Breeding Feeder Insects & Saving Money on Gecko Food! 

"i think it's alive???? hello? it's slightly alive okay have some cucumber"

I just got a leopard gecko yesterday and this video has the perfect timing. lol

I had a box of crickets and at the time I only had a sling to feed so I decided to breed to get the pin heads. Had to stop because they were cannibalising each other it was horrendous 🙈 they had a very large setup, heat, a variety of food and protein sources but they just uh... preferred to eat each other. I felt soooo bad.

*THE IMMORTAL MEALWORM*

Interesting that your dubias stunk. The fact that they don't stink is why I love them!

LOL! What is that smell! 😂 Okay, back to business! Dubias are really easy to breed. I have mine in a 5.5 gallon aquarium with a screen top. I have a heat emitter over the tank to keep them warmer. Gel crystals, dubia chow, carrots and apples replenished every other day. That’s it. I had one colony get so large while my bearded dragon was brumating, I had to give it to a friend who had dragons and geckos! BTW, my gecko loves them! She stalks them, then pounces! As for crickets, I don’t feed them. Too smelly, die too quickly and my gecko doesn’t recognize them as food! Mealies and superworms aren’t very expensive where I live, so I buy as necessary. But, both my critters LOVE hornworms. But, boy are they expensive! For a container of 25 small ones with enough food to have them grow to 1.5” is $15! When you consider I’m feeding out the smaller ones to the gecko 3-4, and as they get larger 4-5 to my dragon; a person could go broke in a couple of months feeding these and I understand they are difficult to breed. So, these are a special when mommy has some extra money!

I have my dubia roaches in a bioactive terrarium, and they do really well. The terrarium allows humidity as well as warm air inside since I have a glass top. Every 1-2 days I mist the enclosure since I have mosses. The isopods and springtails help clean up after the cockroaches from their waste to their carcasses.

I got my leopard gecko from petco where they gave me totally wrong info on him and had him in a horrible set up with 7+ other geckos with one hide. My gecko neji was having a lot of health issues but thanks to your channel he is alive and well and living his best life with me in the comfort of his own space

I’m getting my first leo tomorrow! I got it on hold with the breeder so I am setting up my feeder insects! ❤️❤️❤️

The outtakes were amazing😂 very educational content as well!

Love your videos! This is gunna help me out a lot!

You have to try medium locusts for leopard geckos. I use to use crickets all the time, so I understand the bad smell. My adult gecko absolutely loves the medium locusts, as the change has made her more active. I’ve noticed that it’s much easier to control her wait this way and locusts are angles to work with. They don’t bite and have zero smell. Not to sure if breeding them is easy, but my local sells them for £2.50 a box and they last a month.

You can use an exacto knife to fix the lip on the holes you drilled.

Great video 🐾

Leopard Gecko... I am such a huge fan!!!! Your videos are A M A Z I N G. Keep making great videos!!!!!❤️👍🏼🤩

Nice job on the video. It turned out great!

Your voice is wonderful and the video is informative

I found dubia roaches the less stinky of the live foods when i was breeding mantis. I kept them in an underbed storage unit from B&Q, Only used old egg boxes, no substrate and fed them on leftover fruit and veg and I ended up selling the HUGE colony for a very big profit a year later! Breeding crickets is great until the lil nymphs escape and get everywhere. >XD

I'm having success breading Dubias using Eco eath and coconut husk along with the egg crate for hiding area. It's working well so far and doesn't smell. I'll keep you posted though. Maybe I learn differently as I go.

Hey I’m a massive fan of ur Channel and find ur videos really interesting

Needed this!! huge fan :D just got my crestie hes called splat :DD

Thanks! This really helped!

I’ve heard that Vermiculite works well to absorb smells. X

This is good setup/organisation

I have a breeding colony of dubias and they are super easy but you are right they do need a huge tub; my 2 leopard geckos aren’t huge fans but my 3 crested geckos really seem to enjoy them though. Great video I definitely want to give a try at breeding my own mealworms now!

Good job taking care of all your bugs.

I put any meal worm pupae on the bird table before they turn into beetles. The birds love them. I tried feeding waxworms to my leo today for the first time. They went down very well but didn't seem to fill her up and she wanted a main course of crickets afterwards. They made a fine starter though.

I actually had hornworms before (definitely getting them again) and the substrate was their food (good enough at the time) and they thrived pretty well (5-6 pupated and 1 turned into a moth, the others were broken open by me, died, or was feed [the moth was released or died if I remember correctly]) and they worked like a charm. My issue was that I fed my Beardy a little too often (she threw up). Other than that, they are good to use and can fatten up your Leo with them and they go nuts for them (mine killed one in a death roll out of excitement).

