How to Dust Feeder Insects

Most pet reptiles and amphibians love to eat live insects, and most live feeder insects should be dusted with a quality vitamin and mineral supplement. Providing these supplements is very important to keep your pets healthy. In the wild, these animals would be eating a wide variety of different food items - something we are incapable of replicating in captivity. By dusting prey items with a vitamin or mineral supplement, we're doing what we can to ensure our pet's diet is nutritious and well rounded.

Place a small pinch of supplement in the bottom of a cup (many people like to use our cricket shaker, or a 32oz deli cup), then place one feeding's worth of feeder insects in the cup. Gently shake the cup, ensuring the supplement coats the feeder insect. don't be too forceful, as you don't want to harm the insects or fling them all over the room. Time is now of the essence! As soon as many feeder insects are coated with supplement, they'll immediately go to work try to clean it off of themselves, gradually rendering them less nutritious in the process. Quickly introduce the feeder insects to your pets by dumping them into the vivarium, offering them up to your pets using feeding tongs, or dumping them in a feeding dish. Try not to dump any excess supplement into the enclosure.

Excess supplement in the cup could be used the next day, but should really be disposed of after the first use. All supplements should be replaced 6 months after they are opened. Make sure to write the date on the lid when you open the supplement, so you can be sure not to forget! Supplementation will vary depending on species but in general dust with a calcium supplement with D3 twice a week, and a multivitamin supplement at least once a week. When in doubt, follow the manufacturer's recommendations.

Josh's Frogs