BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

are there any links to ones that are current? I was trying to sort through the dogfood discussion and as a result got really confused.

I was thinking along the lines of having roaches, mice, etc, be the meat (what would be the best way to gutload these food wise? I was giving them CGD, but i want to get them eating something less expensive lol)
and of course keeping the veggies and fruits and calcium with D3 dustings.

Would i have to do something special to the bugs? What do people mean when they say they "dust" their feeder bugs? I cant imagine an insect sitting still long enough to put calcium powder on it or it sticking to the bug, but i could be way off base.

what would be the best choice for the dog food replacement? mice? roaches? other?

Thanks, and feel free to slap me (unless your name is MonitorLizard) if there is already a thread on this, i couldnt find any.

I will respect you wish and not slap you.
Your mean...
Links:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19184&hilit=feeder+insects
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17826&hilit=feeder+insects
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17339&hilit=feeder+insects
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16960&hilit=feeder+insects
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16707&hilit=feeder+insects
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13654&hilit=feeder+insects
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10618&hilit=feeder+insects
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10370&hilit=feeder+insects
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10259&hilit=feeder+insects

what would be the best way to gutload these food wise? I was giving them CGD, but i want to get them eating something less expensive lol

The best thing would be a variety of fruits, vegetables, and dog/cat foods.

Would i have to do something special to the bugs? What do people mean when they say they "dust" their feeder bugs? I cant imagine an insect sitting still long enough to put calcium powder on it or it sticking to the bug, but i could be way off base.

What do you mean do something "special" to the bugs. When we say "dust" the feeder animal/insect what we usually mean is, put them in a plastic bag or something similar, pour some calcium/vitamin powder in the bag, the shake the bag. The powder sticks to the insect, so when the animal eats the insect they also consume the powder too.

what would be the best choice for the dog food replacement? mice? roaches? other?

A variety would be the best, mostly roaches(dubia,discoid,orange-head cockroach), worms(nightcrawlers/dewworms, silkworms, hornworms, superworms), and snails(Garden and Aquatic Variety). With the occasional mouse/rat and/or quail.

I feed Coomassie roaches pretty regularly. We keep two colonies and he is fat so I make him chase down his food. My roaches are fed a diet of high protein dog food, a variety of greens, carrots, and chicken feed. The chicken feed (egg lay kind) is packed with calcium, as are all the greens (kale, collard, etc). If you take a tupperware container and put some calcium powder in it, you can shake the roach up in powder. It won't stick for long but I doubt the roaches will last long.

lol the reason i didnt look up any of those threads ML is that the dogfood craziness thread had been already read and confused me, and i wasnt questioning roaches as a food source. I was questioning them as a food source to REPLACE dog food.
I read all those threads already and they didnt precisely answer my questions. Also, some of them got really badly derailed in ways that made me pretty angry. Although i will say it totally didnt occur to me to search gutloading roaches on here. To me it seemed off topic.

I was planning on feeding my roaches the same stuff I feed my blueys, since its already good for them. Collard greens, Chicken (for now), banana, squash, etc. I'd just take some of the extras from the bluey container that dont get used normally and see if that was good for the roaches.

@Coomassie: wow, i didnt know that is what dusting was That is hilarious, i will have to try that. I will also look into getting the chicken feed, thats a good idea. Would it help if i got the roaches wet first? Or is that unnecessary ? lol
Would i have to dust the roaches if i feed calcium powder with D3 in my veggie meals for the skinks every time? I ask because i've never dusted the roaches before, and there have been no issues.

I've got one colony starting to take off, and those are Dubias, and i just got 1 male and 2 female M. Hissers (and some random babies) so maybe in a few months i'll have enough to get a colony going. Those are more for fun though, unless they do somehow take off (they hiss if you poke them OMG its amazing)

Does one have to feed Chicken/beef/pork/etc in addition to the roaches? or could i just substitute mice or other critters? I'll be trying my hand at raising snails as soon as I go snail hunting (most likely in the spring). I know that mice are considered fatty, but wouldnt that be kinda good if i've cut out the dogfood? What is the largest size mouse you can give to a full grown bluey, since fuzzies seem to be less nutritious than adults? Would young rats be better?

Would Ground lamb be ok if i have to feed "meat meat"? I know a local supplier that does lamb, and also my mom has sheep, so when she gets those butchered I will have mutton. I'm guessing that it would be fine since they eat roo in OZ

I've been doing a lot of research on what happens with our food regulation, which has prompted this wish for change, and frankly, i dont really want to eat these foods myself anymore, non the less feed them to my bluey and continue to support these large companies. I have nothing bad to say bout the dog/cat food companies, except they also support these large meat companies that I do not by using their products in the dog/cat food. Plus I no longer eat beef of any kind, and the reasons I dont make me feel super hypocritical about feeding it to my bluey lol

A wild BTS would eat lots of bugs, many snails, some random plant material, and occasionally meats (carrion, mice, egg, etc). We give more veggies than a wild skink would likely eat, but otherwise I would try to follow that guideline if I was leaving out dogfood.

Keep in mind we feed our animals to be in top-notch breeding condition. Wild skinks generally aren't fat and won't breed year after year after year. When changing the diet you need to watch carefully for signs of MBD, weight-loss, etc. The dog food diet is simple and keeps skinks healthy, but it's not the only option.

Here is dusting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyc6Na67aDM

You dont need to wet them or anything, they dust stays on for quite a while(Or atleast for mealworms and crickets, as I dont have dubias yet).

if i wasnt so appalled by the meat industry, i'd stick to the dogfood diet. I personally love it and have never had issues with it. my skinks have all been healthy and great! If i start seeing any issues at all, i'll be back to it in a heartbeat, feelings aside. I want whats best for my critters

and thanks for not flaming me on my desire to change the diet from something tried and true.

I know one breeder that feeds largely roaches. It can definitely be done, it isn't as simple as dog food but it is a good option. Roaches would be a good staple, I'd add in other feeders for variety. Rat pups, dew worms, horn worms, silk worms, snails etc are other good options. Feed them healthy diets, you can dust in calcium powder. I personally think this would be a great diet, if I had access to all these feeders in large enough quantities or could breed several of them I would consider this as well.