That's smart leopard Geico

If you do get overrun, get some condiment cups, punch holes in them, fill them with wheat bran(or whatever you wish to have them burrow) and pop them in the fridge. It slows their metabolism and makes them grow slower.

Great video 😄💜

Just got merch for my birthday 😁😁😁

love the bloopers

I know I'm really late to this video. I just discovered you and have been watching your videos. Love them btw 😊 I wanted to say something in regards to Dubia. They really don't smell at all. I didn't "get used to it" lol. I'm not sure how you had it set up, but I have bred thousands and haven't had a problem. As far as my set up...I used 18 gallon opaque (do not use clear) totes. I get egg flats and stand them vertically so all the fras falls to the bottom. I put a row of flats that fit snugly into the tote (width not length). The flats go over/under/next to a heat source. Any 3 work...matter of preference. On the opposite end you want their water crystals, dubia feed, and fruits/veggies. I also cute quite a large hole in the top and one side for ventilation. You do NOT need a substrate (preference, but I find it better without) and you do NOT want to mist it. The water crystals and fruit/veggies keep it most enough for the Dubia and misting the totes can cause bacteria/mold to grow. I also only keep a ratio of 4 females to 1 male. I separate the feeders I'll use for 2 weeks into a different setup so I do not disturb the colony too much. You also want to keep them in a dark area...I use my extra supply closet because they really hate light. I think that about covers that. Again...I really enjoy your videos 😊

So I ordered about 300 Dubia roaches for about $20 a few months ago. I’m barely down to half of their original numbers and my leopard gecko really enjoys them. I have quite a few big roaches, but there’s still plenty of smaller ones that are perfect for her. They don’t really smell, so I’m not quite sure what people have been using for substrate and whatnot. They’re pretty hardy too, and I’ve only noticed a few dried up ones since getting them. Crickets are definitely more delicate in comparison and way smellier.

For solider flies u need to put lil stacks of sheets of cardboard in with the flys so they will lay there eggs in them. U can either move that stack to a container with food for the maggots that hatch or leave them in with the adults n just make sure they have food on the bottom.

I currently have a discoid roach (dubias aren't allowed here) setup and am working on a superworm setup. I have the beetles, and they've been on their own a couple weeks, but they just don't seem to be doing anything. I put them in another bin and am waiting. At least they are cheap and easy to keep. The discoid roaches have been worth it, I do hate roaches but they grow big and they are much easier than crickets, plus no noise and I don't notice any smell. I do have a cleaner crew in my discoid tub. They are pretty expensive to buy relatively speaking (especially with how many my monitor can eat) so I decided it was just something I needed to do. I bred crickets for a little while... it was nice to have the experience, but they smell, they chirp, they die so fast are are just kinda horrible. Their tub just gets gross so easy. I decided they're cheap and I have a nearby store I'm just going to buy them as needed. About the same cost as feeding and tending them long term. Hornworms are neat, but my monitor, who eats pretty much anything, is random about if he'll eat them. So I didn't bother. They are a nice big worm, but they're kinda expensive, and there is probably stuff with better nutrition.

You could sand the holes in the tray a little down (with sandpaper), so they can fit in perfektly again ;)

Ahhh cool, I have some mealworms that pupated and didn’t know what to do with them!

Is there a link somewhere for the bin cart you have? I'm several months away from even thinking about getting a gecko so I'm trying to learn everything that I can before hand. Thanks!

Do you have an updated video on these ? Or on how you make your bins now ?

I breed dubia roaches and to me they don't smell, I have a hide for them, some substrate of shavings and I drop in food whenever they run out. They're super easy for me to breed and although I don't get very many big ones because I have a small colony and I constantly feed them off with my dragon, gecko and friends lizards they are great. My gecko and rankins dragon will eat them pretty much whenever offered (although they prefer supers) as long as I give them variety for me they're perfect. I tried crickets and they smelled, kept escaping and tbh they're a hassle. I just ordered a ton of mealworms for my gecko so I'm going to see if her likes them and I might breed superworms in the future.

Tip on crickets.... yes, they stink, but they also have a LOT of exoskeletons to meat ratio so they can impact your reptile's digestive track. I'm not sure about Geckos, but it was an issue for my bearded dragon. I ended up researching Dubia Roaches. They breed well once the colony is started and established, and you can heat the bin to speed up the growing and breeding or put them in a cooler environment to slow growth and breeding. Once you go below 85 degrees F they start drastically slowing down breeding. They do not climb well, and there is almost no odor compared to crickets. They do not jump, they do not make noise, and they are slower and easier for the reptile to hunt. Plus, crickets will bite your reptile and if left in the enclosure with the reptile while they sleep, they can injure your pet. Dubia are not like that...they only eat things that are dead. Back to crickets...they do smell, and once a cricket dies, it gives off a toxic gas that will kill other crickets which give off more toxic gas and that is one reason they smell and why so many die so fast. I tried multiple times with crickets, and it just wasn't worth it for me, so I switched to Dubia. Not sure you know, but there are 4,800 + species of roaches and out of all those, only 30 have been classified as pests to humans, Dubia do not want to be in your house. They are from the tropical forest near the equator, and they want to be outside where it is hot, humid, and where they like to thrive. If they get out inside your house, they typically will die quickly due to lack of water. I've bread probably 30-40 pounds of Dubia roaches and out of all those, I've only seen 2 get out, and they were both found dead in the rabbits' water bowl. It's worth checking out if you are interested, and compared to crickets, Dubia has about 6x the meat to exoskeleton ratio of crickets, so they are better, safer, and less smelly LOL Best of luck!

