What I spend on feeding my insects...

[Andee]

I have a dubia roach colony that is several thousand strong, I have superworms that are getting close to 500+ in numbers, I have another roach colony who is 40+, I have an isopod colony of 200+ ... people seem amazed at how I feed my insects. But I want you to know, I don't spend more than $10.00 a month on my insects as fresh foods at most. And I never make blended and frozen gut load cubes. I just buy what's on sale, I don't stick to specific vegetation, I grow a couple things I feed but not near enough to make up my entire menu. I feed them things I can't eat but are otherwise perfectly safe. Just so you know if you have a single or a couple colonies of insects that equal around 800-1000 insects, you shouldn't be spending more than me and should be spending far less.

 

[laurie]

I have a dubia roach colony that is several thousand strong, I have superworms that are getting close to 500+ in numbers, I have another roach colony who is 40+, I have an isopod colony of 200+ ... people seem amazed at how I feed my insects. But I want you to know, I don't spend more than $10.00 a month on my insects as fresh foods at most. And I never make blended and frozen gut load cubes. I just buy what's on sale, I don't stick to specific vegetation, I grow a couple things I feed but not near enough to make up my entire menu. I feed them things I can't eat but are otherwise perfectly safe. Just so you know if you have a single or a couple colonies of insects that equal around 800-1000 insects, you shouldn't be spending more than me and should be spending far less.

Andee you have a lot I need to learn!! The problem is most likely the lack of availability where I am, Stuff I can buy for feeders just does not go on sale. What can you buy for $10, and how long would that feed your feeders?

 

[Andee]

lmao I buy anything from, kale that's gone on sale because of that time of year, and it's .99 for a bunch and then I just spread it out among my insects. But I also rely heavily on root vegetables, winter squashes, sometimes some summer squashes that I bought for myself but didn't get to before they started to get... that pithy feel? I do sweet potatos, and carrots a lot just to round out a single night when I also add a handful of various leafy greens. If you get carrots with tops, cut the tops off those last a week at least in a plastic bags with a moist paper towel around them. I always give leaves and tops of carrots or celery or strawberries, anything edible but that I won't eat. Anything from beet tops if you eat beets etc etc. I buy a thing of spring mix once or twice a month (usually on sale depending on the kind I get), and keep it in a container that extends the freshness. Anything I have extra of, like ends of squash and cucumbers. I do entire watermelon or melon rinds in general, and only leave it in over night, but only put like.... 1/4 of the small/personal melons. I mean everything I buy on sale for them I don't spend more than 3 dollars, and if you have a grocery store that has that produce stand thing that puts the really old or bruised up produce on sale, check it out. I have hit some scores there. Honestly I give it to them all the time. As long as there's no mold you can cut out the bruises etc. The roaches don't care XD. I do it with the my home grown stuff as well. Once every other month I splurge and hit maybe 15-20 dollars when I buying stuff that will last longer like specific root veggies and sweet potatos or yams.

 

[MSMorgan]

lmao I buy anything from, kale that's gone on sale because of that time of year, and it's .99 for a bunch and then I just spread it out among my insects. But I also rely heavily on root vegetables, winter squashes, sometimes some summer squashes that I bought for myself but didn't get to before they started to get... that pithy feel? I do sweet potatos, and carrots a lot just to round out a single night when I also add a handful of various leafy greens. If you get carrots with tops, cut the tops off those last a week at least in a plastic bags with a moist paper towel around them. I always give leaves and tops of carrots or celery or strawberries, anything edible but that I won't eat. Anything from beet tops if you eat beets etc etc. I buy a thing of spring mix once or twice a month (usually on sale depending on the kind I get), and keep it in a container that extends the freshness. Anything I have extra of, like ends of squash and cucumbers. I do entire watermelon or melon rinds in general, and only leave it in over night, but only put like.... 1/4 of the small/personal melons. I mean everything I buy on sale for them I don't spend more than 3 dollars, and if you have a grocery store that has that produce stand thing that puts the really old or bruised up produce on sale, check it out. I have hit some scores there. Honestly I give it to them all the time. As long as there's no mold you can cut out the bruises etc. The roaches don't care XD. I do it with the my home grown stuff as well. Once every other month I splurge and hit maybe 15-20 dollars when I buying stuff that will last longer like specific root veggies and sweet potatos or yams.

