FINCHforum

Stuart whiting wrote: Hi there,

As regards to live foods zebras generally don't eat live food and certainly don't need to, however Java sparrows will take meal worms and cleaned maggots,

If going to feed maggots make sure once purchased that they are kept in bran or a maize meal for 2-3 days until you can clearly see that the large black feed spot in the maggot has gone,

If the maggots are not properly cleaned you could run the risk of passing botulism onto yer birds but Once the maggots have fed on the bran or maize meal for a few days to excrete whatever foods they were bred on the maggots will then be perfectly OK to feed to yer birds

If you're not sure about using the maggots then the meal worms are probably a little easier to obtain, keep and feed.

Any questions please ask
I've been using maggots for the last 36 years

Stuart whiting wrote: hat.him

Mmm....yea there ok but I'd be inclined to blend em up and put them in with some egg food, the other good thing about dried meal worms is that they hold more protein once there dead and been dried,

If you feed these, only feed a few a day as you can over do it if one isn't careful, no more than about half a dozen per bird should be ok

But bare in mind that it's really only yer Java's that are likely to show any interest,

However yer zebras may eat them if you've blended and added to the egg food like mentioned

Shannylee wrote: hat.him, my Javas go nuts over mealworms. I started raising my own worms to keep up with the demand and to eliminate any contamination or pathogens that might be present in store-bought critters. My husband just shakes his head as I sort the beetles out of the box of worms.