# Website with large insect variety!



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Not sure if I've posted about this site before or not...if I have, it was a couple years ago as I've been trying to find the site again since then!

http://www.thailandunique.com/edible-insects-bugs

Warning: Lots of creepy crawlies if you click the link! Including a giant centipede which unpleasantly surprised me as my only insect-related phobia. :roll:

They have a huge variety of different insects, as well as scorpions & such, sold for human consumption. I think most of them do have salt and/or other seasonings added to them which would likely be hedgehog-inappropriate. But I'm considering contacting the company to find out if it'd be possible to special order some with no added seasonings, unless someone else would like to do so (with an interest in placing an order right now if they're willing to do a special order kind of thing), since I can't really place an order right now!

I'm sure not all of the insects would be great for hedgehogs (I'm not sure why anyone would want to eat or feed stinkbugs!), but it seems like a lot of them would make a great addition to their diets. Unfortunately I think all (or most) of them are dehydrated & such, but if most of your insects were fed live or fresh, I would think having one or two "exotic" dehydrated insects a night to add variety wouldn't be too harmful, depending on the hedgie.  Just thought I'd share! I have the site bookmarked now so I can look into it again later on when I have a hedgie to feed again. If anyone does contact them or receive an order from them, let me know what you find out! I'd love to hear of any experiences with the company, good or bad.

(Edited to add...if anyone does contact & order from the site and they seem to be a good company & a good resource, I'll go ahead & add the website to one of the nutrition stickies! I think I'd like to add a list of good sites to order insects from online to the insect sticky, so I may start a new thread to gather reviews & information for something like that. Just want to make sure I list sites that people can confirm as good ones. )


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Boyfriend found another one, I think it's generally the same insects, with a bit less variety - http://www.edibleunique.com/category/edible-insects-bugs I'm not sure if the two companies are connected or not, with the similar company names. Could be a coincidence, or one copying the other, who knows. :lol:


----------



## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

I'm soooo interested!! I think a twice weekly treat will be perfect since most of my guys refuse to eat fruits or veggies.


----------



## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Is the salt in the ingredients a problem?


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I would say yes. That's why I plan on either contacting the company myself or if someone else wants to do so with the intent to order sooner than I would be able to (since I won't have a hedgehog again until maaaaybe next year). I'm wondering if they would be willing to do special orders with things packaged just plain dry roasted, etc. with no added salt or seasonings. I haven't contacted them yet, but given what a nice resource it would be, I would think it's worth asking them. Might help to imply that they could expand their market with hedgie owners if they're able to do something like that. :lol:


----------



## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Not to mention any other insectivore owner or reptile owner. 

Hmm, depending on my finances I might be able to contact and ask this weekend. I think this is a good idea.


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yay! Let me know what you find out!


----------



## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

I've had hedgehogs that ate centipedes and scorpions with ease to my surprise. I know, I know, before you react violently, remember that a couple of my hedgehogs had wild, middle-eastern parents so their resistance against venom and instinct to take down this crawlies is no biggie for them


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I remember you mentioning that before, Neil! I'm actually pretty curious about trying a scorpion...I think I would take the stinger off first because I'd be too nervous to leave it on. Did you leave the stinger on when you fed them? Centipedes are a definite NEVER for me. I have an outright phobia of them, lol. I'm good with feeding anything else though! I was also looking at the canned tarantulas, trying to figure out how on earth a hedgehog would tackle something like that. And then trying to figure out if I could cut it up to portion it for multiple hedgies. :lol: The big things like scorpions & tarantulas would be VERY occasional treats...like hedgie Christmas dinner. Price is too expensive to get them very often!


----------



## lilsurfergrlsp (Dec 13, 2013)

This is awesome, and it would be very interesting to try out one of the more exotic ones! But, since the insects are dehydrated, would it cause a problem impaction wise? Or would it be as nutritious?


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I don't think 1-2 freeze-dried insects a night would cause an issue for most hedgehogs. Especially for those on a raw or partial raw/fresh diet, those diets are already much higher in moisture than a kibble-only diet, so I imagine that would help at least a little. If I were going to be feeding the insects from the site, I think I'd start with smaller insects first, one a night, & see how that particular hedgehog does. After a few days, try out two a night, etc. Watch poop careful for signs of dryness, having signs of undigested insects in it, being small/thin/hard, etc. I think if one goes carefully & slowly & pays attention, you should notice signs of them causing a problem before it reached an impaction risk. It's definitely a concern though, and I would be careful about feeding more than a couple in a night, and wouldn't feed more than one whole of some of the larger insects (or maybe half for some of those that are especially large?). It's a case of "know your hedgehog" and whether they might be more prone to constipation or other things like that.

Obviously live or canned insects are definitely preferable, but I'm just not certain how likely the company would be able to provide something like that. Could be worth asking, maybe? It seems like canned might be a possibility, especially since they already offer some of the options canned. 

I don't think that nutrition would be impacted by being dehydrated, but I could be wrong on that. I'm not sure if I've read anything (yet) on dehydrating insects (or meat) impacting the nutrition...Anyone else know if that might be another factor to consider? I'd go do some research right now, but I have two tests in the next two days that I haven't really studied for yet. I'm way too good at procrastinating! :lol:


----------



## CoffeeKat (Jan 15, 2014)

Normally I would be all over this, and I almost called them today, but then I remembered: I'm a little skittish now about ordering "odd" insects. A few weeks ago I ordered wax worms, dubia roaches, mealworms, Phoenix worms and crickets from Rainbow Mealworms. They arrived right away, looked fat and healthy, but LuLu would not eat anything from that order (well, she ate one Phoenix worm the first night). She gobbles down her mealies, wax worms and crickets from my local pet store, so maybe she just likes to source her food locally. I don't have a clue how her mind works.....all I know is I have wasted hundreds of dollars on stuff she won't eat. The operative word here is "wasted". "Spent" would be okay, "wasted" not so much. I have a Grandcat who has benefitted from Her Royal Pickiness, and backyard birds who were delirious with the scattering of creepy crawlies. Wish I could get excited about ordering more exotic stuff but I think I will just live vicariously through others. Show me pictures and I will make appreciative noises


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Oh for pete's sake, Lulu...she just won't give you a break, will she? :lol: I'm sorry you spent so much money & had Her Highness shoot you down! But I'm glad at least the backyard birds and grandcat enjoyed themselves. You can sit with me and we'll make appreciative noises together!


----------



## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Has anyone been able to contact this website? I had some major schoolwork hit me and I completely forgot. I just bought bugs for the week but it got me thinking about this website.


----------



## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Are there no sites in the US who sell these kind of insects as feeder animals (alive)?


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Not really, Draenog, at least not as far as I've seen! I'll have to take another look sometime and see if I've missed one. Scorpions & tarantulas are always sold as pets, and the rest of the things sold are just not really included in the common feeders as far as I've seen.


----------



## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

You can find the standards, mealworms, crickets, dubias, superworms, phoenix worms and wax worms but nothing else in terms of insects. I think I saw praying mantis on a website, wish I could remember which one, for feeding but I couldn't do that for some reason.


----------

