Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone ever heard of sprinkling rice/soy protein on top of veggies? I just saw an ad where the guy/girl states that they sprinkle rice/soy protein on top of veggies so his beardies are insect free. I'm just curious if this is safe. Thanks
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thelastplace.tk

5.13 Leopard geckos: Cut, Skaq, Fido, Dino, Big Bertha the Bus, Clyde, Bernie, Stella, Cassidy, Clara, Hero, Q, Remy, KISS, Bean, Dexie, Tweek, Kitty.
0.1 Argentine B&W Tegu: Tindra
1.0 Bearded Dragon: Hobbes

Bug free? It's supposed to prevent parasites or what?
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TheClassyLizard

I just realized what you meant, been a long day..
Insect free as in cricketless.
I wouldn't think that would be as efficient in supplying what they need as pellets would be. Just doesn't sound right. Soy comes from a bean.
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TheClassyLizard

Rice protein is not a suitable sub for animal protein(insects). They are 2 different things.

The products I use(t-rex sandfire superfoods) contains Isolated whey protien. It is probaby the most bioavailable source of protien known right now and is used in many human meal replacement powder formulations. A product called Designer Whey comes in Natural(unflavored) if you whant to give it a try, or just pick up one of the t-rex BD formulations.
good luck
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

n/p
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TheClassyLizard

Sure...Paul was right about rice protien and even soy, because they are incomplete protiens. Eggs have long been considered the gold standard of proteins with a bioavailability of 100. Research with Isolated Whey protien has shown it to be a more bioavailable protein, mainly because it has a high concentration of branched chain amino acids. What needs to be understood is that all animal based protiens are complete, some are just higher quality than others. So to answer your question... If your dragon consumes its salads dusted with say the t-rex veggie growth formula, or eats it's rep-cal pellets regularly, it will get all the protien it needs. The problem is that they don't usually consume these foods the way they do crickets. There is nothing superior about the cricket protien is what I'm trying to say. Hope I made sense.
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

n/p
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TheClassyLizard

I just want to add something about the t-rex supplements, because I mention them alot on this forum. I know some people are wary of the product either because they view it as a t-rex product or a sandfire product. Here is a short history of the line of products. All the formulations were done by Allen Repashy. He is part owner of Sandfire and deals exclusively with their collection a Rhacodactylus geckos (the largest in captivity). These geckos are omnivores, that have a thing for fruit. Allen proved in the mid 90's that crested geckos can be raised on a diet of supplemented babyfoods. To take advantage of this fact, he sought out high quality ingredients and formulated the crested gecko diet. It's a powder that is mixed with water and becomes like a puree. Like the rep-cal pellets, it is a complete diet containing all tha macro and micro nutrients needed. From there he used the same ingredients and tailored the formulas to specific species. There are three BD formulas, one insect dust and 2 veggie dusts. What alot of people don't understand is that these are actually complete foods, just like the crested diet. It's just that you dragon won't eat a pile of powder, so the veggies or the insects become the delivery method. Everytime you dust with these products you are delivering a healthy dose of protein, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, and probiots, to your dragon. As you can see, I love these supplements...with that, I will end my virtual infomercial here.
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

THANKS Bill, couldnt have said it better......THis guy knows his s#%t!