Feeder insects, what do you breed?

[hornet]

Just wondering what feeders are out there apart from the 3 standards, Wood roaches, Crickets and mealworms?

 

[cris]

Good idea for a thread, most commonly bred food is rubbish, roaches are pretty good, but most other common insects are rubbish unless an occasional thing or supplemented. Soldier flies, earthworms and other stuff are easy to produce in a compost bin/heap, I dont really breed them more just providing food and habitat. I have been keen to find some good feeder insects, there has to be heaps of them around, its just a matter of doing the work to find which ones are easy to produce and have good nutrional value.

Locusts would be worth considering, although i havnt breed them myself.

 

[hornet]

i have considered locusts but because they are so jumpy, housing them in a way that keeps them secure but also makes them easy to harvest makes things a little more difficult. I'm starting up some fruit fly cultures for frogs and small lizards and also will probably start breeding my own isopods, spring tails and snails.

 

[Guest]

im raising xmas beetles atm but it seems like a long process with little return
I also breed black crix as i find it too hard to do the brown feeder ones
and i also have a heap of african night crawler worms im a can-o-worms worm farm

 

[hornet]

what are the xmas beetles for? But yes its quite a long process breeding those kind of beetles. So the black crix are easier to breed? I know they have a harder exoskeleton then the normal crix, havent found it to be a prob?

 

[Guest]

the xmas beetles were mainly to see if i could do it!
black crix are easier to breed for me but my set up is more like a woodie set up than a crix one they need to be kept fairly dry

 

[mattmc]

keeping locusts in a colony would most likely end in a fail, as they are solitary animals that like to eat each other if not fed properly

 

[gillsy]

I have crickets breeding in my goanna enclosures, they lay eggs in the nesting boxes.

There are 100's of pin head's running around and they fall into the water dish, and because of surface cohesion they can't escape it's a pain in the ****.

 

[Jen]

I am breeding wax worms, very easy. They are apparently fatty, but are an excellent supplement/treat and my gex love them. I also breed mealies, mostly for my mice.

 

[Guest]

Jen can you post me some wax worms?

 

[Jen]

Lol, no, but if you get in contact with a local beekeeper, they can probably set you up with an infected frame or 2

 

[jinin]

im raising xmas beetles atm but it seems like a long process with little return
I also breed black crix as i find it too hard to do the brown feeder ones
and i also have a heap of african night crawler worms im a can-o-worms worm farm

3 hatchling Pygmy Bearded Dragons were eaten by Black Crickets, one by one.

 

[hornet]

I am breeding wax worms, very easy. They are apparently fatty, but are an excellent supplement/treat and my gex love them. I also breed mealies, mostly for my mice.

i'll shoot you a pm re waxworms in a tick but any chance on some info, pics of your setup? I'll have a chat to the mods mayb see if there could be some stickys made on rearing alternative food items.

 

[Guest]

3 hatchling Pygmy Bearded Dragons were eaten by Black Crickets, one by one.

no doubt!
a hatchling pygmy bearded dragon wouldn't be much bigger than a black crix would it?

 

[Dannyboi]

keeping locusts in a colony would most likely end in a fail, as they are solitary animals that like to eat each other if not fed properly

Crickets eat eachother if not properly fed. People do this successfully its all about method isn't it?

 

[jinin]

no doubt!
a hatchling pygmy bearded dragon wouldn't be much bigger than a black crix would it?

probably, they weren't my Pygmies but offspring of mine and they guy said he noticed each day one was missing, then he saw the cricket literally take his last one down in front of him and kill it. It got into their enclosure somehow.

 

[Tikanderoga]

Crickets eat eachother if not properly fed. People do this successfully its all about method isn't it?

Yeah, if there is not enough food around, they turn to canibalism.

My crickets just hatched over new year's. Got a tub full of tiny crickets running 'round.
My meal worms are still in bug form, but it's just a matter of time now 'til the first worms hatch.