# Insect nutrition Chart



## Bl69aze (Dec 3, 2018)

Looks good


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## Sdaji (Dec 3, 2018)

Be extremely sceptical of this sort of chart.

Depending on the conditions, the nutritional content of all of these varies hugely, especially micronutrients. Don't get hung up on charts like this, they're scarcely worth looking at, especially considering that most people don't have the knowledge to use the information even if it's correct, which it isn't.

Cockroaches and crickets are generally the easiest options and nutritionally both work as excellent staples, and if you use the powdered supplements you won't go wrong.


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Dec 3, 2018)

Insect feeders are basically only as good as what they themselves are eating hence why I keep all my roaches in outdoor compost bins and feed them all manner of kitchen scraps. The primary species of turtle I keep (Flaviemys purvisi - Manning River turtles) are almost exclusively insectivorous, they take a small amount of aquatic plant material. Insects are generally low in calcium and high in phosphorous which isn't ideal for turtles so the roaches need to have a good diet so the turtles benefit from them.


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## dragonlover1 (Dec 3, 2018)

Flaviemys purvisi said:


> Insect feeders are basically only as good as what they themselves are eating hence why I keep all my roaches in outdoor compost bins and feed them all manner of kitchen scraps. The primary species of turtle I keep (Flaviemys purvisi - Manning River turtles) are almost exclusively insectivorous, they take a small amount of aquatic plant material. Insects are generally low in calcium and high in phosphorous which isn't ideal for turtles so the roaches need to have a good diet so the turtles benefit from them.


With you 100% on this Kev,I don't keep turtles but my dragons live on insects etc. and the better fed they are the better fed my dragons are


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Dec 14, 2018)

dragonlover1 said:


> With you 100% on this Kev,I don't keep turtles but my dragons live on insects etc. and the better fed they are the better fed my dragons are


Yes mate, gotta treat the feeders like Kings to reap the benefits and have healthy reptiles.

Wednesday I gave the woodies some celery tops, zucchini, watermelon peels and mango peels.



Thursday arv they were hungry and looking for food again so they got some bread crusts, avocado peels, egg shells, tomato, orange and mango peels.



Tonight they're having egg shells, bread crusts, iceberg lettuce, strawberries, mango, banana and potato peels.



It's pretty amazing how quickly a good colony of woodies will make an entire kitchen load of scraps disappear. My lot will consume an entire loaf of stale bread in under an hour. By far though, their first preference is greens, they love lettuce, celery and watermelon scraps and will attack those with gusto.

For those out there regularly buying woodies or crickets from the pet store, the ones that come in the little Chinese container with a piece of egg crate and a teeny piece of carrot, and you think they're a nutritious feed for your herps, you're mistaken, they'd have the nutrient content of a brown paper bag, if that. Farm your own insects and treat them like the valued assets your herps are and you'll notice a big difference.


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## dragonlover1 (Dec 15, 2018)

I know avocado is toxic for birds and reptiles,just wondering how it would go getting it second hand??
Also do they eat the eggshells? I usually just feed them back to the chooks for grit


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Dec 15, 2018)

dragonlover1 said:


> I know avocado is toxic for birds and reptiles,just wondering how it would go getting it second hand??
> Also do they eat the eggshells? I usually just feed them back to the chooks for grit


Well the peewees that perch atop the bin and pick the woodies off on a daily basis and the frogs that frequent the bin every night in the summer months are all fine and my turtles have never had any issues. Yes they definitely eat the egg shells, that's how I boost their calcium content.


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## Sdaji (Dec 15, 2018)

dragonlover1 said:


> I know avocado is toxic for birds and reptiles,just wondering how it would go getting it second hand??
> Also do they eat the eggshells? I usually just feed them back to the chooks for grit



Sounds like some of what you 'know' is incorrect. Avocado toxicity is mostly a myth. Don't sit down to a big bowl of avocado leaves or anything, but it's not too dangerous. Having said that, the skin of the fruit is a bit toxic and I wouldn't be feeding it to cockroaches intended for reptiles.


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## dragonlover1 (Dec 16, 2018)

Here is a nutrition chart I have been sharing with people for years which says the same thing I was told by the poultry farm where I buy my chickens.You might think it's safe but I'm not risking it.
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Dec 16, 2018)

Since it makes up such a small amount of the kitchen waste, 1-2 peels a month (my wife is the only consumer of avo in our house - she uses it to make guacamole) I'm not worried. Avos are too expensive to buy regularly in these parts.  I would be far more concerned about using fluon near insects intended as feeders for reptiles.


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## Sdaji (Dec 16, 2018)

dragonlover1 said:


> Here is a nutrition chart I have been sharing with people for years which says the same thing I was told by the poultry farm where I buy my chickens.You might think it's safe but I'm not risking it.
> http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html



Nonsense lists like that are common in pet circles. They're literally worth less than zero. You won't kill anything by not feeding them random stuff, so they never get disproven, and they do the rounds year after year.

Having said that, yes, avocado skin is a bigger risk than fluon (even for humans, avocado skin is toxic, fluon is far less harmful). Empirical evidence isn't any match for dogma, politics and sheep mentality of course, so I won't expect anyone to follow anything I say.


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