FINCHforum

Hi everyone,

I need your thoughts and opinions on dried insect mixes please. If I want to give my waxbills the best chance next season, I need to increase their bug diet

Live mealworms I have going already but as to termites etc, I just dont have the time or resources to go hunt down termite mounds in the mountains (would be fun though, lol!) I have found the below make which I can import from the UK but before I do, I would like your opinions as to whether or not it is worth it.

Any success stories with these type of mixes? Do the birds accept it easily?

http://www.birdcareco.com/bcc-catalog/u ... rous-feast

Feast Insectivorous

Enriched soft food for insect eating species. Pre-moistened.

Contains flies, daphnia, conches, insect larvae and other attractive foods for these specialised birds. Also contains herbal extracts renowned for their prebiotic, anti-protozoal (coccidia) and immune system benefits.

Thanks as always!

Some breeders mix the dried insect foods into the eggfoods and their birds accept it. Many of the breeders use just boiled grated eggfoods on their waxbills. You can try the dried insect food, mine never took to it readily.

JMO, but if it costs very much, I might look to other ways to increase the variety of live foods. There are other things you can try.

I am assuming I remember correctly that you have an outdoor aviary - and if so, you might try fruit flies as well. A banana in a mason jar with a wire mesh lid will make many fruit flies the birds will love to catch as they emerge through the lid. It's a great foraging experience for the birds and mine loved these.

Freeze-dried blood worms sold for tropical fish food are also a real delicacy and can provide another source.

I think if the birds have access to mealworms, fruit flies, blood worms and a good egg food, they should be in pretty good shape.

I'm sure others will have more ideas for you. I look forward to hearing them!

Rox there is a dried insectivore mix available here. You won't need to import and its way cheaper.
Panorama has it, but I cannot say I saw a notable interest in it when I added it to my offering of food for waxbills.

I would however consider getting live food. Soldier fly maggots in particular. There is a place in Kuilsriver that offers them and you can just buy by the 100 - 1000 and then freeze em if you want. That is the option I am going for along with basic meal worms, fruitflies and whatever else mine find in the aviary. They eat a fair amount of "free" food that ventures in.

I've noted more of a breeding trigger with live food, half ripe grass seed / seed, available pollen and seasonal rain. BUT no success yet breeding the VE's

Rox
Hi Roxanne.
I am not much on catching bugs myself and the idea of an infestation of fruit flies in my house is not my cup of tea (although I do get some occasionally). What I offer my kids are dried mealworms that I place in a bowl and crush into tiny bits. I also purchase what's called insect pate`which I mix in with their food and which they seem to eat readily. We did try a can of dead grass hoppers, which are rather gross but didn't see too much interest (still have some, might try chopping them up, urrggh )
All my guys enjoy plain boiled egg of course.
I do have some dry bloodworm (for the fish) but haven't tried it yet.
Did see a bag of some sort of insect food (dead I hope) in the shop, but as I recall was quite pricey. Might have to look at it again and see what kind of 'goodies' it contains. Heehee.

Goodluck

Ladies, thank you for the feedback! I was hoping to hear that all the birds just jumped right in and ate the dried stuff but I guess that was wishful thinking

Monique,
Thanks so much for letting me know Panorama has an insect mix. I have never noticed it there before. Need to look better

I have tried culturing fruit flies but I obviously did something wrong as all I got was ants, lol! Fly maggots were next on my list and I think that this will probably be the easiest to get going in our hot summers. I had the guys from Munch-a-Bug here and they had a variety of the bigger feeder insects available but they were either too big for the waxbills or the maggots had a limited shelf life. BUT now that you mention freezing them, I might just do this and order from them. I ordered mini-crickets last year but my birds seemed more terrified of them than anything else…

Which plants, aside from roses, are attractive to aphids? The few I have offered to the birds get nibbled up immediately. I am also going to plant seed in spring and hopefully get a decent crop of seed heads going next season. I have been buying the wild seed mix from Leon (all the tiny veld seeds), which all the birds love.

I think I will hold off buying the dried mixes then and focus on maggots and mealworms (doesn’t that just sound charming!?). Hopefully that, along with the various seed mixes and fresh fruit, veggies and herbs I give will be enough.

Having both the BB Cordon’s and Red-eared hatch and toss makes me want to pull my hair out – so close, yet so far!!!!!!

Lovezebs, the bugs don't freak me out. They must just stay in there respective area's and not relocate into bedrooms

My birds really like Quiko's Goldy mix which is a dried insect mix. I toss it into grated egg food and they devour it. I've also offered it dry, mixed with dry egg food and they'll eat that as well.

Colt

Thanks for the feedback Colt! I am definitely going to buy 1 bag and see if my lot show any interest. I'm being optimistic

I have RCCBs and just got a pair of Goldbreasted waxbills from the bird fair yesterday (yay)! I've never had success with feeding my RCCBs dried insect mixes. They have always completely ignored them, plus the dried insect mixes smell horrible! My African birds (including my new Goldbreasts) snap up the mealworms (small and mini sized) and black soldier fly larvae. For the best nutritional value, I remove the mealworms from the wheat bran they come in and move them to corn grit (more nutritious for birds). I then put a slice of nutritious veggie (replacing with fresh veggies as needed) in the container and leave the mealworms at room temperature like that for about a week so they have time to gutload (i.e., eat) the corn and veggies. This always produces the best results for me. Good luck!

FinchFan

Wendy, thanks for the feedback and congrats on your new GB pair! You are going to love them

Ok, fly maggots are now definitely on my list for next season!

Monotwine: Do you know the name of that mix? Ive never seen it at Panorama. Been hunting for months.

I can't tell you about Panorama, as I'm on another continent LOL.

But I can tell you to peek in the reptile section. I've seen lots of dried insect blends over there -- much more than what they offer in the bird section of pet supply shops. (I didn't know if they'd be safe for birds, so I googled all the ingredients before I gave them. Just bugs 'n vitamins.)

That's actually how I got my guys into dried insects in the first place. I had some left over from a lizard I'd been sitting and offered them up.
Everyday I put out a little platter of fresh food and just started including them. I've seen 3 of the 5 eat them; the 2 picky eaters won't touch them.

I'm sure they'd looove live insects, but I can't do live food. I take part in the spider and bug relocation program when I find them in the house. LOL A friend actually got me a clever little touch-free bug scoop thingie from PETA. Love it! Makes me feel better. Good karma.

Spider & bug relocation? Really? Do you find them homes?

wildbird wrote: Spider & bug relocation? Really? Do you find them homes?

Yep. Just pop 'em outdoors and release in a nice spot! LOL

But I have named some. We have a gorgeous (BIG!) orbweaver Samantha with a web just outside the bedroom window. I've been watching her for months. She just had a litter of baby spiders -- I didn't realize what they were until the wind blew and I saw the tiny specks moving about!

Bugs don't make it very long in our house with our hunt-loving cats. A ginormous cockroach came in from the garage the other day and he scurried away before I could catch him. About 2 hours later, I found him in the middle of the kitchen floor, dead with a bunch of legs missing. *shudder*

I found a dried mix by Vitakraft called Quicko Goldy for Softbills and Finches. It has dehydrated ant eggs and insects, I just mix it with water so it is a paste and my finches like it. It has quite the smell though, so I keep the little bowl with it in a bird bath to contain the smell, so it doesn't waft around the room freely. They don't mind going in there to eat it. Since finches are insectivorous, I think it's a great compromise so you don't have to worry about bug problems in the house. The pet store where we purchased our finches recommended it and were feeding it to them in the store along with seed.