Live food leftovers - what to do with them?

[natamambo]

My chats are thriving on their diet of madeira cake mixed with insecta pro, mealworms, woodies, maggots, crickets and whatever they find themselves (not much of the latter in the current weather I'm sure!).

Each morning they are getting a small piece of cake crumbed, piece started out about 1"square by 1/2" thick, 6-8 mealworms and 6-8 woodies or crickets or a dozen or so maggots. Each next morning there'll be some cake and a few mealworms left over, occasionally some maggots, never a cricket or woodie.

Question is, what do I do with the leftovers? The mealies and maggots are normally still alive and wriggling around. The cake I can bear to pass on to the wild birds across the back yard if need be. Somehow though it seems wrong to waste the live food though.

Is it best to toss all the scraps (given that there'd only be a teaspoon or so of cake) and the "insects" on the floor for later retrieval, perhaps hiding them under bushes and stuff for the birds to hunt for? The current holding aviary has mulch over a galv tin floor but the new aviary will have a raised off the dirt crushed rock floor. Do I have to dispose of all outside of the aviary or just the cake? Can even the cake be used to attract other insects (although granted ants are probably the greatest likelihood)?

[jusdeb]

Ive been toying with the idea of baking bugs into my bird bread .
Might be a way to use your leftovers

Maybe freeze them until you have enough to make it worthwhile ...just a suggestion.

[Tintola]

Live food that is still alive does not go off, leave it there and add to it until they do eat it. Just don't offer live food and cake in the same container.

[gomer]

One thing I have noticed in the past having mealworms and maggots in the same dish. Is that i have found maggots inside the mealworms. Since then I have kept them separate just in case the mealworm carcass inside the
Maggot is like rotten flesh. Who knows though perhaps I am missing out on a double protein hit.

[jusdeb]

You might be missing out Gomer . When I was breeding fish "gut loading "live food was a great way to get more nutrients into the fish .

[Gerry Marantelli]

if the animals are prepared to eat the gutload too - then there is no reason to gutload!

i wish i could get frogs to chow down on a bowl of calcium, shells or similar - i think better to seperate your live foods as you are right - once the maggot invades and kills the mealworm it is living inside a rotting carcass.

[jusdeb]

I think it is why it is done when feeding some fish Gerri , as a means to get certain other foods into the fish that they normally would not eat .
Also used to get growth foods into fast growing fish.

Never heard of it done with birds but I guess it could be applicable to birds.

[Tiaris]

What if they could be gutloaded with something which partially addresses a nutritional deficiency typically experienced in the type of insect? eg. the calcium:phosphorus ratio in mealworms.

[jusdeb]

Interesting question ....

[Gerry Marantelli]

What if they could be gutloaded with something which partially addresses a nutritional deficiency typically experienced in the type of insect? eg. the calcium:phosphorus ratio in mealworms

Yes - that is essentailly why we gutload anything. Unfortunately we are battling biology - a mealworm has low calcium because it has low need of calcium and therefore has evolved low desire to eat calcium containing foods. Organisms tend to be made of what they need to be made of for their kind of organism - for a mealworm that is high P and low Ca. Organsisms also develop strategies to access what they need in their diet - so if you are a mealworm you don't look for or like calcium containing foods. If you are a finch you hunt many different insects and you may even seasonally eat different things to get more of one thing or another for breeding, wintering etc.. eg. more calcium containing insects for breeding season to make strong eggs. Unfortunately when you are a finch in cage you eat what your owner feeds you, and this is where we get problems as the easily accessed or cheap insects are favored over more variety or higher quality ones that are harder to get or more expensive.

Variety is the spice of life - and you are what you eat .... so if you do not want an aviary full of flying mealworms ... buy some maggots! (plug) and price is no excuse as they are cheaper than mealworms and a better quality food.

But also a serious PS. VARIETY VARIETY VARIETY and know your pets needs - if your finch has a skeleton (most do) and it is made of calcium based minerals (always true) then it needs to access dietary calcium. If you're feeding with too many low calcium foods you will eventually make your pet unhealthy - finches, frogs doesn't matter.