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insect ball=pill bug or roly poly.Good?

Flavia Guimaraes May 24, 2010 10:02 AM

Insect balls are other name for pill bug or roly poly.Are they good for beardies? Their shells are not too hard for beardies?

Below im enclosing a link with their photos and general information.

Thanks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillidiidae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillidiidae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillidiidae

Replies (4)

BDlvr May 24, 2010 11:11 AM

Wild caught insects are a high risk for parasites. You're going to have a hard time finding someone that can give you an informed answer on what local bugs would be OK. The risk is that some bugs can be poisenous, like wild caught Hornworms. Silkworms are extinct in the wild. Did you try looking for crickets? Cricket farms started here for fish bait. Maybe there are fish bait farms there.

How are your dragons doing?

PHLdyPayne May 24, 2010 03:37 PM

I am not sure on their nutritional content but I know people have fed these bugs to dragons before. If I recall correctly they aren't that difficult to breed either.

Doing a little research it seems wild pillbugs can contain alot of heavy metals, especially if present in the environment. Too much heavy metals would be bad for dragons. Thus you best bet is to collect wild specimens and breed them yourself. I don't know how long it will take for them to produce offspring or how many (researching more on the species you have locally would reveal this). You can control what they eat and if they are exposed to any heavy metals (for the most part what occurs naturally isn't a problem, it is if the ground has been contaminated by heavy metals (ie pollution, run off from industry etc).

It seems these bugs can be raised fairly easily, as long as they have ready access to vegetation, be it leaf litter, compost or the like. They do need a very humid environment else they die.
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PHLdyPayne

Flavia Guimaraes May 25, 2010 03:58 PM

I raised already insect balls to feed my Indian frogs when i lived in India.They are very easy to breed and they have hundreds of babies in a very short period of time.

They love humidity, and drakness and they eat bark.

As i live in a farm house in a residential area my garden is free from chemicals and poisonous substances.

My girl is fine. No more cramps or seizure like attacks. She loves to climb her cage walls and is sleeping like her brothers 2 meters high.She is eating well and is flirting her brother.

PHLdyPayne May 26, 2010 09:12 PM

Glad to here your girl is doing better....though your comment about her flirting with the brothers worries me. She should not be housed with any males, especially related males as you don't want them inbreeding. If they are separate, then its not a problem.
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PHLdyPayne

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