Black Soldier Fly Larvae as Feeder Insects

[@Rockdog333]

My leo turns up his nose and spits them out, however he LOVES them as adult flies.

[@JackieFuckingChan]

My vet recommended me solider fly larvae, since my gecko refuses crickets and dubia roaches (preferring the erratic, yet slow movement of worms). I purchased her some and am going to mix it together with meal worms, wax worms, horned worms, and super worms. Home she likes it..

[@Xiporah]

I love BSFL and always keep them on hand along with mealworms for my leo. As a spider keeper, I can also confirm that the flies also make good jumping spider and wolf spider prey as well!

[@reecehatton8469]

Great video! Ive had my Leo for a year now and hadnt heard anything about BSF larvae. As far as I see youre the only person here who got straight to the point with feeding tips. Good vid :)

[@davidshaw6159]

You've convinced me to try these again, AND I'm ordering some wax worms to conquer my anxieties about addiction. I will be giving them very sparingly but I do want my gecko to have as many different foods as possible. I didn't know BSF larvae didn't need dusting - last time I just coated them the same as everything else, so thanks for the information.

[@DarciAStewart01]

Not my dumb ass thinking you meant shoes for your actual gecko lol 🤣🤣

[@jordans2177]

Never fully understood why they never took off as a feeder. I love using them

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

Yeah me too!

[@danielventura8118]

So if I wanted these instead of crickets or Roaches that’s fine I am looking to get a leopard gecko or bearded dragon

[@idioticprogram8755]

As someone who is looking into black solider fly larvae for hedgehog consumption, this video was very useful! Thanks :)

[@paulalott4176]

I can always count on you for great information

[@jpslizards]

First time I offered Phoenix worms to my lizards I had that bad experience. Some didn't eat them which was weird because all are great eaters but my ackie even regurgitated them.

[@beebop9808]

Like to know where the 40 degree death limit came from? But it keeps getting propagated. They can actually be frozen for a short time. I have had them in my freezer at 0 degrees for three days with the intention of drying after their death. But when removed and left to thaw at 80 degrees they woke and nixed that plan. If you have a way of holding them at temps around 40 to 50 degrees they will slow down and be kept longer but they will dehydrate if kept in dry media. Great food though. I feed about a half gallon of live larva daily to my birds.

[@impasta8171]

Saving up to get some shoes now!

[@ChantalsCritters]

Great information

[@Agg1E91]

When my baby Leo was a month or two old and I had just gotten him/her (don't know yet) it was all about the BSFL. Very aggressive eating them. After 2-3 weeks, the interest waned. Now I'll feed a couple up front, which are casually eaten, then about 5 mealworms, which have never been a "favorite" but have always been eaten with no hesitation. The latest "it" bug are the dubias. They run fast but are eaten faster, and with extreme prejudice! And I just coat everything with a calci-d3-vitamin combo powder from Repashy. When its a little older and can be moved into a 'real' enclosure (not the current faunarium) I'll be adding some low level UVB and maybe dialing back the D3. We'll see.

[@Taka-Kevz]

I just ordered bsfl, wax worms and hornworms to go along with my mealworms for variety. I'm not a fan of crickets and live dubias are not legal in Canada.

[@entitysexotics3884]

I was surprised how well your geckos went in on BSFL! Only one of my 6 crested geckos, and one of my 2 Leos would try them. The rest along with My kuhl’s flying gecko and gargoyle had no interest. Sucks because they do last longer than crickets and I wanted the variety. Picky lil buggers.

[@impasta8171]

Awwww I love this video!!!

[@TheLizardKing140]

I feed a lot of them to my geckos, I normally have them and something else, like right now I have them and super worms but i plan on getting horn worms soon because my older leos love them so hopefully my new one loves them too, but they are kinda expensive for how many you get so I only get them occasionally, and sadly I have had to throw away some because they grow really fast but zekrom still eats every day so hopefully it will be easier, got off topic sorry

[@tyliful]

awesome, i give my bts as treat.

[@critterc0rner]

Neither of my blue tongue skinks really like BSFL which was pretty disappointing. Not even my youngest, who would normally eat literally anything that moves liked them. They were kinda interested and ate a few at first but after a while they just refuse them. The only way I could get them to eat them is putting them in dog food so they’re not being wasted.

[@isai.9553]

How do i make sure the larvae does not turn into a fly’s?

[@spearmanerica676]

Hey Jessica hyd? Did I see one of my babies in this video or were my eyes 👀 playing tricks on me ?

[@chuckmontgomery7571]

Just got my BSF larvae in the mail today. My skink took one with no hesitation and my new baby Leo will no doubt get some this evening. I love introducing new nutritious foods.

[@Agg1E91]

If the BSFL are a new feeder for your Leo, please leave a future comment, after a month or so, at let us know if the feeding interest has changed at all. My leo is much less interested in bsfl lately, but that might just be a "phase".

