Food that Feeder Insects Love

[kenya]

Hey guys, I have been thinking of making this thread for a while now.

I have noticed that the different insects I keep have very obvious taste preferences as far as food goes. Most of the time, I give two forms of gutload- a blended wet mix and a blended dry mix. I maintain my colonies, however, on simple vegetable scraps that I bring home from my job at the co-op and water crystals.

Here is what I have noticed.

Dubia roaches love mustard greens. They also love bee pollen and dog food.

Madagascar hisser roaches LOVE collard greens. They pop out of everywhere and swarm it as soon as the collards are in. They don't do that for anything else other than bee pollen and dog food and even then, not as fast and feisty as on the collards.

The crickets love sweet potato and yam. They also like bee pollen.

Superworm beetles love sweet potato and yam as well. Superworms themselves don't really seem to like anything in particular over something else.

What have you guys noticed with your feeders? What are their tastes?

 

[Miss Lily]

Locusts love wheat grass, apple and Wild Rocket leaves. Supers, mealworms and crix like apple and Wild Rocket leaves. I keep mealworms for my sugar glider, but Lily has the occasional newly moulted one as a treat.

 

[Lizardlover]

actually i think superworms like alot of things, i come into the room seeing superworms at the surface feeding on whatever is in the tank (sweet potatoe, apples, etc.)

crickets LOVE bell peppers, for me i put them in there and its gone in a few hours.

Thats my experience

 

[Hilikus311]

okay seriously where do you buy bee pollen from? i can't find it anywere?

 

[Todnedo]

I get bee pollen here
http://www.bulkfoods.com/search_res...tFromSearch=fromSearch&txtsearchParamTxt=4710

 

[kenya]

I get bee pollen from the co-op that I work at. We have it in bulk, even, or you can buy it packaged. It is around $7 a pound, I think. You should check natural food stores in your area.

 

[kenya]

Okay, so just to demonstrate how much the hissers love collards, here is a series of photos I took within a total of about 4 minutes time.

 

[panthercham]

Cool photos Kenya....hungry little buggers

I have never fed bee pollen so I am off to the health food shop down the street to see if they have any. If so is there any special way to feed it?

Crickets seem to like carrots, apples and kale and superworms yam and collards

 

[desultadox]

OMG those pictures are terrifying! It's like a zombie horde on fresh brains!

I just feed my roaches store-bought cricket gutload (Fluker's) and they also attack like zombies.

 

[kenya]

Cool photos Kenya....hungry little buggers

I have never fed bee pollen so I am off to the health food shop down the street to see if they have any. If so is there any special way to feed it?

Crickets seem to like carrots, apples and kale and superworms yam and collards

I usually just blend my bee pollen into my dry mix gutload with a spice pulser. You can just sprinkle it in, too, and they will eat it.

 

[CNorton]

all the bee pollen i've found in health food stores is CRAZY expensive.

 

[desultadox]

Just curious... If the feeders prefer one food over another, is it possible that they're eating that more and avoiding other parts of their gutload, thus making them less nutrient-rich for your chameleon? Or do you control this somehow like make sure they get at least a little bit of everything before they're fed off?

 

[Zen Reptiles]

I find that all my roaches love crushed eggshells, and this is great for calcium content. I keep dubias, hissers, lobsters, turkestans, and giant cave roaches.

They also all love watermelon, and sweet oranges (mandarins are devoured quickly). Dandelions (whole plant) is devoured by the lobsters especially, but all of them will eat it. I go out once a week and weed the yard just for dandelions to feed my roaches, it makes weeding a lot funner when you have a purpose for it! haha

I use chicken mash (big bag of it will last you years, and is about 11$ at 'farm' supply stores), and they seem to munch on it over time, it's also got good calcium and protein content.

I'll have to try the bee pollen and the other greens mentioned.

This is an awesome thread! Thanks for starting it. I will try some of the suggestions.

Could we make this a sticky somewhere, and add all the suggestions to the first post in the thread over time? I think it's important so we know how to properly gutload our feeders!

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Oh, and desultadox, yes. Some prefer certain foods over others, and will even starve before eating some things. It's likely that well fed colonies will prefer certain foods over others, unless in dire situations when food isn't offered for a very long time.

That's why I keep so many species, because they all have different niches and prefer different things, adding variety not only in their natural nutrition content, but in what they individually (as a species) eat as well.

 

[sarah777]

I have dubias but I think there might be a couple of something else I see one in the picture it is bigger and lighter in color with wings does anyone know what kind that is?

 

[desultadox]

I find that all my roaches love crushed eggshells, and this is great for calcium content.

I often read on here that direct calcium intake can kill roaches. I've never experienced it myself, and from what you're saying it now seems unlikely.

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Sarah post a picture or find some for us.

And as for calcium. Dusting them with calcium will kill them, because they breath through their body, not their mouth (that's why they can live without a head). I think that is partially where the myth came from. The other factor, is that people just dump the calcium powder in for them to eat (usually expired calcium and vitamin dusts), and this will get on their body also and suffocate them. It's designed to be sticky to insects!

So as long as you don't crush they eggshells to a powder, you're set. Also, I would never suggest feeding anything powdered to your roaches, as this has the same affect....it suffocates them if it gets on their bodies.

As for calcium intake killing them, I've never heard of this....

 

[desultadox]

That's so strange because my roaches love to make a mess with their food and poop and just dig into it, pretty much burrowing.

 

[Zen Reptiles]

I don't understand your point?

Fine ground foods should have particles big enough to not be so much of a concern, but if you grind up your own recipe, I'm just saying I wouldn't over-do it to the point where it's the same consistency as supplement powders.

The main concern is calcium and vitamin dusts, which I know some people recommend to feed expired portions to roaches, which I'd advise against.

 

[CNorton]

Mine love orange slices. It works out good for everyone because we have orchards of oranges and it makes the feeders cages smell nice!....well...better than usual.

never tried eggshells, i'll put some in tonight!