Feeding darkling beetles?

[CaligulasPeri]

I keep them as pets, and not as feeders- I currently have one little guy, but he absolutely refuses to eat anything I give him! Carrots, potatoes, lettuce, everything he has completely turned down...until I put down a cut up egg carton for him to hide in
He immediately started crawling all over it, and after a while I heard crunching noises- he was trying to eat it. What am I doing wrong? I have him on a substrate thats just oatmeal, and give him fresh veggies daily but he just has no interest and theyre always untouched

 

[Hisserdude]

You might find he really likes dog or cat kibble.

 

[poizoni]

You might find he really likes dog or cat kibble.

Havent thought of that before.. Do you think it would affect their breeding rate at all or cause buildups like in roaches

 

[Hisserdude]

Havent thought of that before.. Do you think it would affect their breeding rate at all or cause buildups like in roaches

I fed my mealworms dog and cat food for years, never had a problem.

And the whole "uric acid buildup" thing that supposedly happens with roach colonies fed cat food is something no average hobbyist EVER encounters, because most hobbyists also offer fruits and veggies, so the roaches are free to eat what types of food they want in moderation, thus no harmful buildups of uric acid. I've literally never known a single hobbyist who's had that issue, just a couple people sounding the alarm bells saying it's something that could potentially happen. We use cheap pet foods for roaches too, which often contain a lot of grain byproducts in the food, probably better for the roaches than ones that are mostly meat.

 

[0001]

I’ve found mine have preferences. Most people feed their beetles carrot and potato but mine hardly touch them and seem to like celary and cucumber a lot better. They aren’t fans of zucchini, but the worms love those. Apple was a big hit too! If you only have 1 beetle you might just not see if he’s fed as the feedingmarks are so small.

Just keep trying whatever you have in the fridge and get to know your creature. Make sure you wash it well so theres no insecticides on the feed and if it is a very wet fruit or veggie put it on to of the egg carton to keep the substrate dry and mold free)
Make sure there is oatmeal or wheat bran available (the veggies function as drink, not food. That job is for the substrate you keep it in.) Also, the beetles and worms can supposedly draw humidity from the environment, so if you have like 80%humidity they might not eat as much as when kept at 50%

 

[draconisj4]

Mine seem to like protein based foods the most, I give them dry dog food and crushed dried crickets. They also seem to like oats and will eat carrots and apples