My thoughts on feeding insects to lizards, and on UVB

[geckofiend]

I'm not sure if this applies to all omnivores, but there has been a study on iguanas to see if UVB lighting will actually benefit them more than vitamin supplements alone. They found that any artificial UVB lighting was not as effective as giving them a Vitamin supplement containing D3.

The report is called "Dietary Vitamin D3 and UV-B Exposure Effects on Green Iguana Growth Rate: Is Full-spectrum Lighting Necessary?" by
Jody C. Himba
Division of Basic Biomedical Sciences
University of South Dakota,
Vermillion, SD 57069
jchibma@usd.edu

I'm not sure if this goes for all diurnal omnivores/herbivores, but I just thought I'd bring it to everyone's attention.

[Alias47]

The only problem I can see with UVB lighting is it's efficiency.

The actual amount of UVB received drops SO quickly with the use of one of these lights...that you would almost constantly be changing bulbs to keep up.

I read an article SOMEWHERE (Reptile Magazine, I think...I will try to find it) discussing the UV rating of various bulbs and how fast that rating drops with usage...It said that if you are getting HALF the rated UV after a month of use, you have a good bulb.

This may be part of the problem with UV bulbs versus Supplementing the D3.

Of course...I tend to agree with Whitehorse...I can't imagine you could overdose a beardie on D3 by using light...whether natural or artificial as long as you provide hides/shade for them to regulate. In my experience if you provide the conditions, leave it up to the expert (the animal itself) to control the amount, you will have a happy and healthy pet.

[Taylormaid]

About the crickets...
August's Reptile magazine had a great article on how to properly feed your insects. .... just to throw some things in:
It reccommended dry dog food, fish food or poultry mashes for crickets and mealworms and potato, apple or orange as moisture. It also reccmmended alfalfa spouts, cantaloupe, grapes, lettuces, raw apple w/ skin, strawberries, tomatoes, yams ans zucchini. But, avoid, cabbage, kale, broccoli and mustard greens because these cruciferous plants can lead to hypothyroidism. Plants with oxalates like spinach and beet greens can interfere with calcium metabolism.

It mentioned the possiblity of poultry mashes interfering with the hormonal/reproductive cycle of reptiles and amphibs due to low levels of herbicides and pesticides.

It also said that crickets tend to ignore high calcium foods if there is other food offered and that crickets on a high calcium diet may experience a higher mortality rate after 48 hrs. I think I also read somewhere that calcium can impact a cricket... not sure.

I used to use store bought gel and food, but have noticed more crix survive on my dog/fish food mix and dishes of pebbles and water.