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  |  Emmsmom
Super Glider
 297 Posts
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Apr 28 2012 : 09:03:29 AM   |
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My boys LOVE mealies. I would like to offer them other insects but I'm not sure what to try. I know they can have crickets and I just saw that Jazzy feeds them silkworms(which I knew nothing about). So feel free to add to this list!!
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| JazzNZoeysmom
Zippy Glidershorts
 USA
5349 Posts
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Apr 28 2012 : 09:37:54 AM  |
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Honestly Emm, I wouldn't invest a lot in Silk worms. They are more expensive than mealies and I ended up feeding the majority of them to the birds. Mine really didn't like them which I think may be the norm since we don't hear much about them.
I know many feed Dubia Roaches.
I've heard of people feeding JuneBugs but as with any wild caught insects you would need to know that they are insecticide free.
My Zoey loves to hunt moths & mosquito eaters, and yes, all 5 of mine eat them but the other 4 make me catch them for them.
I've read that they eat Spiders in the wild but I don't feed them because I know many have poison & I wouldn't have a clue as to which ones they could eat. Maybe some research on Austrailian spiders could give more info. on that.
I have wondered if they can eat frogs? The little tiny tadpoles are turning into tiny little frogs all over the place. I know many frogs excrete a nasty tasting substance from their skin so their hunter gets a mouth full of nasty when they try to eat them.
I can't think of any others at the moment...I'll keep thinking...
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 | TJones09
Fuzzy Wuzzy
1990 Posts
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Apr 28 2012 : 09:59:57 AM |
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I'm hoping mine will eat mosquitos, lol, jk. I don't feed my girls any insects but my Skadoosh did catch & eat a black fly once.
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| josiec
Super Glider
OR, USA
226 Posts
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Apr 28 2012 : 12:20:47 PM |
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Mine also caught a fly once! It was funny to watch
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| Emmsmom
Super Glider
297 Posts
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Apr 28 2012 : 02:01:23 PM |
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Jazzy, do you just catch the the moths outside and then throw them in the cage? They would go crazy over that. LOL I had thought about crickets but they are too small and would get through the cage. I would HATE to have to chase them all over the place! LOL Now I can catch moths! THey come in at night when we let the dogs out. As for spiders... I can't do spiders! I REALLY hate them LOL
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| JazzNZoeysmom
Zippy Glidershorts
USA
5349 Posts
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Apr 28 2012 : 02:15:55 PM |
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Well for my lazy ones I do. I have a pair of forceps the hubby brought home from the hospital, they work so much better than tweezers cuz they have the larger grasping surface.
I catch the moths with my hands then transfer them to the forceps so I can fit it between the cage bars....they pounce before I can let them loose which is good cuz they do fly right out of the bars.
Zoey rides on my shoulder outside. I put her in my hand and show her where the moth is sitting on the side of the house...as soon as she locks on it's all over... she'll pounce and grab it then run up and eat her treat on my shoulder.
I have captured several before and let them loose in the tent and let the babies hunt! That was fun! The moths try to navigate to the highest point in the tent so Zoey would run up me...the moth would fly away and she would just keep on going...doing these funky flips and acrobatics to catch them! I had to catch her a few times from hitting the floor cuz she just hunts blindly...she's so locked on her target she doesn't pay attention where she's gonna land once she launches off of mama!
Now mosquito eaters are easy to catch with forceps/tongs when they have landed. I just grab their long ol body and take them to the babies. Some get loose but when they are flying they have such a big wingspan that they can't get out of the cage so easily, so the babies get to hunt the ones that get away.
Here's Kodah hunting a moth during tent time...it was hiding behind the tag and he was all over it but he hadn't realized it had just flown away...
Here he is enjoying a mosquito eater hanging on mamas curtains.
