What bugs can I feed my fish?

[StreetCypher]

I feed my fish live crickets, live mealworms and live earthworms on a fairly regular basis.

I've heard of people drowning/cutting heads off/freezing mealworms and pulling the spiny back legs off crickets to avoid injury to the fish. I personally think a bug chewing through the stomach of the fish is bunk. Unless the bug could live through the chewing and serrated edge throat of a fish (in the case of an arowana), plus that of drowning, i doubt it could inflict any damage. I feed jumbo mealworms and large crickets all live and have had no problems, yet.

 

[Veneer]

I feed my fish live crickets, live mealworms and live earthworms on a fairly regular basis.

I've heard of people drowning/cutting heads off/freezing mealworms and pulling the spiny back legs off crickets to avoid injury to the fish. I personally think a bug chewing through the stomach of the fish is bunk. Unless the bug could live through the chewing and serrated edge throat of a fish (in the case of an arowana), plus that of drowning, i doubt it could inflict any damage. I feed jumbo mealworms and large crickets all live and have had no problems, yet.

Though mealworms do have strong jaws, I personally believe most of those reports to be attributable to gastrointestinal compaction from overfeeding.

 

[Nuriel]

someone was telling me yesterday that she couldnt feed her bearded dragon the large mealworms without cutting the heads off because they "would tear up the dragon's stomach". i too thought it was bogus....in the wild, these reptiles crunch and munch on all types of beetles, larvae, smaller reptiles and other large insects (quite a few, i am sure, are equipped wih pinchers and/or stingers). hwever hse was insistant, so i said nothing as she squished each head off the worm to hand feed her beastie. arent the jaws and digestive fluids in these creatures enough to overcome their prey?