Isopods?!

[JeffreH]

You could always try both if you have room for a couple of 6qt sterilite bins to decide which works better for you (or use both together)- The isopods you can obtain locally in the woods, breed them, and keep a constant supply on hand with minimal needs for free and replenish those in the vivaria as necessary. Springtails will cost for an inital culture but are effortless to raise and you can have an infinite supply within a month's time if you move them into a shoebox bin with soil and their starting media and sprinkle some yeast, fish flakes or some other grain based product on them every now and then.

But then again, not everyone likes to keep a variety of random invertebrates. I like to keep a heated rack system at the ready for all my buggies :3 *snorts*

[kueluck]

I'm right there with ya. The "guest" room has turned into the bug room. Dubias, turkish, pillbugs, earthworms and once in a great while crickets, butter worms or silk worms.

You could always try both if you have room for a couple of 6qt sterilite bins to decide which works better for you (or use both together)- The isopods you can obtain locally in the woods, breed them, and keep a constant supply on hand with minimal needs for free and replenish those in the vivaria as necessary. Springtails will cost for an inital culture but are effortless to raise and you can have an infinite supply within a month's time if you move them into a shoebox bin with soil and their starting media and sprinkle some yeast, fish flakes or some other grain based product on them every now and then.

But then again, not everyone likes to keep a variety of random invertebrates. I like to keep a heated rack system at the ready for all my buggies :3 *snorts*

[J Teezy]

I have some springs (i've only had them for a little over a week), what i've been doing is every couple of days i flood the container they came in (from Josh's frogs they come in a plastic container) and pour the water in with whatever springs go with it.

[Froggiefressh]

I'm right there with ya. The "guest" room has turned into the bug room. Dubias, turkish, pillbugs, earthworms and once in a great while crickets, butter worms or silk worms.

How often is it okay to feed frogs butter and silk worms?

[kueluck]

Butter worms I would give once a week as a treat, silk worms are very good for amphibians and reptiles and can be given more often. Here's a link for worm comparison Silkworms - The Benefits of feeding your reptile and pet the silkworm The silkworms you do not refrigerate so you need to make sure you order enough worm food or have an ample supply of mulberry leaves for them.

[JeffreH]

That's a good article Gail, sums em up really nice and has a nice little nutrional comparison = )

In addition, Silkworms contain an enzyme serrapeptase which has been linked to reduced inflammation and arterial plaque amonst a variety of other benefits. Cheri Smith actually examined the effects of silkworms as a feeder an serrapeptase on some rescue bearded dragons and the results were phenominal. I will link you to the article when I can get the site functioning again.

If you can get eggs from the right supplier, you can actually refrigerate the eggs for storage and pull them out as you need them. They aren't painfully difficult to breed if you have a high enough demand for them and a lot of mouths to feed, but you may be able to find eggs from a wholesaler capable of being refrigerated. The only downside to this is I don't think they have an infiinite shelf life, and you would have to rear babies up ahead of time who can only eat the finest of fresh new mulberry leaves or chow due to their small mandibles.

[GrifTheGreat]

That's a good article Gail, sums em up really nice and has a nice little nutrional comparison = )

In addition, Silkworms contain an enzyme serrapeptase which has been linked to reduced inflammation and arterial plaque amonst a variety of other benefits. Cheri Smith actually examined the effects of silkworms as a feeder an serrapeptase on some rescue bearded dragons and the results were phenominal. I will link you to the article when I can get the site functioning again.

If you can get eggs from the right supplier, you can actually refrigerate the eggs for storage and pull them out as you need them. They aren't painfully difficult to breed if you have a high enough demand for them and a lot of mouths to feed, but you may be able to find eggs from a wholesaler capable of being refrigerated. The only downside to this is I don't think they have an infiinite shelf life, and you would have to rear babies up ahead of time who can only eat the finest of fresh new mulberry leaves or chow due to their small mandibles.

I've always wanted to get some silks, but they're expensive. More so than Hornworms, but no where near as large.

[JeffreH]

They are a little cheaper to raise though; it is disturbing how much a single hornworm can consume...particularly as it approaches it's final instars lol. It's actually nice raising silkworms in the late spring and summer because mulberry is abundant around where I live, which cuts down on chow costs.

The most economical strategy would be to be to buy a bulk quanitity of dry chow [or harvest leaves, if possible], and the worms or eggs separate (particularly eggs). The premade cups are very convenient, but they are very expensive. But again, unless you are feeding a large quanitity of insects these are always very expensive feeders.