Freeze Dried BSF Larvae?

Hey guys! I have a beardie thats about 5 months old, and I've been trying him out on a new diet (he's been on it for about 3 weeks now). He LOVES dubia roaches, and theyre super nutritious, but they can get very expensive. The cheapest I've found for "1000" (probably more like 700, but they might just be weighing them) is $33, and Ziti (my beardie) goes through that in a week and a half.

I thought I would be clever and try to supplement some freeze dried BSF larvae (about 30-40 per day now) in his diet to make the roaches (40-50 per day now) last longer. Since I did that, though, his poop schedule and appetite have changed.

He usually poops about once a day, but since I've been feeding him BSF, he's been pooping once every 2-3 days. The poop looks fine, maybe a bit darker than when he was just on dubias. If he goes 3 days without a poop, I feed him some pumpkin puree and he poops within the next 12 hours.

He's also not super excited about chasing down the dubias I give him at meal time (twice per day); he waits until either theyre right under his nose or I bring them to him.

Does something seem wrong with Ziti? Does he have an impaction? Or is this just his body adjusting to a new staple diet?

If anyone could help me with what might be going on with Ziti (or a more affordable dubia roach supplier), please let me know!

Thanks!

Dubia Roaches are very expensive, but SUPER easy to breed. Put them in a bin, keep them 90-100°F, give them food and water, and they go to town like rabbits. You will have so many within months, you won't know what to do with them, so I would start there.

I've never been a fan of freeze-dried foods since freeze-drying tends to take out all the nutrition from the food (so I've read). Since there is not that much nutrients, he won't be pooping as often.

He could very well be getting used to the new diet, so that may be why he's not chasing it down.

If anyone else has any other comments, please feel free to correct me.

hanmb":1mjrlkf0 said:

He's also not super excited about chasing down the dubias I give him at meal time (twice per day); he waits until either theyre right under his nose or I bring them to him.

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My, he's got you well trained! :laughing6:
Stop coddling him; when he gets hungry enough, he'll go in search of sustenance.
I use a "bug bowl" (slippery enough inside that feeders can't crawl out). I put the feeders in that, and when I put it in his enclosure, he comes running!

Does something seem wrong with Ziti? Does he have an impaction? Or is this just his body adjusting to a new staple diet?

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I think neither. The answer is likely "freeze-dried"; freeze-drying removes most of the water, and beardies get most of their water from their diet, including feeder insects. F-D may be cheaper, but IMO live is the way to go. I don't know what other nutritional changes freeze-drying may or may not cause (but I wouldn't take a vendor's word.)