FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I breed 3 species of cockroach, and regularly have other insects around to feed the collection of reptiles and amphibians I have. Are any of these good to feed to a CP? Or should they only be fed flies and ants and similar things? Are they picky about the kind of insect they catch? Will some insects cause problems?

Is there a rule of thumb for choosing an appropriately sized insect for your CP?

Turkestan roaches (Nymphs are fruit-fly sized, adults cricket sized)
Dubia roaches (Nymphs are 1/4" long, and quite flat, adults are over an inch long, and heavy-bodied)
Giant Hissers (Nymphs 1/2" long, adults 3-4 inches long, and quite heavy-bodied)

Cockroaches have a pretty good protein/calcium content, much higher than that of crickets

Domestic crickets (some protein, not much else)
Mealworms/superworms - (Beetle larva - sizes range from < 1/4" to almost 2" - high phosphorus content)
Wax worms (soft-bodied, < 1" actually caterpillar of the Wax Moth - high fat content )

I would stay away from any insects with a really hard exoskeleton, but a VFT does trap roaches etc and will digest what they can. Flies, catterpillars, meal worms and spiders are good options

ES

Edit: if you can grow them outside you don't have to worry about feeding them at all.

I live in Michigan, so outside would be seasonal, though I am hoping to plant some of the native species outside next spring. I have horrendous mosquitoes here, so they would eat well.

I forgot to mention, I also started culturing local species of sowbugs, and so far have a few hundred babies.

The nymphs of all the roach species tend to have very soft exoskeletons, where the adults (which are generally too large to feed) have such a tough exoskeleton, that it is usually indigestible, even by reptiles. I have ants invading this house. If I can find a safe way of trapping them, I could feed them also. I'd prefer not to feed the spiders, as I like having them around to help with other household pests.

Like ES said... Don't use the insects with hard shells. They have too much chitin and calcium(even the nymphs). It wears out the trap, and reduces the number of times it can be used.

I'm guessing that you have bearded dragons. I do too I have 8 of them, and several hatchlings. I have tried feeding crickets and dubia to my flytraps, but it seems as though there is a lot left over when they open up again. I've noticed that pill bugs kill the trap that eats them, as do some spiders, and lightning bugs (which I am terrified of because they are so toxic to my beardies).

MichaelG wrote:I'm guessing that you have bearded dragons. I do too I have 8 of them, and several hatchlings. I have tried feeding crickets and dubia to my flytraps, but it seems as though there is a lot left over when they open up again. I've noticed that pill bugs kill the trap that eats them, as do some spiders, and lightning bugs (which I am terrified of because they are so toxic to my beardies).

Another beardie! I have 7! Are yours babies? I breed crickets for mine but they eat their veggies too. I have crested geckos too and a few snakes. Nice to know you're an enthusiast too!

I have a bunch of babies, but the 8 I have that are mine forever and ever (we will be selling the babies once they are old enough) are 4 months, 5 months, 14 months and older. I also have 2 crested geckos, 3 african fat tail geckos, 3 gargoyle geckos, 2 corn snakes, 1 kenyan sand boa, and a map turtle!


^^This is Ninja, my 5 month old hypo super citrus orange girl from Moonstone Dragons^^


^^There is Scout, my silkback dragon from Tundra Dragons, on my shoulder. She likes to try to eat my earrings... She's the 4 month old, about 3 months old in this picture.^^

I found a photo that shows all of the girls!

MichaelG wrote:I have a bunch of babies, but the 8 I have that are mine forever and ever (we will be selling the babies once they are old enough) are 4 months, 5 months, 14 months and older. I also have 2 crested geckos, 3 african fat tail geckos, 3 gargoyle geckos, 2 corn snakes, 1 kenyan sand boa, and a map turtle!


^^This is Ninja, my 5 month old hypo super citrus orange girl from Moonstone Dragons^^


^^There is Scout, my silkback dragon from Tundra Dragons, on my shoulder. She likes to try to eat my earrings... She's the 4 month old, about 3 months old in this picture.^^

Nice! I just have 15 crested. A few pins, but I stick mostly with the yellow ones and the harlequin browns. When a baby comes out bad or I don't like it, I just feed it to one of the snakes. I keep HOTS. Like the vipers and cobras. I have eastern diamondbacks, a few Green Tree Vipers and Copperheads, and I have a pond out in the backyard which I enclosed and have about 20 Moccasins or Cottonmouths in. I've been tagged once. By a cotton. Glad I have 9 fingers! That's the right number right??? But yeah, keeping them is up to if you're willing to take the risk of life or death for something you love.

Whoa, yeah I don't feed "bad" babies to snakes... If it's just not a pattern you like, give it to someone as a pet, don't kill it. Not like a hatchling is more nutritious than a mouse... I'll only put down the babies that have life-threatening injuries or defects.

Oh that came out wrong. I was saying when a baby comes out and I don't like it as I think it won't survive, I feed it to the snakes.

I keep herps, but nothing hot yet, and only one beardie (she free-ranges the bedroom), and plans to expand into varanids (hence colonies of giant roaches)

Cool, I've been looking into The Monitors.

jamez wrote:Oh that came out wrong. I was saying when a baby comes out and I don't like it as I think it won't survive, I feed it to the snakes.

Ah yes, that sounds much less evil. HA! I'd do that too, but my snakes won't eat lizards. I've thought about giving the defected babies to the adults to eat, but that seems wrong, and I don't usually have any defected babies hatch out.