Dried Insects for Reptiles

Dried insects keep far longer than live ones and never escape the tub, but they sit still, and movement is what many lizards respond to. The choice depends on the animal as much as the keeper.

Live versus dried feeders

A tub of live crickets chirps, climbs the walls and needs feeding, water and a lid that actually closes. A bag of dried insects sits in a cupboard and pours from the corner. For a keeper who has been caught out by an escaped cricket, that is a real difference. Dried feeders also take up far less room than a tub, which matters in a small apartment.

The trade off is behavior. Live feeders move, and a lizard that hunts by sight watches for movement. A dried insect does not. A sealed bag keeps much longer than a tub of live crickets, and the best by date printed on the bag says how long; what it cannot do is wiggle.

Freeze dried and dehydrated are not the same thing. A freeze dried insect keeps its shape and weighs almost nothing, while a dehydrated one is often harder and a little shrunken. Shops sell both under search terms such as freeze dried crickets, so check which one the listing means before you buy.

Live feeders also need looking after until the moment they are eaten: food, water, ventilation and a clean tub. Dried ones ask for nothing between the bag and the tongs, which makes them a useful backup for the night the cricket tub turns out to be empty.

Mealworms, crickets and larvae

Dried mealworms are the common ones: long, slim and light, with a crisp shell. Dried crickets are lighter still, with legs that snap off in the bag. Dried larvae, such as black soldier fly larvae, are plumper and shorter and take more chewing. The same three insects turn up in the poultry aisle too, which is why mealworms versus black soldier fly larvae compares them from the other side.

For a reptile, the main thing is size. Match the piece to the animal, and break anything bigger in two. A dried piece does not shrink or swell in the mouth the way a fresh one does, so pick the size you would pick for a live feeder.

Read the ingredient line on the bag. A bag of dried insects should name the insect and nothing more, and the supplier's listing on this store gives the same information if the bag does not.

The reptile treats collection lists what is in stock, with the form named on each listing.

Rehydrating dried insects

A dried insect is very dry, and many keepers soak it before offering it. The usual method is a short soak in warm water until the piece softens, then a drain and a pat dry on a paper towel. The supplier's directions on the bag are the ones to follow, since they cover that bag and not a general case.

A softened piece spoils like any wet food, so take away what is not eaten within a few hours and throw it out. Soak only as many pieces as you plan to offer, not the whole bag.

Offer the softened piece from tongs, not from a dish. Hold it close to the animal's nose and move it, a few inches at a time, along the floor of the enclosure. A dried insect moved this way gives a lizard the movement it wants, and a lot of animals that ignore it in a dish will take it from a pair of tongs.

It looks silly and it works. A keeper wiggling a soaked mealworm along a rock is doing, with a wrist, what a live worm does on its own.

Which reptiles take dried food

The Merck Veterinary Manual sorts lizards into insect eaters, meat eaters, omnivores and plant eaters, depending on the species. That settles the first question. A species that eats mostly plants has no use for a bag of insects, and no bag will change that.

Merck lists the leopard gecko among the insect eaters, and keepers of insect eating lizards of every kind ask the same question: will it take the dried one? The answer is animal by animal.

Among insect eaters, some take dried food and some do not. Bearded dragons are a common case, and bearded dragon treats covers how worms and fruit fit into a dragon's day. Try the tongs method a few times. If the animal ignores a dried feeder after several tries, go back to live, and treat the dried bag as the backup it is.

Sniff and Shift freeze dries and air dries its treats in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania, for dogs and cats, so none of that line is suggested for a reptile. The insects in this guide come from the reptile shelf.

Common questions

Are freeze dried crickets the same as dehydrated crickets?

No. A freeze dried insect keeps its shape and weighs very little, while a dehydrated one is usually harder and a little shrunken. Check which one the listing means.

How do I rehydrate dried mealworms for a lizard?

The usual method is a short soak in warm water until the piece softens, then a drain and a pat dry. Follow the directions on the supplier's bag. Offer the softened piece from tongs.

Will a lizard eat a dried insect that does not move?

Some will, and some will not. Many lizards respond to movement, so wiggle the piece along the floor with tongs. If the animal ignores it after several tries, go back to live feeders.

Will a leopard gecko eat dried insects?

The Merck Veterinary Manual lists the leopard gecko among insect eating lizards, so insects are its food. Whether it takes a dried one is animal by animal. Try a softened piece from tongs a few times before going back to live feeders.