[@camblas6380]

I encountered the same things with my amphibians, i tried them with my toads, and they would come out whole in the excrement. And my geckos didnt care for them, so i no longer use bsf

[@ZukoForever1]

im going to try these for my geckos!!!!

[@trinitygarrett2158]

Could you dust these with vitamins and minerals with you Leo? Should you?

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

Yep!

[@supershepherd]

Can you keep these on wet paper towl? Or something else other then dirt? Because seeing the black ones in time before they become flies is hard in black dirty.

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

When I have a shipment arrive they come in a loose substrate like bran

[@BrittanyJ.]

How many larvae do you feed in one feeding per gecko for juvenile 6 months old? When you do the varied diet, do you switch the type of insect every other day? Such as crickets on Monday, mealworms on Tuesdays, and bsfl on Fridays? How often do you dust? Thanks!

[@badassmods3945]

any reccomendations for extra small one for my dart frogs I put em on a lid with the dirt since their so small to use tweazers but half the time they start kicking the dirt across the vivarium

[@VariousLizards]

Why don't black soldier fly larvae need to be gutloaded? I understand why they don't need to be dusted with calcium but do they just retain nutrients without food or something?

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

You can gutload them but they often already come fed. You can also dust them if you’d like I just meant you don’t have to. You can still dust them in a multivitamin.

[@VariousLizards]

@@JessicasAnimalFriends I figured! I have some that I just got in the mail and they are still pretty small, too small to make a very good meal for an adult gecko without needing a large amount of them

[@harlowkeener3820]

My baby leapord blizzard gecko eat silk worms and meal worms.

[@KeleeS1275]

What do you think of Silk worms for leopard geckos? Ive noticed you don't seem to use them.

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

I haven’t tried them yet!

[@alexandranovotna9096]

I am thinking of trying to use BSFL as a staple for my future leo, was wondering how are you dealing with the flies when they hatch out? is there any way to prevent them from flying off around the house? Thanks a lot!

[@Agg1E91]

I have used BSFL for two types of feeders: larva for my Leo and flies for my Mantis. They are not ideal for the latter because they tend to be pretty chill once they land somewhere. My Leo loved the larvae early on but has recently become more indifferent. Never had any digestion issues. As for dealing with unwanted flies, the BSFL are cheap and come in too many to an order for me (100 is min I can find) and with one Leo they aren't going to all be eaten before pupation. So I keep them in the fridge door. 100 last about 3 weeks that way, in that in about 3 weeks from receipt most will be a combo of dead or eaten. BUT...none ever become flies either.

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

I didn’t have to deal with flies, but if you keep them cool & feed them off within a few weeks you shouldn’t have flies

[@tipp_montgomery]

My leopard gecko wont touch them. Do you have any tricks?

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

Some reptiles just aren’t interested in them and that’s okay

[@pietandPrince]

my crestie and whites tree frogs were the only ones that would eat them. but the frogs couldnt digest. Me chewie and one of my leos just spat them out :,)

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

Yup my frogs couldn’t either

[@addison6613]

Quick question, my mom is worried that the minute I get a Leo that it's going to get some illness and we're gonna spend crazy money at the vet. Is that true, will that happen? Does it happen to you alot?

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

It’s not likely BUT you should be prepared for anything

[@addison6613]

Ok, Im really hoping everything goes well 😅

[@impasta8171]

Early!!!

[@sauronthegreat489]

Are they any good for salamanders?

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

Nope I don’t think they’ll digest them

[@kendravoracek3636]

💚💚

[@betta0685]

wow I am here second!!

[@impasta8171]

Is it ok if I feed my leopard gecko mealworms hornworms and only once a month waxworms is that a variety

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

No i think it would be better to offer another protein staple like a Dubia or crickets or supers or locusts

[@impasta8171]

@@JessicasAnimalFriends ooohhh but I don’t like to use crickets or roaches

[@Agg1E91]

@@impasta8171 I was super suss about using dubias, I mean they're roaches! But I knew I needed more than mealworms and BSFL, especially if the feeder pickiness reared its head. The dubias can't navigate vertical plastic sides, so I put some paper egg crate stuff in a larger plastic box for hiding and will pull a piece out when needed. Holding it over their plastic enclosure, I brush a few into a zipper bag with some dusting powder, put the crate back in the dubia box and give them a good shaking as I take them to their doom. Getting them out of the bag is like grabbing a large pill bug. Mine are 3/8". Full-sized might be a little more interesting.

[@impasta8171]

@@Agg1E91 oooh wow thank you so much!

[@clydesaulog803]

can i feed baby leopard gecko black soldier fly larvae ?

[@JessicasAnimalFriends]

I wouldn’t offer too many at one time but I think it’s fine otherwise. Just one or two at a time, since they are a bit harder to digest I’ve noticed

[@clydesaulog803]

thanks

[@groovyazznad1385]

❤️❤️❤️🔥🔥🔥