Nutritional value of Dung Beetles

[Whistly]

Hi does anyone know what the nutritional value of dung beetles is? All I can find on the internet is that they eat bacteria in dung that is high in nutrition. So surely they should be pretty good food for frogs.

[skips]

Hi does anyone know what the nutritional value of dung beetles is? All I can find on the internet is that they eat bacteria in dung that is high in nutrition. So surely they should be pretty good food for frogs.

I wouldn't be so worried about their nutrition so much as the toughness of their carapace. What are you feeding them to? Plus, if you're growing them on some kind of feces, enterobacteria are not friendly.

[Whistly]

I wouldn't be so worried about their nutrition so much as the toughness of their carapace. What are you feeding them to? Plus, if you're growing them on some kind of feces, enterobacteria are not friendly.

I don't raise them as a food source but if I could that would be awesome, so I don't feed them anything, I just found two at night when hunting for moths and both went down easy enough they were gone in seconds. I just wondered if they were high in any nutrients. I'm feeding them to my Green and Golden Bell frogs and they are all juvenile so they need all the nutrients they can get. I don't dust their food as frogs have done fine in the wild for millions of years without someone following them around dusting every insect the frog comes near so I actually get annoyed when people talk about dusting feeders.

Thanks for your reply, I don't know what the dung beetles have eaten so I won't feed any more incase they have eaten enterobacteria.

[Socrates]

I would say stay away from dung beetles, and any species of beetle. The reason I say this, is because beetles have a very tough exoskeleton. But more importantly and of concern is the biting parts (mandibles, pincers, etc.) that the insect group Coleoptra (beetles) have. This can lea to injuries, possible damage to the frogs stomach, mouth etc. There are some frogs who eat species of beetles- see this with poison dart frogs eating myerlid beetles. But these beetles are small and possess softer exoskeletons. So my recommendation is no.

[Whistly]

I would say stay away from dung beetles, and any species of beetle. The reason I say this, is because beetles have a very tough exoskeleton. But more importantly and of concern is the biting parts (mandibles, pincers, etc.) that the insect group Coleoptra (beetles) have. This can lea to injuries, possible damage to the frogs stomach, mouth etc. There are some frogs who eat species of beetles- see this with poison dart frogs eating myerlid beetles. But these beetles are small and possess softer exoskeletons. So my recommendation is no.

Thanks Socrates I'm going to stay away from beetles. I was a bit afraid of the jaws so when I put them in I squeezed the mandibals till they were completely broken because I new Jabba couldn't stay away from a new insect, now Jabba is MASSIVE I don't think Jabba will eat for about a week.

[Deku]

Thanks Socrates I'm going to stay away from beetles. I was a bit afraid of the jaws so when I put them in I squeezed the mandibals till they were completely broken because I new Jabba couldn't stay away from a new insect, now Jabba is MASSIVE I don't think Jabba will eat for about a week.

Awe I like dung beetles. Always wanted one. But never found one. lol

[Whistly]

Awe I like dung beetles. Always wanted one. But never found one. lol

Lol maybe check in some poo check out a farm lol.

[Deku]

Lol maybe check in some poo check out a farm lol.

I have a ultra sensitive nostril. Lol that's torment for me. Plus i'd look like a deranged loonatic.

At any rate I'm hoping to attract bugs to my yard by creating a perfect habitat for them. Though Ima lower the feedings to my toad. One of them just pooped diareah-ish.

[Whistly]

I have a ultra sensitive nostril. Lol that's torment for me. Plus i'd look like a deranged loonatic.

At any rate I'm hoping to attract bugs to my yard by creating a perfect habitat for them. Though Ima lower the feedings to my toad. One of them just pooped diareah-ish.

That would be a bummer to clean up if it pooed in the water. On most insect documentries they just set up a light and use a white sheet around the light to attract bugs at night.

[Kurt]

I don't know what the nutritional value of a dung beetle is, doesn't matter anyway, they probably taste like ****!

[Deku]

I don't know what the nutritional value of a dung beetle is, doesn't matter anyway, they probably taste like ****!

As the saying goes "you are what you eat". lololol. So if I ate a frog, will that make me a frog? Will I go ribbit riibbit? lolol.

[skips]

I don't raise them as a food source but if I could that would be awesome, so I don't feed them anything, I just found two at night when hunting for moths and both went down easy enough they were gone in seconds. I just wondered if they were high in any nutrients. I'm feeding them to my Green and Golden Bell frogs and they are all juvenile so they need all the nutrients they can get. I don't dust their food as frogs have done fine in the wild for millions of years without someone following them around dusting every insect the frog comes near so I actually get annoyed when people talk about dusting feeders.

Thanks for your reply, I don't know what the dung beetles have eaten so I won't feed any more incase they have eaten enterobacteria.

From explanations that people have used with me, it's mainly calcium that people dust with. For example, I fed my dart frogs fruit flies which which subsist mainly on potato flakes which are low in calcium. I would expect wild bugs to have a much more diverse diet. Bugs dont need nearly the calcium (although important for many intracellular processes...they dont have bones to maintain) that frogs would. It is pretty undisputed that at least, say, dart frogs (which can be very sensitive) need good dusting on their flies. Otherwise they can grow deformed or more commonly be prone to involuntary spasms leading to death. Usually people dust due to the homogeny of diet they feed to their feeders. If you're getting your bugs from outside I would consider them already to be "gut loaded." Others would be better equipped to comment on that, but that's my inexpert two cents. Your species of frog may be fine, other, more sensitive species, may well not.

As for the enterobacteria...do dung beetles require dung for reproduction? If so, they will have come into contact with feces. If it came from a mammal, the feces will contain E. Coli, E. Fecaelis, etc. If not, maybe salmonella or some other completely natural bacteria which inhabit animal guts. These bacteria can live outside the body for a long time and I wonder (I really couldnt say either way) if they get carried or eliminated on the beetles carapace. Amphibian skin is sensitive and I really have no idea what the dynamics of amphibian skin coming into contact with fecal colliforms would be like. I'm not saying definitively that this would cause problems, just that its something to think about.

[Whistly]

From explanations that people have used with me, it's mainly calcium that people dust with. For example, I fed my dart frogs fruit flies which which subsist mainly on potato flakes which are low in calcium. I would expect wild bugs to have a much more diverse diet. Bugs dont need nearly the calcium (although important for many intracellular processes...they dont have bones to maintain) that frogs would. It is pretty undisputed that at least, say, dart frogs (which can be very sensitive) need good dusting on their flies. Otherwise they can grow deformed or more commonly be prone to involuntary spasms leading to death. Usually people dust due to the homogeny of diet they feed to their feeders. If you're getting your bugs from outside I would consider them already to be "gut loaded." Others would be better equipped to comment on that, but that's my inexpert two cents. Your species of frog may be fine, other, more sensitive species, may well not.

As for the enterobacteria...do dung beetles require dung for reproduction? If so, they will have come into contact with feces. If it came from a mammal, the feces will contain E. Coli, E. Fecaelis, etc. If not, maybe salmonella or some other completely natural bacteria which inhabit animal guts. These bacteria can live outside the body for a long time and I wonder (I really couldnt say either way) if they get carried or eliminated on the beetles carapace. Amphibian skin is sensitive and I really have no idea what the dynamics of amphibian skin coming into contact with fecal colliforms would be like. I'm not saying definitively that this would cause problems, just that its something to think about.

Well that's a lot of food for thought Jabba hasn't got any thing wrong that I have seen so I think Jabba will be fine although I can't really see Jabba as my frogs have gone into hibernation so Jabba is somewhere under the leaf litter and I don't want to disturb them.