Crickets are sold in most pet stores and are very readily available. They are the most common staple diet used and with the proper guload such as the one offered at Canadian Feeders, they can make a very healthy diet. 

Silkworms are becoming more available and are more nutritious than crickets. They are great for the fact they do not jump, chirp, run away or bite. The worms are, however, strict dieters. They require only the leaves of mulberry trees. Most places offer a great gutload for silkworms for a decent price. These make a great staple diet.

Wax worms, butter worms, pheonix worms, and horn worms are very soft but fatty worms which are often available at pet stores. They are for occasional treats and not for a solid diet.

Mealworms and superworms (zophobas) are very tough and again have high fat content. These are also a treat and do not form part of a solid diet. I also do not recommend feeding these to younger chameleons, their digestive system is a little more sensitive and some cannot digest the hard chitinous exoskeleton.

Fruit flies are becoming more popular as they are becoming more available and at a lower price. They are easy to keep and some varieties cannot fly. They make a very nutritious food for younger or smaller chameleons and reproduce very readily.

Pinkie mice; most are frozen but can be fed alive. They are very high in calcium and these should be fed only very occasionally. I stress occasionally. They are great to feed to gravid chameleons to give them an extra boost in calcium for egg production.

One of the newest advances in the diets of reptiles including chameleons, are cockroaches. The usual first reaction of even the word turns peoples stomachs, however they are one of the best feeders for many reasons. Many species of tropical roaches do not fly, climb, bite, chirp, jump, or smell. They can live up to 2 years and attain an impressive size and produce large brood size. They cannot breed in your house or become rampant due to the fact that they breed much slower than domestic roaches, and require much higher temperatures to breed properly. Many are not fast moving, and their meat to shell ratio is much higher than that of any other feeder making them the most nutritious feeder around. I have started my own colony of the Six-spot roaches and Madagascan Hissing roaches. If anyone would like further information on their captive care; please feel free to contact me, they are breeding well. :)

Lastly we come to field plankton which is basically an assortment of non-toxic insects collected from outdoors. Be careful to make sure the area has not had pesticide use on or anywhere near the location selected. Make sure there are no toxic insects such as spiders, wasps, bees, ladybugs, caterpillars, fireflies and lubber grasshoppers. Any insect displaying bright colours should be avoided. Feel free to contact me if there is an insect you are unsure of, they are a childhood hobby of mine. 

Be sure that what ever you feed your chameleon that it is be less than the width between your chameleons eyes and no longer than your animals head. Sometimes anoles or even small birds are given to the largest chameleons, but care must be given and a close eye when feeding; these are not necessary for the well being of chameleons.

In order to assure your chameleon is getting the healthiest food possible, insects should be gutloaded within 24 hours of your chameleon’s consumption. Gutloading is simple, plainly put you feed the insects healthy diets which will boost their nutritional value, benefitting your chameleon greatly. There are commercially available gutloading diets. For crickets I have decided on one particular brand. A company by the name of Canadian Feeders makes an astoundingly great gutload for crickets. I personally use it and I cannot find anything negative to say about it. You can find it at http://www.canadianfeeders.ca. 

Another important issue with feeding is dusting your feeder insects with a vitamin or mineral supplement. This is very essential in a chameleon’s health and for growth and development.There are commercially made vitamin dusters which are very handy, but you can easily craft your own. Just clean out a margarine container thoroughly (do not use soap) with hot water. After drying for a while, just add some vitamin powder in the container and add the insects, close the lid and shake softly from side to side. Open the lid and feed as desired. I have discussed sumpplementation on it's own page.

There are two methods to feeding a chameleon. Cup feeding, or free range. You can decide which method you prefer. But it is recommended to people who have a substrate to cup-feed so your chameleon avoids ingesting any of the substrate. Cup feeding defined is feeding your chameleon from container. The container should not be clear due to the fact that your chameleon could damage it's toungue. The other method is simply letting the food run free in the cage. Many enthusiasts feel this gives the chameleon exercise. Which ever you choose, make sure there are no insects left in the cage before the night. This is to avoid insects, especially crickets, from snacking on your chameleon at night.

To hydrate your chameleon, two main methods are used.

Drippers are a great constant source of drinking for chameleons. They can be commercially bought, or home made. Drippers consist of a container with a hole in the bottom to allow a drop of water to fall every couple seconds. It is best to have the dripper drip onto leaves. Your chameleon will recognise this as water and 'lick' the water from the foliage. Make sure you either have a drainage system or a bucket to catch the excess water, and be sure to have some sort of safety device such as branches or something similar should your chameleon fall in the water. 

The second method should be used by anybody who owns a chameleon period. Misting is absolutely essential for the short or long term keeping of these animals. You can purchase a new mist or spray bottle from any store (so long as it's clean) and very thoroughly mist the enclosure. It is best to mist with warm (not hot) water; it seems to be less stressful and more effective at raising humidity. Misting enables chameleons to drink the droplets from the plants as well as raising the humidity in the cage. For montane chameleons such as Jackson’s chameleons, misting 3 times a day is likely necessary to retain proper humidity. Try to avoid spraying the chameleon directly at first as it stresses them out; they may eventually get used to it.

An alternative to the spray bottle a simple weed or deck sprayer purchased at your local hardware or plant store works wonders. Also many plant nurseries carry pressure sprayers that really relieve your hand especially for those with arthritis, carpel tunnel, or simply a sore hand from more than one animal. 

Furthermore there are also commercially available pet-safe misting systems. These are by far the superior choice for multiple cages, be prepared to pay the extra buck however. These can be purchased at Big Apple and a few other places. An online google search would produce some results.