BSFL journey with fresh food

[Madmango]

I have only been using BSFL for a few month as my little chameleons don’t care for them but my sons fairly new (to us)Yemen loves them. I have been getting NutriGrub and can’t keep them alive. when I receive them The container has 10 to 15 dead ones at the top. I clean them out and store them in the same area with the rest of my feeders. With temperature around 75 and humidity in the room around 50%. They only last about a week

This led me to start reading a tone of research papers on them. I made my own food source. I kept about 20 BSFL out of the last cup I received. I made my own food from kitchen scraps such as. Sweet peppers, kale, apple, strawberry tops with a bit of strawberry attached, same carrot, and a very small amount of broccoli. I then dehydrated all of the food. I did leave a bet of the moisture in the kale apple mix and added alfalfa powder and bee pollen. I placed the larva in the food and let them eat for 4 days they never developed a bad smell and best of all they all lived unlike the rest of the larva I left in the nutrigrub mix. The once I feed almost double in size.

food before dehydration

food after being eaten for 4 days and grab. Sorry the photo is not great.

I’m definitely going to continue dehydrated food and feeding. I like knowing what I am feeding. if the chameleon world is interesting then I will update as I find better methods,

 

[TayloredExotics]

Out of curiosity, what did the dead ones look like? They turn hard and black when they're ready to pupate into flies; they're often mistaken for dead at that point. Then again, I've had some die on me as well, so

 

[Madmango]

@TayloredExotics I have not tossed them yet and snapped a few pictures.

they are very small about the size of rice.
What do you think?

 

[AmandaS]

@TayloredExotics I have not tossed them yet and snapped a few pictures. View attachment 298731View attachment 298732
they are very small about the size of rice.
What do you think?

Keep em.

 

[TayloredExotics]

Hmm, hard to tell. If they're concave, probably dead; if still fairly plump, probably pupating. Doesn't hurt to keep them around a few weeks to see!

 

[Pearl Fields]

Hmm, hard to tell. If they're concave, probably dead; if still fairly plump, probably pupating. Doesn't hurt to keep them around a few weeks to see!

Unless they get nasty because they were actually dead lol

 

[TayloredExotics]

Unless they get nasty because they were actually dead lol

Haha, fair. Generally if you keep them dry they'll just shrivel up if dead, though

 

[Madmango]

I will keep the around for a few weeks. They are not plum but I have not looked at them all. Thanks

 

[Mendez]

Haha, fair. Generally if you keep them dry they'll just shrivel up if dead, though

I agree with this statement. They dry out pretty easily. You can try using a different substrate such as soil for added humidity. The first time I got BSFL, they were shipped in a soil substrate. The BSFL that remained in the container pupated. I swear I had over 100 pupate. I squished a few when closing the lid--kinda gross. But then the supplier shipped using a substrate more akin to super worms mix, which tends to be very dry. I did not change anything from the last shipment, but this time the remaining BSFL did not pupate--they just shriveled up and died. I'm thinking improper humidity was the leading cause for their demise. One time I added a little moisture to the dry super worm-esque substrate and it hardened overnight which killed the rest. So if you are going to add moisture, you probably need some soil mix.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Hmm, hard to tell. If they're concave, probably dead; if still fairly plump, probably pupating. Doesn't hurt to keep them around a few weeks to see!

IME, brown = pupated; black = dead.
Both my lizards have keen feeder responses; if it's not live & wriggling, they're not interested, so neither dead nor pupating were of any use to me. Also, even the largest ones are relatively tiny compared with some other feeders.

Other feeders—even crix with their high die-off rate and having to be purchased weekly—are less work.

Because of these and other difficulties with keeping BSFL, I had to stop using them; money wasted.
Still a great feeder nutritionally, and kudos to anyone who can keep them alive & kickin' long enough to actually feed them off.

 

[Madmango]

@Mendez
I agree with you about moisture. The 20 that I placed in the food I made stayed alive and grew very quickly. Thanks for sharing your experience with soil. I’m going to try to keep them like my roaches next time I get an order. In moist Coco fiber and feed fresh food. If BSFL are kept to wet they can get very smelly. They also do require high humidity from what I have read. With moist coco and the heat they produce i may be able to keep good humidity.

@Klyde O'Scope
I’m with you on them being a waste of money. The only ones that stayed alive for me were the 20 I put in my own food mix. I’m 99% sure the ones I have are dead. I’m going to give it another go with my own setup. I’m also not sure what most of the BSFL are being feed with when we buy them. They are primarily used to clean agricultural waste, waste from breweries, and some restaurants food waste. Then sold as food for chickens and fish as well as reptiles.