Freeze dried food source??

[idahoantgirl]

So my family isn't too keen on having live crickets in the house or garage, but I know that ants do a lot better on a bug based died. So would freeze dried feeder insects be an option? I found that petco sells a freeze dried insect medley of mealworms, grasshoppers, and crickets. I haven't heard of anyone feeding their ants grasshoppers. Is there a reason why? I could also get a different insect medley which has freeze dried shrimp, mealworms and crickets. I probably would be able to get a small amount of live bugs every once in a while as a treat. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[idahoantgirl]

So my family isn't too keen on having live crickets in the house or garage, but I know that ants do a lot better on a bug based died. So would freeze dried feeder insects be an option? I found that petco sells a freeze dried insect medley of mealworms, grasshoppers, and crickets. I haven't heard of anyone feeding their ants grasshoppers. Is there a reason why? I could also get a different insect medley which has freeze dried shrimp, mealworms and crickets. I probably would be able to get a small amount of live bugs every once in a while as a treat. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

bump

[ooper01]

I don't have any experience using freeze dried insects, but I would say just go ahead and try them out and see if the ants like them. They should be pesticide-free if purchasing from a pet store. You just have to be careful with bugs you catch around the yard as they could have a small amount of pesticide that would be harmful to the colony.

For a week or so, I fed my Pogonomyrmex colony some house flies I would kill and noticed a significant number of dead ants during that time frame. As soon as I stopped doing that, the deaths stopped. I would estimate I lost 40-50 ants during that timeframe.

[idahoantgirl]

I don't have any experience using freeze dried insects, but I would say just go ahead and try them out and see if the ants like them. They should be pesticide-free if purchasing from a pet store. You just have to be careful with bugs you catch around the yard as they could have a small amount of pesticide that would be harmful to the colony.

For a week or so, I fed my Pogonomyrmex colony some house flies I would kill and noticed a significant number of dead ants during that time frame. As soon as I stopped doing that, the deaths stopped. I would estimate I lost 40-50 ants during that timeframe.

Okay, Thanks!