Oh, that's interesting. I like Dubias because they don't smell. But I've never had a breeding colony. I just order a bunch of small and medium sizes and end up feeding them off before they get too big.

Question, So I keep my mealworms in oats and I was wondering if I could keep them in like some dirt from my yard or try like rice or something?? Let me know please because I want to breed my mealworms or my Crickets so I don't have to keep spending on them.

Some forums claim that a dubia set up will only smell if theres something wrong like a disease or growth of fungi or molds in the container. But oh well :)) my colony has a certain smell to it similar to dust but it doesnt stink at all

Could you use wood shavings for bedding for mealworm beetles (darkling beetles) to breed

when i grow up i want to be a worm

I actually love your channel it helped me alot and I got a question now . My Crested Gecko is not eating or not really eating the repashy food and I don't want to waste more money on the diets so I wanna ask if it would work to give him the real fruits and pick the diet of the fruit he liked. If you got a better idea please let me know ^^

Sometimes even if it’s easily affordable to buy food/food for pets, you still want to be self sufficient. I have 2 American toads and I can get mealworms pretty cheap where I live, but I’m still attempting to breed them and having a lot of fun, I have about 150 beetles so far, expecting eggs to hatch soon!

Is two thirds cricket and one third mealworm (dusted in correct supplements) a good meal for geckos if I dont want to keep a ton of insects for just one gecko

When can u next react to more reptile setups cuz they are quite interesting to watch

Does cricket quencher gel only work for water? And do you recommend it?

Where do you buy your crickets and mealworms?

How did you put a screen on the top of each one of those drawers, if you don't care to explain. The stores around here has those but I don't know how I can get a screen on top of it.I just don't want them getting out.

Can you try silkworms? They're really healthy and I want to see you feed them to your geckos :D

I'm getting a leo in a month or so and I've done so much research, but I'm still confused on the topic of feeder insects. I know what to feed them, but do I have to breed them? And I'm confused on how to take care of them.

The first thing we’ll start of with is *closes drawer* the Morio Worms

I know iam late great vid :)

I don't know if you can get Discoid roaches in the UK, but they've done great for me as far as breeding. The adults can get fairly large around 2", but the babies are great sizes to feed geckos. Isopods are another good feeder and great as a clean up crew in more humid substrates (probably not in leopard gecko setup though). They're kind of small but the geckos might be interested. They're high in calcium and will breed well once established.

I breed mealworms and it worked

i have a 10g with about 1000 crickets in it and they're so noisy and smell so bad after they die, but recently ive been looking into dubias and a lot of people say theyre a good substitute. they dont die off as quick, they dont jump, and they dont smell. the only problem some people have is that they arent as energetic so if your gecko likes to chase their food, you might have to tong feed for a while

I would recommend Lateralis/Dubia Roaches. I breed em for my Other insect eating animals. Really simple. Just open the window every now and then to get rid of the smell and clean out the setup every few months

Could u put crickets in the draws as there home

Are waxworms destructive to wasp hives? I may as well dump them into my ac. 😐 I have wasps flying into my room like freaking darts every day

Just a curious question, can I keep my mealworm colony in sanitized organic topsoil? I have some for my gecko, and I hate using the oats for the mealworms, so I was just wondering.

Can you feed the beetles for your geckos ?

Some suggestions for your worm colonies: For the superworms/Mario worms and mealworms, use a drawer system, or place a bin inside of a bin, so that the adults are suspended above the worms in the bottom. This will keep them separated and prevent predation, as well as save you time with the sorting and separating. Cut the bottom out of the drawer/bin containing the adults, glue in some screen, and the babies will drop right through the bottom into the bin filled with oats below. In the bin containing adults, place a cardboard egg crate; this will aid the breeding. Keep them very dry (moisture seems to kill them), but throw some scraps of potato or greens in sometimes (nothing too juicy, or it will mold). I solely use oats and wheat bran for the substrate. Mine breed like crazy. In the process of building a BSFL enclosure currently.

In what mixture u keep the mealworms?

