
Follow the steps below to feed a black soldier fly larvae to your bearded dragon:
- Brush away the dirt substrate that is covering the larvae. This dirt substrate is usually a compost-like formula...
- Place the black soldier fly larvae into a feeding bowl that your bearded dragon can fit into. Then place the bowl into...
Are black soldier flies easy to feed to bearded dragons?
BSFL are easy to feed to a bearded dragon because they’re really quite slow. They are however quite adept at climbing out of almost any bowl should they so desire. They are often also covered in the dirt substrate they’re kept in. This dirt substrate is usually a compost type formula specifically chosen for the black soldier fly larvae.
What to feed the black soldier fly larvae?
What to feed the Black Soldier fly larvae? 1 Parameters tested. The availability of the by-product streams, available at Bonda, formed the basis to formulate the ‘perfect’ diet for the larvae. 2 Single, mixed and replacement. ... 3 Optimum protein, starch and structure source. ...
Is moistened chicken feed good for black soldier flies?
Moistened chicken feed is a common baseline used in research papers, but high-quality black soldier fly larvae tend to be raised on a specifically-formulated grain and grass diet, likely with added calcium. Other additives, such as probiotics, may be present.
Can bearded dragons eat dried insects?
However, we would say that it’s much better for your bearded dragon to feed live insects, not dried. The nutritional value of dried insects is far less than those of live insects and the water content is important for maintaining your bearded dragon’s hydration.

Can bearded dragons eat black soldier fly larvae?
Black Soldier Fly larvae make a great staple food or treat for Bearded Dragons, Leopard Geckos, Poison Dart Frogs, Crested Geckos, Day Geckos, turtles, and any other bug loving critters out there!
Are soldier fly larva good for bearded dragons?
Soldier Worms are a naturally nutritious, protein-packed, and rich in calcium making them a great supplemental feeder for bearded dragons, geckos, chameleons, turtles, and just about any pet reptile or amphibian.
What can't black soldier fly larvae eat?
A: No! BSF larvae feed solely on dead decaying organic matter. They do not feed on living plants or root systems and instead seek out decaying organic debris, feeding on the organic byproducts, decaying cells and microbes present in waste materials susceptible to decomposition.
What do you feed a black fly larvae?
BSFL can tolerate a widely varied diet. The BSFL feed on many kinds of organic waste such as table scraps, composting feed, and animal manure. They can also survive off of coffee grounds for a few weeks, but coffee grounds are not a sustainable diet.
How do you keep Black Soldier Fly larvae alive?
To store, keep them in their lidded cup at room temperature. If you plan to keep your worms longer than 2 weeks, moving the container to a cooler spot (50-60 degrees) will help extend their life. Just make sure to allow them to return to room temp before offering to your pet.
Do you need to gut load Black Soldier Fly larvae?
Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae have been marketed as an excellent choice for providing calcium to reptiles without the need of dusting or gut loading. However, previous studies have indicated that they have limited calcium digestibility and are deficient in fat soluble vitamins (A, D3, and E).
How much should I feed my BSF larvae?
[47] that 100 mg of the feed per larva per day is the best diet for organic waste reduction using BSF larvae.
How much do BSF larvae eat?
What these guys do best is eat, and these ugly little guys can really eat… a lot. On average, a black soldier fly larva will consume twice its body mass on a daily basis. Imagine a 150 pound human eating 300 pounds of food in a day every day for two weeks. These tiny monsters pull off this feat on a regular basis.
How can I increase my BSF?
1:2520:14How to Start a Black Soldier Fly Bin: Food, Care, Design - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo it's really neat because there's not too many negatives about doing this at all I found so whatMoreSo it's really neat because there's not too many negatives about doing this at all I found so what these flies do is they lay larvae that are extremely efficient at conversion of your waste to protein
Can fly larvae survive without food?
Maggots live for five to eight days then turn into pupa that will transform into adult flies. Without food or source of water, they can last for two to three days. Maggots only live as maggots for a short period of time. Sometimes, their development could depend on the temperature.
Do black soldier fly larvae eat egg shells?
#1 Black Soldier Fly Supports Circular Economy Things might be a little bit difficult with the hard type of organic waste such as bones, egg shells, wood, and hard fruit shells (coconut shell, avocado seed), but you could crush it and put it into the compost mixture or use it as a growing bed for the BSF larvae.
Do soldier fly larvae eat worms?
1:032:53Can Redworms & Black Soldier Fly Larvae Coexist In The ... - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSystem and the answer is yes.MoreSystem and the answer is yes.
Can bearded dragons eat dried fly larvae?
Black Soldier Fly larvae make a great staple food or treat for Bearded Dragons, Leopard Geckos, Poison Dart Frogs, Crested Geckos, Day Geckos, turtles, and any other bug loving critters out there!
Will maggots hurt my bearded dragon?
Registered. Maggots used for fishing are a definate no. They are kept in horrid conditions and are often fed rotting flesh. Maggots in general as feeders often cause debate.
Can bearded dragons eat fly pupae?
Black Soldier Fly Larvae are a great food for lizards and are a favourite of Bearded Dragons, frogs, turtles and amphibians, spiders and scorpions, fish, birds including insectivores, magpies, finches and chooks will love you for them too.
Can bearded dragons eat flies?
Bearded dragons often show up in the herptile hobby. Many people purchase these lizards as hatchlings and care for them their entire lives. As bearded dragons grow, their dietary needs, which include both plant and insect material, change. During parts of their lives, bearded dragons may readily consume fruit flies.
What is the best food for larvae?
Combining these 2 with the potato pulp is an option. A structure source is also important to feed larvae on. Based on the results, corn gluten meal, onion pulp and beet pulp showed the best weight gain improvement of the larvae.
