South side morelia= God of Boyd's knowledge.
Thanks licky but hell NO!!
Many more with far more knowledge than me, I would love for them to post.
FEEDING:
OK, lets move on with what to feed our Boyds.
Personally, I always like to vary the food item, as who would want to want the same food day in day out. Not does it add some variety it also IMO keeps them interested in their food, which in turn keeps them healthy.
As I mentioned in the first post, Boyds are insectivorous, meaning they prey on insects, but in the wild their diet may also include other items, some input from others on wild Boyds would be great!
I feed my colony on a rotation of wood roaches (woodies), meal worms, silk worms, crickets, earthworms and the occasional silkworm moth, which some eat and some couldnt be bothered to chase...
IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT feed meal worms to baby or juvenile Boyds as this "harder" bodied worm may cause compaction in little Boyds.
I have heard of people feeding fruit to Boyds but I have never seen mine eat any type of fruit offered.
Every other feed i like to dust the woodies or crickets in some calcium powder and also a dusting of vitamin powder every few weeks or so, just to keep them in top condition. See pics of calcium powder and vitamin powder I use, you dont need that brand this is what my store sells. MAKE SURE you read the instructions as you can overdo any supplement which will have the opposite affect that you are wanting, ie make your Boyds sick or even kill them through trying to care too much.
I feed a few of my colony by hand with tongs and some without which for me is a great buzz!
The other fickle and more shy animals, I use a "Bonsai" tree planter as the bowl and was shown this trick many years ago and it IS the ONLY way to contain prey insects 100%, but you have to paint a layer of Fluon OR Teflon paint around the rim still.
The reason this planter pot works so great is the design of the bowl, it has an inward curved rim so when the insects try crawling up the wall of the pot they have to walk upside down and just fall back into the bowl. This design plus the Fluon, there's no chance for escape.
I hear people saying what about the crickets....well I have them covered, I always break off their hind legs and they jump anymore. Sounds cruel but they only last a few seconds once the Boyds see dinner in the bowl, they come jumping down from their tree perch....I mean literally jump off their perch and head for the bowl....classics to watch! :lol:
IMPORTANT TIP: Don't just throw your crickets in the enclosure, unless you want to be woken at night by chirping crickets in the loungroom, trust me I have learned through experience. I though it would be good exercise for the Boyds to stalk and chase them...BUT there always some that can evade the colony and they are the ones (males only i believe) that chirp and drive you and the Family crazy....I have had to totally dismantle older enclosures to catch the culprits.
I breed my own silk worms, mealies and earthworms. I have an earthworm farm kit I originally purchased from Flower Power, but they are now in Bunnings also, these are the best food item IMO as they are up there with the best nutritional value out of all the insects in the way of protein and other goodies and are the easiest to breed. Very underrated! I feed my earthworms on all the fruit & vegetable offcuts from our own kitchen, as well as I raid the local fruit & vegy market bin once a week, which I supplement my rats feed with, ALL FOR FREE! I still cant believe that they throw some of the stuff out, it is top quality fruit and veg and my animals all benefit from the variety and quality food items.
If anyone is interested on breeding of insects just ask.
1zst pic: Bonsai planter bowl, 2nd pic: Calcium and vitamin supplements.
ok here goes with the pics (nothing in comparison to Scott's, but definately room for improvement too) 1st pic front on view...I can't find a background that's a) big enough or b) that I like so completely open to suggestions 