I have a setup like this will dubia and mealworms. The roaches have not escaped all winter. Summer will be the test 😅😁

Hey - is it okay to leave the beetles in the cage? Also will they eat them

Do leopard geckos hold grudges? Because I just got one and I was trying to get a roach off his hide and I thought it was just one but when I picked the hide up there was like 5! So I hate bugs and I panicked and I dropped it on his little head, he was stuck for a good 3 seconds now he’s scared and runs away if he even sees me move 😭💔

i am researching to get a leo gecko but i literally cannot touch bugs. can i feed my gecko canned bugs?

Is it ok to feed them the gecko the adult mealworm, like the beetle?

They will live and breed in oats. Not the instant kind. I think I'll do this for breeding and then transfer feeders to a soil mix. Thank you so much

Will they just breed and lay eggs themselves or do you need to do something?

What should i do

Where do you bye your geckos food

I know I’m lat but I have a question(it has nothing to do with the video though) so at school we made air dry clay sculptures and I made a cave hide because I wanted a new hide for my leopard gecko.I was wondering if air dry clay is safe for leopard geckos, and I made it big enough for my gecko and I made sure it has no small holes and it is very strong and sturdy.I don’t know if you will know the answer to my question but I don’t really know who to ask besides you...

Do I separate the mealworms from the beetles

what do you do with mealworm beetles

I've tried to breed hornworms, saved 11 to pupate , 10 successful moths from that, tons of eggs from them, and only 5 surviving worms two of which are trying to pupate now. My method definitely needs fine tuning lol

I do that but just for crickets

Is it okay to use aquarium sand for my beetles? I have some leftover from my crabs and don't know what to do with it.

What i do is I gut load them for a day or two and then stick them in the fridge so they cant pupate

Where do you get that straight

I wonder. Can you selectively breed the darkling beetles for them to be larger?

Does anyone know where to get locusts in Malaysia?

Ok this might be a dumb question... but if the worms turn into beatles, can't you feed them to the geckos? would it be bad for them? sorry I'm currntly doing research in order to be prepared for my to be gecko

Is amazon a good place to get feeder insects? I'm about to get my leopard gecko and I just want to make sure my gecko is happy and healthy! if you have any other tips or suggestions I will be happy to hear it!

Does anyone know where she gets her insects?

Hi, I really need someone’s help asap! I got my first leopard gecko yesterday, with the set up and everything. I’m having an issue with the temperature, because when I turn the bulb on it gets far too hot. I had travelled for ages to go buy her so I had a nap, and once I woke up it was 40c!!! I have no idea what to do, because I’m scared if I leave it on when I go to school, it’ll get too hot, please help& thank you

I had the same issue with dubias. My Leop just didnt want to eat them anymore and then my colony just got really overpopulated. Eventually, they got infested wiith mites from some fruits I gave to feed them. The mites would not stop and they all eventually died. The same issue happened with crickets, my Leo does not eat crickets. Mealworms are by far the easiest to breed and care for - cleaning them does become a pain sometimes because it is hard to change substrate since their babies and eggs are so tiny. Superworms have only a slight success, but they do need more room to find private places to pupate. I want to try to breed hornworms and Silkworms next. Silkworms and hornworms are expensive so if I can breed my own supply that'd be great. Silkworm moths can not fly and look really cute - however the worms can only eat mulberry leaves.

Do u have to feed gheccos Mario worms?

Don’t crickets jump out of the tank when they have no lid on their tank/bin?

This is kind on topic but my gecko is a baby an Mediterranean house Gecko and I've had him for a week and 3 days, we found him outside and he wasn't moving all that much I assume from the cold. But I can't get him to eat, I can get him to drink water and come out of his hiding spot but whenever I try to give him small roaches and dried crickets but he won't eat. And I'm concerned that he'll starve, is there anything I can do to try to get him to eat soon?

Thank you for the info. I i need smokes honey :-$ going to see if you have a video on how to set up something like this

What is a Chihua and how do you spell it? Do you have a new species of animal I don't know about?

Great video! My meal worms are on their second generation. My Geckos eat the waxmoths, my female Gecko especially LOVES to hunt them. I discovered this by accident. A waxworm somehow escaped her (She is like a little velocoraptor when it comes to live food!!) and it pupated and hatched out one evening. It had a VERY short life as a moth poor thing. I find that feeding my feeder insects raw carrot makes their poop smell ten times worse than any other food, so I stopped. Lettuce, cucmber, apple, thawed frozen peas and dry bug grub all seem to keep their enviroment less smelly :0)

My leopard geco Loves dubias and crickets her favorite is meal worms, my pacman frog doesn't like dubias he eat them but not with much enthusiasm he literally opens his mouth and waits for me to drop it in wont even lunge for them, his favorite is crickets. I think it's so interesting how different critters feel about what their likes and dislikes are.