Possible Dubia Problem?

[LegendaryValky]

Does anyone know anything about urate storage in Dubias? I read one person claim that if used as a staple Dubia can cause kidney failure in your pet because they store their urate in their body as a protein source. Has anyone else heard of this?

 

[OnlineGeckos]

The problem is that if the dubia roaches are fed a high protein diet, it will lead to excess uric acid build up in dubias. Excess uric acid will cause gout and other issues in leopard geckos. So to prevent issues like that from happening, you don't feed dubia roaches high protein diet. Yes it goes against what roach breeders say, as they often tell you to feed roaches high protein diet. But remember roach breeders are there to sell roaches and to sell the roach food. High protein diet likely lead to faster roach production for those that are breeding roaches. But again, high protein diet fed to roaches are not healthy for leopard geckos due to uric acid build up.

This is why you want to avoid feeding roaches dog/cat food, as they often contain 30%+ protein, not to mention they contain a lot of chemicals, additives, and fillers. It's still best to feed roaches healthy, natural diet such as fresh veggies & fruit, and whole grain cereals.

Allen Repashy explained it in more details here: Reptile Resources :: Nutrition Articles :: Can Feeder Insect Diets Contribute To Gout In Reptiles? - Repashy Ventures - Distributor Center

 

[Olympus]

Ditto what OnlineGeckos said, it's exactly the answer I would have given.

The roaches themselves are totally fine and safe when fed a healthy and proper diet.

 

[LegendaryValky]

Thanks for the answers on that. I hadn't looked into it myself. I feed mine wheat bran, oats, and cereal mixed together, with carrots as a water source.