Black soldier fly larvae diet

[Alexander1]

I ordered a small batch of black soldier fly larvae recently from mulberry farms because I read the great calcium/phosphorous ratio, but I just saw a couple of YouTube videos on farmers using them to take care of waste and spoiled vegetables.. So I stuffed a bunch of vegetables and An apple in their compost , would this increase or even effect their nutrition value if they are gut loaded or does this food just pass through them too quickly?


The videos of the grubs eating is insanely impressive..

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

My chams love the adult flies but are not to fond of the larva. As long as you feed then a large variety of foods they will be nutritionally fine.

 

[ChamDE86]

Honestly, they are one of the best feeders without any kind of gut-load, very high in calcium. I buy the actual phoenix worm brand and the instructions states to not feed them at all, but to only add a couple drops of water if the substrate is dry. I basically gut-load all of my other feeders, so I'm not worried about the extra nutrients for the BSFL.

 

[bobcochran]

Black soldier fly larvae are usually shipped in bran, this makes them less messy to deal with, because it keeps them dry and not slimy. When I bred my own they would mulch just about any thing I put in their containers-
Especially fruit. They would turn everything into into a gooey sloppy mess and live in it until they were ready
To pupate, then they would crawl up the sides of the container and fall into another larger container I kept the smaller one in. It would take them an hour or so to dry out and once they did then they couldn't climb up the plastic sides of the box and is when I would feed them off. When they're wet and slimy the chameleons have
A hard time getting them to stick to their tongue, probably the reason the producers don't recommend you feed them.
Bottom line: black soldier fly larvae are an excellent food prey for your lizards just as you get them,
If you choose to gut load them you are boosting the nutritional intake for your chameleon.

 

[Alexander1]

Thanks guys, always helpful

 

[jajeanpierre]

I ordered a small batch of black soldier fly larvae recently from mulberry farms because I read the great calcium/phosphorous ratio, but I just saw a couple of YouTube videos on farmers using them to take care of waste and spoiled vegetables.. So I stuffed a bunch of vegetables and An apple in their compost , would this increase or even effect their nutrition value if they are gut loaded or does this food just pass through them too quickly?


The videos of the grubs eating is insanely impressive..

Bobcochran's right--the reason they don't suggest you feed them is because their container will quickly turn into a really stinky, gooey mess. They can turn a compost bin into rich black compost unbelievably quickly. Also, when they are ready to pupate, they will crawl out of their container and can slip under very tight lids. I once ended up with hundreds of them all through the house--they crawled down the hall to my son's pile of laundry. They were in my washing machine, my dryer, under carpets--it was a soldier fly nightmare.

If you don't feed them, they will lose their nutrition. They might keep their calcium balance, but won't be as nutritious as fed ones.

 

[caietaro]

My chameleon won't eat the larvae but loves the flies so I've had luck keeping them in a large tall deli cup in coco fiber substrate until they turn into flies. I give them small pieces of papaya or banana and haven't had any problems with the fruit getting gooey/sloppy. I do check the container daily though and will take any food out that starts to get moldy.

 

[Meg4433]

I ordered a small batch of black soldier fly larvae recently from mulberry farms because I read the great calcium/phosphorous ratio, but I just saw a couple of YouTube videos on farmers using them to take care of waste and spoiled vegetables.. So I stuffed a bunch of vegetables and An apple in their compost , would this increase or even effect their nutrition value if they are gut loaded or does this food just pass through them too quickly?


The videos of the grubs eating is insanely impressive..

Did you like mulberry farms. I Want to order from them.

 

[Meg4433]

Did you like mulberry farms. I Want to order from them.

I ordered larva from someone and the dirt just moved and I couldn't find the larva.

 

[Alexander1]

I ordered larva from someone and the dirt just moved and I couldn't find the larva.

They're great, take the advise, I fed mine and the container smells like sh*t.. Lol