Crickets or Dubias – which is your preferred feeder?

[CritterDepot]

Should I buy crickets?  They are cheaper, abundantly available, and decently nutritious.  Or should I buy dubia roaches? They are more nutritional, less smelly, and ship better in cold temperatures.

The reality is that your pet is going to love a variety of feeder insects. But when comparing crickets and dubias, there is a clear difference.
Firstly, it’s important to understand the needs of your reptile. The typical carnivorous reptile diet requires:

• High protein (30% – 60%)
• High fat (40 – 70%)
• Low carbohydrates and indigestible fiber

Knowing this, we can then examine the nutritional content of both crickets and dubias, to determine which feeder insect is the most nutritional:

Dubia Roaches

• Protein – 46%
• Fat – 24%
• Calcium – 5.8
• Phosphorous – 5.9
• Calcium:Phosphorus Ratio – 1:1.01
• Fiber – 8%

Crickets

• Protein – 66%
• Fat – 22%
• Calcium – 2.1
• Phosphorous – 7.8
• Calcium:Phosphorus Ratio – 1:3.7
• Fiber – 12%

Protein

Looking closer, both dubias and crickets offer an abundant amount of protein.  Dubias’s protein content is right in between the recommended 40-60%, which means they are great to use throughout the entire life span of your reptile.  Crickets rate modestly on the high side of protein, which means they are going to be a better feeder for when your pet is young and growing, compared to a fully grown adult.

Calcium and Phosphorus

Two of the most important minerals for carnivorous animals to receive are calcium and phosphorous. More important than the level of each mineral within a food item is the ratio of calcium to phosphorous in the overall diet. Reptiles need phosphorous in order to process calcium, so the relationship between them is important.

Experts recommend that the calcium-to-phosphorous ratio somewhere around 2:1.  As you can see, both crickets and dubia roaches fall short on this ratio.  So it’s important to dust both crickets and dubias roaches with calcium powder.  This will boost that ratio to the desired 2:1.  If dusting is a problem, black soldier fly larvae are an amazing feeder that naturally yields the target calcium to phosphorus ratio.

Both crickets and dubia roaches have their pro’s and con’s, and guide dives into deeper detail between their comparison.  But the reality is your pet is going to want a variety of feeder insects.  And offering both will yield a happier, healthier pet.

Login/Register To Reply

Attachments:

1. 

   dubias-vs-crickets-better-feeder2.jpg
   

[Author]

Posts