Nutrition: Dubias vs. crickets

[PaladinGirl]

Well, today I suddenly decided that I am pretty much done with crickets. Since all my geckos love dubias, I am switching over entirely I think. So it'll be just dubias and mealies now.

BUT, before I switch over entirely, I just want to inquire about the nutritional value between the two. Are roaches more nutritious than crickets?

I can't stand the crickets anymore, especially since I've had to start buying more for my expanded gecko collection. The stink of so many is awful. Dubias (and mealies) have absolutely no smell that I've ever noticed and are much hardier and easier to manage. Before getting geckos, I never would've thought that I'd come to view roaches as less nasty than crickets. :main_laugh: I also think that I'm allergic to crickets; after messing with them, my nose, eyes and ears itch. I have to wear a mask. :main_rolleyes:

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Much more protein value, higher meat to shell ratio, and less fat. You gut-load them properly, they are in every way superior to crickets as feeders.

http://www.theroachguy.com/new_page_1.htm
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art171047.asp

 

[PaladinGirl]

Cool, ty so much Mardy! Now I feel pretty good about getting rid of these nasty crickets lol!

 

[OnlineGeckos]

I hate crickets. I had to buy some because a new female wasn't eating, so I thought maybe she was a picky eater. But after she didn't take on the crickets, I force fed (not literally) crickets to all of my geckos until they were gone lol. For 3 nights I had to endure the chirp, they started smelling in a couple of days too.

Dubia roaches ftw.

 

[Wowoklol]

Heres a nice technical document http://nagonline.net/Technical Papers/NAGFS00397Insects-JONIFEB24,2002MODIFIED.pdf

I had read somewhere that their Ca to P ratio was heavy on the Ca side, as opposed to the crickets being more balanced. Although I'm having trouble finding data to support this at the moment. Most of us supplement anyhow. As long as they are getting more Ca than P you are ok. Otherwise they will get their Ca from their bones. dubia wins hands down in this household

 

[houseb]

I switched to dubias a while back and I'm soooo glad I did. Just be careful because you may be allergic to the dubia frass (poop) as well. Fortunately, you probably won't have to clean out your roach bin nearly as often as you would crickets.