Breeding & Raising Insects for Reptiles

There are many different insects that you can feed your pet reptiles. The more common feeder insects include crickets, mealworms, superworms, and silkworms. With each feeder insect, each has its own pros and cons.

Most people either make a homemade gut load or purchase a commercial brand, which aids in the nutritious value of insect. The old saying, "you are what you eat," really comes to play. You want to ensure that your pet reptiles are getting the best diet that you can provide by providing healthy foods. By feeding the feeder insects a gut load, you are ensuring that the feeders are healthy, so that your reptiles will get healthy foods.

On top of feeding feeder insects a proper gut load you need to dust the insects before feeding them to your pet reptiles. On average, you'll want to use a pure calcium supplement at least three times a week. Use calcium plus vitamin D3 at least once a week, and use a multi-vitamin at least twice a week.

Remember that whatever feeder insects that you decide to feed your pet reptiles, make sure that they are size appropriate. A general rule is to make sure that the insect is no larger than the width between the reptile's eyes.

Another rule to keep in mind, is to never feed your pet reptile insects from the yard. You can't guarantee that the little black crickets haven't traveled from your neighbor's neighbor who uses pesticides.

• Crickets

Crickets are probably one of the best feeder insects that you can feed your pet reptiles. They are easy to come by and come in a variety of sizes. Most pet stores sale them, and they're fairly easy to breed.

• Discoid Roaches

Although, we strive to keep roaches out of our houses, don't Raid these roaches. Captive bred roaches are very nutritious for your reptiles. They have a high meat to shell ratio, which means that your pet reptiles do not have to eat as many before becoming full, but because they can reach 2", you'll want to feed nymphs (babies) to your smaller gecko species.

• Mealworms

Mealworms are probably the second best staple feeder insect in terms of ease, smell, and gecko preferences. Mealworms are easy to raise and breed, and the perks are that they don't smell nearly as bad as crickets. Plus, mealworms can easily be fed to your reptile via a bowl with high sides to prevent them from crawling out.

• Silkworms

Silkworms are a great staple diet, but they can get rather expensive if you constantly order them online. You can breed silkworms, but breeding silkworms s a little more complicated than breeding other feeder insects.

• Superworms

Superworms are ok to feed as a staple for larger reptiles. Some medium and smaller reptiles can successfully eat superworms, but their hard exoskeleton can be hard to digest.

• Butterworms

Butterworms are high in calcium, but they're also high in fat. If you want to give your reptiles a treat, this is a healthy treat to provide. As with any treat, you don't want to give it in excess.

• Phoenix Worms

Phoenix worms are another great treat insect. They would be a great staple diet, except for the fact that they are just so expensive. If you can afford an average $6 a cup for about 35 to 50 worms, then I'd invest in a case of cups for your reptiles because they'd be a great staple, otherwise, phoenix worms make a healthy treat for your pet reptile.

• Waxworm

Waxworms are a feeder insect that you want to provide at a bare minimum. They are very fatty and addictive. After feeding your reptile waxworms in excess in hopes to help your reptile gain a little weight, you'll find that your reptile will be just slightly addicted to eating waxworms. So keep waxworms out of the food bowl as best as you can, but one or two every now and then should be fine.

I want to thank David Falish for nutritional value chart above.