Calci-worms for protein

[Lu_x85]

Hi all (long time no posting!), I've been unable to make it online to chat with work commitments etc but I'm back.

Aristotle is doing well and growing beautifully. I tried him on mealworms a while back and he had one and was then not interested in taking them. Even when hidden in his food he would avoid them or drop them! So our protein sources have been boiled egg and boiled chicken.

However another redfoot keeper here in the U.K. recommended I try calci-worms as a live feed and he loves them! So I now have an additional protein and an actual live food he'll take when his protein feed rolls around!

Here's a few pics to show how the little lad has grown since I last posted!

 

[Pearly]

Hi all (long time no posting!), I've been unable to make it online to chat with work commitments etc but I'm back.

Aristotle is doing well and growing beautifully. I tried him on mealworms a while back and he had one and was then not interested in taking them. Even when hidden in his food he would avoid them or drop them! So our protein sources have been boiled egg and boiled chicken.

However another redfoot keeper here in the U.K. recommended I try calci-worms as a live feed and he loves them! So I now have an additional protein and an actual live food he'll take when his protein feed rolls around!

Here's a few pics to show how the little lad has grown since I last posted!

View attachment 196557 View attachment 196558 View attachment 196559

What a cutie!!!! I'm not sure what calciworms are. Here in US we can easily buy red wigglers(or whatever those earthworms are called), mealworms and waxworms. Waxworm is the only one my babies would ever go after. Well... they are not really "babies" anymore... anyway, there are MANY protein sources you can try. Don't forget mushrooms but not the white ones or portabellos or even babybellas that you can buy at your supermarket. When i say mushrooms i mean the wild kind from the forest. That and all kinds of meats cooked (no salt or any spices) or raw. As for live feed pillbugs are another option. Mine will eat them on occasion but not too often. Their favorite is steamed shrimp

 

[Yvonne G]

Calci Worms are a high-calcium soft bodied larvae of the Black Soldier Fly. They do not carry disease, and are so high in calcium that many reptile experts recommend them over other soft bodied grubs.

I took that off a Google search. I've never seen them for sale in the pet stores I shop at. Maybe you can buy them online?

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

They sell them as Phoenix Worms near me - they're the most expensive of the feeders, but the benefits are good.

 

[Pearly]

Forgot to mention one more life food source: snails!!!! Both of my babie LOVE them! And hunt them down

 

[Loohan]

Some hype about calci-worms:
http://www.silkwormstore.co.uk/calci-worms---explained.html

Where i live, if you leave veggie scraps in a pile outside during the spring and summer, it will soon be colonized by these larvae. In cool weather i invert a bucket or something over them to keep them warmer and feeding. Lift up the bucket and often i expose thousands of them so thick i can scoop them up with my hand and get mostly larvae.
When it gets colder, one can take them inside.
I have found that some boxies are more enthusiastic about eating them than others.

The black soldier fly is innocuous. It is a pollinator and does not pester living beings.

 

[Redstrike]

Aristotle is looking good!

 

[Lu_x85]

Calci Worms are a high-calcium soft bodied larvae of the Black Soldier Fly. They do not carry disease, and are so high in calcium that many reptile experts recommend them over other soft bodied grubs.

I took that off a Google search. I've never seen them for sale in the pet stores I shop at. Maybe you can buy them online?

I got them from a local reptile shop here in the U.K. I really couldn't believe how much he loved them. The lovely thing is the shop know me well and know I only have one only have the one young redfoot and it's not practical for me to be buying a whole pack of calci-worms and having a load turn in to larvae. So they give me some out of their store feeders and put them in a little box for free!

Next time, I'll try wax worms for him. If any of you do come across calci-worms they come with Aristotles recommendation!

 

[Lu_x85]

Forgot to mention one more life food source: snails!!!! Both of my babie LOVE them! And hunt them down

A friend of mine feeds her skink newly hatched Giant African land Snails and I've wondered if when mine have hatchlings would they be suitable to feed to a redfoot? Does anyone know?