butterflies that were handheld. A photo of her is attached eating
> a large swallowtail (Papilio demodocus).
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Torben Larsen
> 



 
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