Hey Thomas,

I've also never read chameleons eating amphibians ...

I think you'll gather from those publications that the most prominent nutrients that have been looked into (for herps in general) are calcium, phosphorous and Vit D. The first step in a diet formulation for most vertebrates and especially reptiles is ensuring there is a positive calcium to phosphorous ratio. In captivity this is accomplished by gut loading the inverts you are feeding, and/or by vitamin dusting (although this can affect palatability but hopefully if it moves they'll eat it). Vit D while being part of nutrition because it is a "vitamin" is obtained through husbandry, specifically with UVB lighting. All of these components are essential to prevent metabolic bone disorder which unfortunately many captive reptiles still get.  These have to be in order before considering anything else (In my opinion).

Many papers about gut loading and how much time after feeding are nutrients at their highest concentrations, look at the abstracts in the online version of Zoo Nutrition Volume 3 (available from www.eaza.net/nutrition).

Attached a paper of potential relevance.

Normally, chameleons diet consist of insects including ants, and small amphibians. therefore, major constituents of the diet should be protein and minerals.

As it is a common practice to powder insects with mineral supplements and other nutrients and/or gut load them before feeding them to the chameleons, I think most private person use common reptile oowerds containing calcium, vitamin d3 (or simple multivitamin) powder form the stores... 

@G.S. Solanki: There are quite a lot chamelons feeding on plants and (only the big ones) smaller mammals to... for sure, its not the major percentage but maybe also necassary for essential nutrients...

I think that the main source of insects, worms and larvae of insects

Here is a great recent article on veiled chameleons by Hoby et al 2010

There are standart diet  arranged many times ago, which may be found in number of articles published by zoos and hobbiests (some are included above). 

In normal people who keep collections of chameleons or chameleons as part of herp collections need to save time to maintain them.

Thus most people who do not want to pretend to "discover bycycles" feed them mostly on insects (peferably crickets) dusted with vitamin-mineral supplements. From time to time they also offer different other insects and pinky mice.

follow to say chameleons' diet has not much particularity comparing to insectivorous lizards. Same items, same supplemets. Only a level of keeping conditions required special attention same like in asiatic arboreal agamids which most common to chameleons by the style of life (poss americans like Corytophanes spp. are same).

Frogs? Who said they like to eat them? Looks nonesence...

Some really accept plants but the most known who eat plants is Ch. calyptratus. 99% of others who kept in captivity normally did not accept plants. Funnily, some other lizards eat plants like Eublepharis macularius, which eat different sweet friuts...

Thanks all for your responses and for links to papers. They've been very helpful.

Hey Thomas,

I've also never read chameleons eating amphibians ...

I think you'll gather from those publications that the most prominent nutrients that have been looked into (for herps in general) are calcium, phosphorous and Vit D. The first step in a diet formulation for most vertebrates and especially reptiles is ensuring there is a positive calcium to phosphorous ratio. In captivity this is accomplished by gut loading the inverts you are feeding, and/or by vitamin dusting (although this can affect palatability but hopefully if it moves they'll eat it). Vit D while being part of nutrition because it is a "vitamin" is obtained through husbandry, specifically with UVB lighting. All of these components are essential to prevent metabolic bone disorder which unfortunately many captive reptiles still get.  These have to be in order before considering anything else (In my opinion).

Many papers about gut loading and how much time after feeding are nutrients at their highest concentrations, look at the abstracts in the online version of Zoo Nutrition Volume 3 (available from www.eaza.net/nutrition).

Normally, we feed chameleons with crickets as standard diet, and compound with complex vitamins and Ca powders twice a week. Some times, we feed them addtional fruit and vegetables for nutrition balance.

Hi Thomas,

I would have directed you to Gary Ferguson but have seen he has already contributed above.  The other two to look up, apologies if you have already found them, would be Ardi Abate &/or Karen Kalisch (http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=17+1796&aid=3027; http://www.geocities.ws/chamjacksonii/cinbaby.html).  

Just one point to consider on a different tack;  I conducted research into the behavioural ecology of Gunther's gecko on Round Island - during which I compared zoo info on feeding to wild and found the zoo was more influenced by curator 'norm of practice' / logistics rather than being based on species knowledge on feeding strategies of wild studies.  We found Gunther's exhibited variable feeding strategies in the wild (not replicated in captivity!) - mainly by day an ambush hunter in the canopy on P. ornate that came in to feed on nectar from flower spikes and by night an active ground level hunter of invertebrates.  Before you think this is irrelevant to cham's - there are many anecdotal observations of cham's eating fledgling birds and I have seen a photo of a chameleon eating another chameleon taken in the wild!  Just to say make sure you are comparing like for like and that the data for wild cham's is robust!  Certainly there is species differences applying here - ie, comparing F. oustaleti to Brk. minima - both cham's but potentially very different prey species / items!  Just thoughts - hope they help?!