I'm about the same as far as cost +/- a few $. I grow a lot of fruit and veggies at the house, but living in CA, I have a bounty of produce available at the store for little cost. They say CA provides 1/3 of US produce.

 

[Andee]

I live in Cali as well, but anywhere else it should only be around 5 dollars more... also it's really easy to grow sweet potatoes year round. It's hard to figure out in the beginning, took me until this last year to get it really into a science. But it's saved me 20+ dollars, which is what, I used to spend.

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

For $27 I am able to make a batch of frozen food to feed all my insects for about 4 months. That's 3-4000 crickets a month, a discoid colony in a pretty large bin like over 30gal and a few hundred superworms, plus a few small starter colonies of other roach species I've been collecting.

That $27 doesn't include some of the dry ingredients I buy in larger quantities to spread across several batches such as spirilina powder, sunflower seeds and bee pollen.

 

[Andee]

I agree @JoeDigiorgio, it doesn't have to be expensive, I don't do frozen cubes because of what it could possibly introduce into the colonies and how I personally feel unsafe feeding that way. I also don't like being as limited as it seems to make people as far as the menu. But then again people seem to be obsessed with sticking only to 10 or so ingredients. I can feed anywhere from 10-15 different ones in a week and that's just fresh.

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

When I make my food I do a few different recipes at a time. Last time I made 3. One was all fruits, one was dark leafy greens with sunflower seeds and some other dry powdered stuff like bee pollen and spirulina, and one was some different greens and root vegetables. All 3 also had repashy superload added during blending. I froze them in separate bags by recipe so each week I could rotate which mash got used. More than one way to skin a cat I guess, right?

In addition to that being the base of the feeder diet, I'll add whatever is lying around randomly such as an over ripened banana or mango or even sometimes some stale whole grain bread for the roaches. A moderately varied gut load accompanied by a wide variety of feeder species can make up for some dusting in the long term I think.

 

[laurie]

lmao I buy anything from, kale that's gone on sale because of that time of year, and it's .99 for a bunch and then I just spread it out among my insects. But I also rely heavily on root vegetables, winter squashes, sometimes some summer squashes that I bought for myself but didn't get to before they started to get... that pithy feel? I do sweet potatos, and carrots a lot just to round out a single night when I also add a handful of various leafy greens. If you get carrots with tops, cut the tops off those last a week at least in a plastic bags with a moist paper towel around them. I always give leaves and tops of carrots or celery or strawberries, anything edible but that I won't eat. Anything from beet tops if you eat beets etc etc. I buy a thing of spring mix once or twice a month (usually on sale depending on the kind I get), and keep it in a container that extends the freshness. Anything I have extra of, like ends of squash and cucumbers. I do entire watermelon or melon rinds in general, and only leave it in over night, but only put like.... 1/4 of the small/personal melons. I mean everything I buy on sale for them I don't spend more than 3 dollars, and if you have a grocery store that has that produce stand thing that puts the really old or bruised up produce on sale, check it out. I have hit some scores there. Honestly I give it to them all the time. As long as there's no mold you can cut out the bruises etc. The roaches don't care XD. I do it with the my home grown stuff as well. Once every other month I splurge and hit maybe 15-20 dollars when I buying stuff that will last longer like specific root veggies and sweet potatos or yams.

 

[laurie]

Ok I see what you are doing! The only 2 grocery stores within 100 miles, are Walmart, and IGA. Because of where I live, everything is trucked in, which raises the price. Guess I will work what of your plan I can. Thanks

 

[jamest0o0]

@Andee why don't you like using frozen? I do what @JoeDigiorgio does. Makes life so easy.

