What is the best feeder?

[cotty]

I started my roach colony with a tub of babies about 100 which i fed initially just to see how they went down.
My leo loves them so i continued to feed them,once i found out how easy they are to breed i stopped feeding them to let the colony grow!
It takes about 6 months for them to become fully grown and start breeding.
Every adult female gives birth to around 40 babies per month which are around 5mm in size.
to get them to grow/breed you just need to keep them warm and provide water in the form of gel and feed them dry dog or cat food with vegies once a week or so!
A plastic tub is ideal to keep them in so long as it has smooth sides you don't need a lid as roaches are poor climbers!
With a decent size colony you get a good variation of sizes so are ideal for all ages of Leos but adult roaches are too big around 50mm but you don't want to feed those anyway as they are producing your feeders!

 

[HepCatMoe]

really, as long as they always have fresh veggies there is no need for gel.

 

[gitrdone0420]

Crickets are hard to care for, but Im scared to death of roaches... so, Im stuck. But I keep mealies as well, breed them myself and they arent that difficult.

 

[sheepylizzy]

I voted for crickets but i would dust them as well to make them better for your gecko.

 

[reptilekeeper]

I feed mine mealworms with waxworms as a treat

 

[Johno305]

My girls eat mostly superworms...you can get them in different sizes(I use large and mediums). Since they are wigglier(sp?) than mealies the girls seem to get a thrill from chasing them down. They also get 2 or three waxies every 3 to 4 weeks as a treat. Crickets are stinky and roaches are :*:Shivers:*: EWWWWW!!!

 

[Designer Geckos]

I am really starting to like using butterworms. They are low in fat and high in calcium, and you only have to feed a few. Most leos love them, but a few won't touch them.
They keep for months in the fridge, with a few fresh carrot slices to keep them plumped up. The leos we have on butterworms now also seem to be healthier, more active, and more colorful than when they were eating mealies as a staple.
They are soft and easy to eat, even for juvies. It's amazing the size of the butterworms the juvies can wolf down!
I think adding in butters to your routine may be something you'd like to check out.

Crickets Meal Worms Wax Worms Super Worms Fly Larvae
Moisture, % 69.07 62.44 61.73 59.37 68.18
Fat, % 6.01 12.72 22.19 17.89 7.81
Protein, % 21.32 20.27 15.50 17.41 15.58
Fibre, % 3.2 1.73 7.69 6.80 3.46
Ash, % 2.17 1.57 1.02 1.20 1.40
Ca, ppm 345 133 283 124 874
P, ppm 4238 3345 2161 2320 2405
CA/P ratio % 0.081 0.040 0.131 0.053 0.363

Butterworms nutritional analysis is as follows.

Moisture, % 58.54
Ash, % 1.04
Protein, % 16.20
Fat, % 5.21
Calories 87.73
Calcium (mL/100g) 42.90**

**The Calcium content is more than twice that of any other feeder insect you can buy.

 

[Yamori]

Gutlaoded crickets:main_thumbsup:

Pros:

1. fairly easy to breed.
2. more apealing and apetizing to reptiles being that they are very active.
3. nutritious
4. Tidy and do not have an odor unlike mealies, roaches.



cons:

1. The NOISE!!!!, Damn its so loud and anoying at times.

I have tried them all, mealies, roaches etc but crickets imo are the best feeder.

 

[archeryreptiles]

Rusty Reds are pretty awesome feeders as well

 

[mrdonovan37]

Mine eat gutloaded crickets as their main staple, even though I hate the things. I recently introduced a couple of my adults to superworms and they went nuts over them (I have one that loved mealworms to the point she would pout by the bowl I put them in when she was hungry.) The activity factor seems to be what gets all of them going, the more mobile the tastier it must be.

 

[serialzombie]

. . . A plastic tub is ideal to keep them in so long as it has smooth sides you don't need a lid as roaches are poor climbers!
With a decent size colony you get a good variation of sizes so are ideal for all ages of Leos but adult roaches are too big around 50mm but you don't want to feed those anyway as they are producing your feeders!

