General Small Feeders

[Deku]

Hi Iam getting some new toads soon so I wanted to learn how to culture some live feeders.

What I was wondering what are the most nutritional feeders? I want to feed sometimes crickets but not always, I feel they dont have that much nutrition.

The toads only grow about 1 inch and sometimes 1 and a half. so I have to feed things like baby earthworms, meal worm beetles(on occassion), wax worms, wax worm moths(adults), I want to feed small roaches on occassion and I guess fruit flies sometimes. Oh I would like to know anything better than crickets. I heard locusts and grasshoppers are more nutritional.

I also have turtles so if there is TOO many of these I can just make my turtle some foods with it. ;]
I want the insects to be the size of a pinhead cricket at most. Exception of the baby earthworms.

My question is how do I breed wax worms and meal worms, earthworms and all kinds of worms?

Then how do I breed roaches and what is the healthiest to feed? Ived seen roaches the size of centimeters sometimes. This has to be something somewhat simple. Like I cant have all these insects around my house.

I n eed to first speak to my parents about it, but if I cant does anyone know of a good online store to buy all of these? Sorry for asking a ton of questions.

[Deku]

anything?

[Kurt]

Mealworms are easy enough to cuture. Just put a bunch in a Rubbermaid tub with some bran and/or oatmeal. Toss in some slided up potato for moisture. Let them mature into beetles, then later sift through the substrate for small mealworms.

Cuturing waxworms is a little bit more difficult and I am still trying to get used to to it. Someone posted how to do it on the forum somewhere. Do a search and you should find it.

Culturing bean weevils is fairly easy as well. First get some bean weevils at the show. Take some of the weevils and throw them in a culture cup with some black-eyed peas and some of the beans from the old culture. Put something in for them to climb on, I use toilet paper rolls as it makes it easier to haverst them. Wait a month or so and wela, you have bean weevils. You will never see the larva but you will see black-eyed peas with holes in them.

I have never done roaches, so advice there.

Fruit flies are easy to culture. Paul wrote an article on it.

[Deku]

Mealworms are easy enough to cuture. Just put a bunch in a Rubbermaid tub with some bran and/or oatmeal. Toss in some slided up potato for moisture. Let them mature into beetles, then later sift through the substrate for small mealworms.

Cuturing waxworms is a little bit more difficult and I am still trying to get used to to it. Someone posted how to do it on the forum somewhere. Do a search and you should find it.

Culturing bean weevils is fairly easy as well. First get some bean weevils at the show. Take some of the weevils and throw them in a culture cup with some black-eyed peas and some of the beans from the old culture. Put something in for them to climb on, I use toilet paper rolls as it makes it easier to haverst them. Wait a month or so and wela, you have bean weevils. You will never see the larva but you will see black-eyed peas with holes in them.

I have never done roaches, so advice there.

Fruit flies are easy to culture. Paul wrote an article on it.

I will culture as many insect as I can. I want to offer varied diet.

[Kurt]

A varied diet is best.

[Deku]

A varied diet is best.

Yeah, I wonder what would be good medium sized feeders tooo.

[Ebony]

Crickets. Mealworms and Locusts all range in size with their life-cycle stage's so they are good for all sized frogs. Ive never dealt with roaches so cant help you there sorry.

[Tropicok]

About the only earthworms that do well "in captivity" are red wigglers. Do a search for worm breeders and you will get ideas on what worms to try and how to build a worm bin. Your parents will be happy because you can make worm tea to fertilize plants. I dig earthworms (the big night crawlers) out in the yard and frogs and turtles go nuts over them.

[Deku]

About the only earthworms that do well "in captivity" are red wigglers. Do a search for worm breeders and you will get ideas on what worms to try and how to build a worm bin. Your parents will be happy because you can make worm tea to fertilize plants. I dig earthworms (the big night crawlers) out in the yard and frogs and turtles go nuts over them.

I keep hearing "Red wigglers" I thought all earthworms where the same.