ExoTerra Vivicator
- Thread starter rince
- Start date
well I guess there are arguments pro and contra of dead bugs. I think that you can nowadays preserve nutritional value also in dead bugs and if you supplement it should be fine. There are freeze dried products or boiled in the can ones. Some people even argue that boiled in the can bugs are softer as the exoskelleton becomes softer, easier to digest and breaks the bonds between the collagen protein making it easier available for reptiles to digest. The nutritional value should still be the same, last time I checked I cooked most of my food ...
But I have to confess the main reason for me would be to get rid of that cricket stench and to make it easier to stack food and have an alternative if I am out of live food.
But I have to confess the main reason for me would be to get rid of that cricket stench and to make it easier to stack food and have an alternative if I am out of live food.
Nayte
New member
Yeah well it can also be more time consuming if you dont want to leave it on all the time if it takes an hour or so for your Gecko to get the hint that it's there.
Natural is usually better, apart from the powders we use.
Again it's up to the Gecko, but a soft cricket may be like you eating soggy waterlogged bread
Natural is usually better, apart from the powders we use.
Again it's up to the Gecko, but a soft cricket may be like you eating soggy waterlogged bread
Riverside Reptiles
Administrator (HMFIC)
It's not because nobody wants to share the information. It's because the majority of us wouldn't even consider trying to use something like this.
Riverside Reptiles
Administrator (HMFIC)
Simply because most geckos don't eat dead insects. Cooked food does not have the same nutritional value as fresh. And the cost of dead prepackaged insects is far greater than appropriate live feeders. The information that you quote is directly from the exo-terra sales pitch. I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone with any practical experience that agrees with it. I really don't see much benefit to using such a product either. If you really want to rid yourself of cricket stench, start feeding tropical roaches. I'm not in any way saying that the device won't work. It most likely will work just fine. I just wouldn't trust feeding my animals some dead canned product when I can feed fresh live food that I raised myself and know exactly what's going into my animal.
Hi Ethan,
thank you for you clarification. Obviously raising your own feeder insects is the best thing to do, but for me out of the question. I am fine with buying them and paying a premium for that. And as I wrote in an earlier post in this threat I would not want to have them purely on a diet of dead feeders (freeze dried or cooked), but it would be nice to have an alternative if I am out of mealworms, which happened during this summer for example when no one would ship them because of some mysterious 'shortage' and if I could substitude live crickets for dead ones it would be great for me.
I am still not convinced about the nutritional value though. For cats and dogs most people feed canned products. I don't say that it is the best option and I do not say that there are no better ways, I just wonder if it would be sufficient. I value your experience and your opinion, but as hard as I searched on the web I did not find conclusive information pro or con canned feeders for geckos.
Regards,
Dennis
thank you for you clarification. Obviously raising your own feeder insects is the best thing to do, but for me out of the question. I am fine with buying them and paying a premium for that. And as I wrote in an earlier post in this threat I would not want to have them purely on a diet of dead feeders (freeze dried or cooked), but it would be nice to have an alternative if I am out of mealworms, which happened during this summer for example when no one would ship them because of some mysterious 'shortage' and if I could substitude live crickets for dead ones it would be great for me.
I am still not convinced about the nutritional value though. For cats and dogs most people feed canned products. I don't say that it is the best option and I do not say that there are no better ways, I just wonder if it would be sufficient. I value your experience and your opinion, but as hard as I searched on the web I did not find conclusive information pro or con canned feeders for geckos.
Regards,
Dennis