Some roaches are excellent climbers. Dubia, which I keep, are not. I have a well ventilated lid in place for peace of my mind anyway. Also, bug bombs. Haha.

I love the variation in size that my colony provides. However, my (adult) geckos LOVE the full grown male dubia. I know they're larger than most people suggest offering, but the head to body ratio of geckos leads me to the belief that they have adapted to eating exceptionally large prey items for their size, and they've never had problems taking them down.

 

[puyopop]

i have fed a lot of insects, from superworms, to pheonix worms.. i spend lots of money on these foodstuffs.

however the best staple is mealworms.. its just best, nothing can beat it.

 

[FloridaNature]

I bought a tub of a 100 wax worms & have been giving them to my four 20+ g female Leos every other day with mealies on the other day.
I have been doing this for 3 days now.

Is it bad to offer them as the only food?
Will they only prefer them & stop eating other things?
How often should they be offered?

Thanks,
Michael

 

[puyopop]

just give them 2 per day, you should be fine. dont feed them entirely on wax worms, as they're just in summary.. just fat and water.

 

[greedo11]

No-one as far as I can see has mentioned locusts?
Greedo has tried locusts, crickets and mealworms from our local petshop and prefers locusts by far!!
I make sure they are fully dusted in Repton calcium powder and are gutloaded on bran and a bit of salad.
Shes a big girl with a huuuuuge tail so it must do her good.
Just wondering what the thoughts are on locusts?
Also dublias where mentioned in a few posts what are these?:main_huh:

 

[Vegas_Eric]

I voted super worms since better the 60% of my Leo's will eat them.

But I prefer roaches and was surprised that they were not on your list.

I have tubs of both Dubia and Lobster roaches. Both of which are far more nutritious and have more meat to shell ratio then either worms or crickets.

They also don't stink like crickets to and almost thrive on neglect.

Good luck in your decision!

Luke & The Twins

 

[jermh1]

dubia's

I am almost switched over to dubia roaches, iv got 23 leopards and still keep a few colonies of crickets going just for the non roach eaters. my last group of hatchlings went streight for the roaches, 4 of them have been eating from 10-20 a day since last monday. I feed them in small stainless cat dishes from walmart, it keeps the roaches from hiding around the cage. when switching over I threw some crickets into the dishes with the roaches to help attract attention. o and if your growing roaches, save your pumpkins they love them, almost as much as oranges mine took down a 5 lb pumpkin in a weekend. also for food I give my roaches Retriever High protine dog food which I get from Tractor supply and grind up in an old hand crank meat grinder.
I am also starting a meal worm colonie for some giggles. will probably just feed them to whatever will eat them, but they are still small 1/2 inch or so.

 

[adam&nikki]

i use crickets as i go thru 2k in a week i never have that bad cricket odour i also give silks as a treat and some mealworms i find that crickets will run around and jump and keep my geckos very active i also keep some salad in the bin with my crickets ill trow in a carrot or squash as well to keep them feed and healthy staple for my leos

 

[Srt14292]

Do you have any pictures of the locusts you keep and feed?
And how do you keep them?

I never saw this reply to my post sorry for the very late reply. Basically I keep them how you would keep crickets, In their pre pack tub, with some egg carton thing. And a few slices of apple to keep them fed and moisture, however they go pretty quickly after I buy them anyways.
As for pictures I don't have pictures of my own but if you go into www.livefoods.co.uk and see the size ranges for thier locusts (they give you pictures) you can see what out feeder locusts look like. Ranging from small small ones to adults with wings.

 

[LizMarie]

Gutlaoded crickets:main_thumbsup:

Pros:
4. Tidy and do not have an odor unlike mealies, roaches.

I'm not sure about what kind of roaches your talking about but I have over 100 dubia that have been in a bin since the summer and they don't smell at all and I have yet to clean them out.