Freeze Dried Insects

[ILoveLemmonade]

To start, I know that freeze dried insects should not be used in place of a live staple food. I make that a point because I don't want this topic to be a flood of "always feed live!! no freeze dried junk!"

I would like to get some clarity on the pros and cons of both freeze dried and live insects. The obvious is that live food provides a way for beardies to hunt, and you can gut load them yourself. The obvious pro of freeze dried insects is convenience.

With that being said, what are pros and cons of both freeze dried and live insects? If anyone has any sources for their claims that would be great! (e.g. studies, expert opinions)

 

[Claudiusx]

Freezing almost always kills some of the good nutrients found in any foods, human or dragons.

That is the whole point of providing food to your dragon, nourishment. If you aren't providing proper nourishment your dragon is not going to be healthy. And I would venture to say freeze dried/canned anything is quite lacking in nourishment when compared to its live counterparts.

-Brandon

 

[ILoveLemmonade]

Freezing almost always kills some of the good nutrients found in any foods, human or dragons.

That is the whole point of providing food to your dragon, nourishment. If you aren't providing proper nourishment your dragon is not going to be healthy. And I would venture to say freeze dried/canned anything is quite lacking in nourishment when compared to its live counterparts.

-Brandon

Do you know the analysis of vitamins in live insects? What I mean is some freeze dried insects have a guaranteed analysis i.e. Protein 53%, Fat 10.1% Is there anything like that for live insects?

 

[Claudiusx]

There are, but the majority of them only list protein, fat and Ca ratios. They don't list other nutrients. I haven't found a list that lists vitamins/minerals/etc in an insect. But to be honest, I haven't really looked.

-Brandon

 

[ILoveLemmonade]

There are, but the majority of them only list protein, fat and Ca ratios. They don't list other nutrients. I haven't found a list that lists vitamins/minerals/etc in an insect. But to be honest, I haven't really looked.

-Brandon

Ok thank you. You seem to post a lot, so you may have seen a thread on this (didn't find anything with search) how accurate are the guaranteed analyses on the freeze dried insects? Wouldn't that guarantee that the beardie is getting those nutrients?

 

[Claudiusx]

I know in human foods, guaranteed analysis are extremely strict, and don't deviate much if at all from what they are telling you it is.

I don't know (and I highly doubt) if there is anybody quality control checking these can o' insect things. I don't think they would really lie to you, but like I said, I don't think there is anyone regulating them.

If you really wanted to, you could get in contact with the company and ask them about it, and depending on what they say, test them yourself through an independent lab to see if they really are accurate.

I personally think that is too much work for, in my opinion, a sub-par feeding choice. Anyways, another con to add to the list is they are much more expensive than buying fresh insects in bulk. They are sometimes more expensive than buying even smaller quantities of insects.

-Brandon

 

[ILoveLemmonade]

Yes, the price is very hefty. It seems that the pros for freeze dried are convenience and maybe guaranteed analysis. Cons: expensive compared to bulk live, do not promote hunting.