Freeze dried insect based dust

Kaizen

Chameleon Enthusiast
I’m brand new to this forum, so please bare with me while I figure out how things work. Having kept koi for years, I know the nutritional value of silkworm pupae, which I buy freeze dried. Now, obviously a stationary, bone-dry silkworm will obviously not attract many insectivores, however, I recently had an idea about introducing freeze dried insects into my Cham’s Diet. Both silkworm, and black soldier fly larva, once freeze dried, can be ground into powder. I was wondering if anyone has tried, or thought to try, dusting feeder insects with silkworm/Phoenix worm powder.
 
I’m brand new to this forum, so please bare with me while I figure out how things work. Having kept koi for years, I know the nutritional value of silkworm pupae, which I buy freeze dried. Now, obviously a stationary, bone-dry silkworm will obviously not attract many insectivores, however, I recently had an idea about introducing freeze dried insects into my Cham’s Diet. Both silkworm, and black soldier fly larva, once freeze dried, can be ground into powder. I was wondering if anyone has tried, or thought to try, dusting feeder insects with silkworm/Phoenix worm powder.
Welcome, that’s a new one on me. It would have to be very fine to stick and sounds like a lot of extra work. Why not just feed as normal?
 
Welcome, that’s a new one on me. It would have to be very fine to stick and sounds like a lot of extra work. Why not just feed as normal?
I typically do feed normally, but variety seems to be important, and having read some of the things people do to gut load, and the work they put into it, I figure running a handful of freeze dried bugs through a coffee grinder is not all that taxing. Anyways, thanks for responding.
 
Interesting notion. The only obvious loss I see with this method is the extra hydration that live silkworms bring to the party. I don't know what other losses freeze drying might create.
I would feed dusted feeders off promptly because a non vegetarian diet can create uric acid in some feeders and contribute to gout in chameleons.
 
Good to know. I’m not proposing dusting with powdered insects all the time, but I’m thinking once a week. I live in Canada where roaches are illegal, and the availability of feeders is restricted to crickets, waxies, butters, meallies, supers and horned. And varied though such a selection might seem, three of the best feeders—namely live silkies, dubias and Phoenix worms—are not available. When raising baby koi, I’ve often used a coffee grinder to introduce dried silkworm into their diets, and the stuff is like rocket fuel for Koi. I’ll keep your point about gout in mind, and proceed with caution/moderation. Thanks for responding.
 
You can find live phoenix worms and silk worms online, some pet shops have live silks aswell, all though there does seem to be a shortage of silks right now in western Canada as the two shops i get mine from have not had any for a while. If you look deeps enough down the rabbit hole and follow some hints you can find roaches. Currently growing my orange head a giant hissing colonies....shhhhh
 
Hey
So while I’ve not ground up specific bugs myself, I’ve had mixed results with Arcadia insecti gold, which has ground up bugs along with other ingredients. Basically I use the powder with a bit of water to make a kind of gel that I thinly add to live feeders that then add the movement. Honestly, it’s messy and if I hadn’t already paid for the powder I probably wouldn't bother, but you could use the ground bugs in a similar way perhaps?
 
Interesting. The only reason I thought of this was because I have dried silkworm by the kilo and it’s cheap. I tried putting through a coffee grinder when feeding baby koi, and it comes out like powder. Anyways, thanks for your reply, I’ll have to look at that Arcadia product.
 
I'm no expert by any means, but I meant that you could try adding a little water to the ground dry silkworm and see if it sticks to live feeders for an added nutrient boost? I've had mixed results with the Arcadia powder and I'm not sure I would recommend, but if you already have a supply you could use, I reckon it is worth a try. :)
 
Sounds worth trying, thanks for the insight. I’ll try several different delivery methods, including yours. I’ll post the results. Thanks again for your input, it was helpful.
 
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