Why is insect meal important for livestock?
But equally important is to gain knowledge on what to feed the insects, to make sure the insect meal is nutritious and leads to high growth rates of the larvae.
What is BSF in agriculture?
This is why agricultural students from a Dutch agricultural college looked at the optimum diet formulation for the Black Soldier Fly larvae (BSF). The BSF is used often for producing insect meal and grows well on waste streams from the food industry.
How long does it take for a squid to be removed from a squid?
After 11 and 18 days, the larvae were removed from the feed and analysed for fresh and dried weight, protein and fat content and bio conversion ratio.
What Do Black Soldier Fly Larvae Eat in the Wild?
Wild black soldier fly larvae are generally detritivores and coprivores, which means that they feed on dead organic material (particularly plants) and feces. However, like most flies, they’re not picky — they are known to eat manure, carrion, compost, food waste, and just about any other type of organic waste.
What Do Black Soldier Fly Larvae Eat When Raised as Feeders?
Like most feeders, what black soldier fly larvae are raised on significantly affects their nutritional composition. Moistened chicken feed is a common baseline used in research papers, but high-quality black soldier fly larvae tend to be raised on a specifically-formulated grain and grass diet, likely with added calcium.
How to Feed Your Black Soldier Fly Larvae
The black soldier fly larvae that you receive when you purchase them as feeders for your pet actually don’t need to be fed! When you buy black soldier fly larvae, they are typically stored in a small plastic tub of soil, sawdust, or bran.
Do Black Soldier Fly Larvae Need Water?
Just like they don’t need food, dormant black soldier fly larvae don’t need water, either. However, if you wish to raise the larvae into flies, they will need a water source. Low-phosphorus, reptile-safe fruits like apples, blackberries, blueberries, and peaches make for a good source of both water and vitamins.
What do bearded dragons eat?
It’s important to note that Bearded Dragons are omnivorous as adults. Young dragons and juveniles will eat mostly insects, though adult dragons need fruits, vegetables, and greens to make up more than 50% of their diet.
What is a black soldier fly?
Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) can be an extremely nutritious food source for many insectivorous and omnivorous reptiles and invertebrate pets. But, there is a lot of confusing information on the internet about how many black soldier fly larvae you need to feed your pet. In this article, we have compiled all the information for each species ...
Why do chameleons like crickets?
Many chameleon owners prefer crickets to BSFL because crickets will readily explore the terrarium, giving their chameleon a chance to use its tongue at a distance.
Why do spiders need BSFL?
This can also indicate dehydration since spiders store water and fat in their abdomen. BSFL can be a great feeder to regain the health of a malnourished tarantula because they are high in fat and water content, allowing your spider to quickly replenish their abdomen. Tags: black soldier fly larvae for leopard geckos, bsfl for bearded dragons, ...
How often do scorpions eat?
In general, people tend to overestimate how much food scorpions require. Many scorpion species can fast for a week or more between feedings, though they will take food more often. Scorpions are obligate carnivores and will eat a wide variety of insects and even small pinky mice (once in a while). Just be sure not to offer your pet too many prey items at once, or your scorpion could become stressed out or even get chewed on by excess insects.
Can a chameleon eat too much BSFL?
You should be aware that BSFL have a very high fat content. Feeding too many BSFL to a mature female chameleon can lead to obesity , which you will be able to measure through your pet’s weight as well as physiological changes such as a rotund body and areas around the spine that bulge out.
Why is my dragon losing weight?
Losing weight as an adult is a sign of malnutrition. You may also see that your dragon is losing muscle mass, has excess folds of skin, and is generally lacking energy. Other signs of malnutrition include an inability to shed properly, especially around the eyes and face.
Can Bearded Dragons Find Black Soldier Flies In The Wild?
Bearded dragons aren’t your classic pets – they first needed to be domesticated from their wild habitat. Not that long ago, in the 1990s, beardies were introduced to the United States as pets. Since then, many consider them to be the best exotic pet in the world!
How Do Bearded Dragons Hunt Black Soldier Flies?
An adult black soldier fly female can lay a couple of hundred eggs at a time. Before laying the eggs, it needs to find a good spot to deposit them. In most cases, surfaces above or adjacent to decaying matter like compost is the safest spot for laying the eggs.
Health Benefits Of Eating Black Soldier Flies
All bearded dragons, whether they are in the wild or captivity, can potentially suffer from metabolic bone disease. As I’ve mentioned before, beardies need to be on a constant move, and to ensure that that happens, they need to have a diet containing high calcium levels.
Final Thoughts
In search of a perfect source of calcium for beardies, people ask can bearded dragons eat black soldier flies. Many other insects can satisfy the demands of bearded dragons’ calcium intake, but many can’t provide as much calcium to beardies as black soldiers flies can!

Parameters Tested
Single, Mixed and Replacement
- The feed products tested included energy sources (such as mashed potato, potato pulp, wheat starch), protein sources (such as by-products from the bio-ethanol industry) and structure rich ingredients such as corn gluten meal, onion pulp, beet pulp and beer by-products. Also different mixes of the protein and energy sources have been tested. The stu...
Optimum Protein, Starch and Structure Source
- The experiments showed that a protein source, a starch source and a feed source for structure, is needed to produce the largest larvae. However, protein is the main ingredient and from all the protein sources tested in these experiments, one of the ethanol by-products was shown to have to have the biggest effect on weight gain. When mixed with other protein sources, there was no sig…
The Best Diet Formulation Is….
- This will result in an optimum diet of 66.96% ethanol by-product (protein), 8.93% mashed potato (starch) and 24.11% corn gluten meal (structure). The students address that these experiments are done at a small scale. This means the results may differ when carried out in large scale production facilities. In addition, not only the weight gain of the larvae is important for insect bre…
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