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

@Andee why don't you like using frozen? I do what @JoeDigiorgio does. Makes life so easy.

I'm curious myself now too. It's been working really well for me for a while now. My favorite part is not losing produce to going bad in the fridge or on the counter. I buy bulk, blend and freeze. Then defrost enough to get me through the week.

 

[Katacara]

WOW thanks for the tips!!! After reading about the freezer method I have also gone in this direction because I normally only go shopping once a month, and things where going bad before I could use them. This way I have cubes I can just pull out of the freezer and feed to the whole colony. Then I separate the next day feeders and offer fresh overnight. I have found this to greatly lower my cost, and with my colonies growing I need to save where I can without compromising the nutritional value.

Right now I'm only feeding a greens (primary) load, but I think I will start making a few different batches at a time. My bugs say thanks for the tip Joe!!!

 

[Andee]

Specific vitamins (some possible minerals) are affected largely by air exposure (which blending will expose more surface area to air more quickly), freezing also causes vitamins to be lost. Then you add possibility of defrosting which will also affect vitamins because of the quick temperature changes. It's just a lot lost. It's still useful, but not as useful as whole fruits and veggies. Which is why I do what I do.

I go shopping every other week at most, I don't have stuff go bad before I can feed it off. I have containers that keep greens fresh for two weeks without having to do anything other than put them in it.

 

[Katacara]

@Andee do you think my method of overnight fresh gutloading will make up for at least part of what is lost in the freezing process? Not only do I want to make sure Peepers and my dragon stay healthy but I just took on a cham with MBD (pronounced but not severe) so I want to make sure he is getting as much value from the feeders he is eating as he can.

 

[Andee]

It should be.

 

[Katacara]

Thanks!

 

[jamest0o0]

The amount used in freezing would make up for it imo. And I would think that blenders would keep everything but the surface from air exposure. Vacuum sealing for the freezer is also helpful in retaining nutrients. I definitely agree that fresh is better, but 20+ frozen gutload ingredients would seem to be more than enough to keep a cham healthy. Don't take it as me being argumentative, I trust you know more than me about these things. I just think for some of us, if gutloading this way adds convenience, there probably wouldn't be harm in it.

 

[RedMountainHome]

I'm in the process of buying a house, and one of my big reasons for doing that is planting a garden so me and my bugs can eat healthier and cheaper! Fresh strawberries, anyone?

 

[Andee]

The amount used in freezing would make up for it imo. And I would think that blenders would keep everything but the surface from air exposure. Vacuum sealing for the freezer is also helpful in retaining nutrients. I definitely agree that fresh is better, but 20+ frozen gutload ingredients would seem to be more than enough to keep a cham healthy. Don't take it as me being argumentative, I trust you know more than me about these things. I just think for some of us, if gutloading this way adds convenience, there probably wouldn't be harm in it.

Yes but most people don't vacuum seal from what I understand and you'd have to vacuum seal immediately. It's why so many cat's do poorly on a raw diet. Because most don't accept anything but ground prey right off the bat and a huge amount of the necessary vitamins they need are unstable when exposed to air. It's why people add supplements back in most of the time. It's not necessary technically but people would rather go the ground route than dealing with trying to get their cats to eat whole amounts of liver.

It's the same with the freezing process and the blending process, as soon as it's opened to air it lose those several and important vitamins in huge amounts. And once it starts being fed off it's the same. I don't think it should be stopped being done, it's helps in a lot of ways, but it's not a replacement for other types of gutloads and definitely not a good way to gutload to replace dustings. It doesn't matter how many ingredients you use, it matters the percentage of how much that ONE ingredients has of whatever vitamin is possibly unstable. And sadly some very important building block ones haven't been very studied. If it's like 100% VITAMIN C (which is highly sensitive to freezing and too much air exposure) then you will lose likely only 50% of that vitamin C