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| makalove
Joey
39 Posts
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Apr 28 2012 : 06:07:18 PM |
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i'm glad to see somebody else feeds wild-caught bugs. i get why pesticides are a big deal, but i don't for a moment understand why we hear constant Big Warnings about wild bugs and pesticides but rarely are the pesticides in the rest of the diet discussed. Honey - even honey that's labeled "organic," since nobody can control what plants bees visit - as well as meats, fruits, and vegetables that are produced conventionally (vs. certified organic producers) contain pesticides. But we are encouraged by the diets to feed fresh and frozen vegetables as well as, in some cases, meats - and most of those encouragements do not come with the caveat "but ONLY feed organic, to avoid pesticides." It seems like either an oversight or simply not thinking things through clearly.
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| JazzNZoeysmom
Zippy Glidershorts
USA
5349 Posts
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Apr 28 2012 : 06:31:24 PM |
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Honestly I think it's stressed so much with gliders because we don't know a lot about them and they are so tiny that even the smallest amount of "poisons" for lack of a better word, can cause a great deal of harm.
I know some people don't feed any wild caught bugs, but someone on another forum mentioned the logic they use and I have to say I agree...
Insects such as moths are pretty sensitive to bug killers...once in contact they pretty much die immediately. If they are flying around my porch light I feel pretty confident they are safe.
Insects such as a wild cockroach...not the Dubia ones people purchase to feed....those I wouldn't feed, not that that would be my first concern if I saw a cockroach run across my floor! But I digress... the insecticides they ingest are meant to be slow acting so they can return to the nest and spread it to the other roaches to hopefully kill the whole bunch of them.
Anyway, that was the logic...and I know me and my immediate neighbors don't use insecticides so I feel ok letting my gang eat wild moths.
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| Emmsmom
Super Glider
297 Posts
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Apr 30 2012 : 12:53:30 PM |
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OMG!! The moths were a hit!! At least with Bailey. LOL Buddy couldn't be bothered to come out of the pouch. I caught them early this am and threw them in the cage. LOL Bailey went ape!! LOL I held the moth so he could at least see it first.He moved so fast that just as I let it go he grabbed my finger instead and I had to jerk away to avoid a bite! LOL When he finally found it he pounced HARD! It was SOOO funny to watch. He had a blast!
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| JazzNZoeysmom
Zippy Glidershorts
USA
5349 Posts
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Apr 30 2012 : 01:03:34 PM |
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Yeah, I 'spose I should have warned you about that...that's why I use tongs/forceps...they do pounce hard on moths and Zoe has gotten my finger more than once.
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| Emmsmom
Super Glider
297 Posts
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Apr 30 2012 : 01:22:40 PM |
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LOL That's ok.. Lesson learned . :-)
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| valkyriemome
Goofy Gorillatoes
USA
3478 Posts
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Apr 30 2012 : 01:42:33 PM |
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Year before last I bought some horn worms, and let them morph into moths. Those moths are about as big as my hand! Tent time was A BLAST with those moths!
I feed:
Meal worms, dubia roaches, super worms, crickets, and moths. I tried butterworms - my gliders wouldn't eat them. I haven't tried silk worms. I had the hornworms, but didn't feed them in the worm stage - although you could.
hope that helps!
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| makalove
Joey
39 Posts
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Apr 30 2012 : 01:49:58 PM |
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by JazzNZoeysmom</i>
<br />Honestly I think it's stressed so much with gliders because we don't know a lot about them and they are so tiny that even the smallest amount of "poisons" for lack of a better word, can cause a great deal of harm.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Thanks. But my point was more that fresh/frozen fruits and vegetables, and livestock/dairy animals whose meat/milk/eggs we may be feeding have more pesticide exposure over the course of their growth than any wild insect we might catch, given the incredibly short length of most insects' lives. i'm just saying that i think maybe this precaution is overstated in the case of insects and/or understated in the case of pesticides in other foods. i am thrilled that i can get good quality locally- and organically-grown meats, eggs, yogurt, fruits, and vegetables for my gliders, which reduces their pesticide exposure exponentially. But not everybody can afford to do so, or has good access to these safer foods, or knows that this is a danger to their gliders.
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