What good and whats bad at the baitshop

as far as I know I should stay away from baitshop mealworms aswell as earthworms and nightcrawlers.
but what about minnows (shiners/fatheads) and butterworms? is there anything that would be safe to pick up for a treat or if im short on food?
if im remembering right butterworms will only eat trevo leaves and trevo plants arnt allowed in the U.S. so they're not eating anything here and should be safe for a treat but im not sure

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0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx
1.3.0 Nigerian Uromastyx
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.0.0 Green Iguana
1.0.1 American Toads
2.0.1 African Clawed frog
0.1.0 Dune Gecko Steno Petrii
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko
1.1.1 Red Spotted Newts
0.1.0 Red Eared Slider
0.1.0 Box Turtle

as far as I know, bait shops feed their "bait" anything and everything that will simply "keep them alive". So I wouldn't even bother with baitshop feeders, and that goes for the fish as well, the blue water that they are kept in is not good for herps to consume. Even though they are taken out of that water from the shop, they still have some of the chemicals inside their bodies, plus they are kept in extremely unsanitary conditions! So stayt away from bati shops...that is unless you decide to go and rescue some of the lizards and frogs that they sometimes have in stock!

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-Adam

"Help Protect our Planet from Overcollection, Purchase Aquacultured Livestock and Captive Bred Herps"

Wow! That's an accurate description of most pet shops I know in Portugal and I bet a lot of them in the US

Most, if not all, pet shops I know don't ever feed the insects they sell. The pet shops that breed their own insects, feed them anything (and I mean *anything*) to make them grow bigger and faster.

I started breeding my own crickets as a way to cut expenses but right now I'm breeding them (and meallies also) as a way to ensure my pets get "proper" food!

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Wish list: Blue Tongue Skinks and Uruplatus =)

I get feeder minnows and crayfish all the time from bait shops, and haven't had an issue. The blue stuff they add to the water is a water conditioner to get rid of chlorine and heavy metals - it also adds electrolytes (kinda like Gatorade for fish) - it does have an antimicrobial and antifungal ingredient too. My turtles have never had an issue with it, though, they usually end up swimming around and being fed in my holding tank for days before I feed them off.

I've never gotten insect feeders from bait shops, but I do know most crickets they get come from the exact same cricket suppliers we get for reptile food, like Fluker Farms. I'm sure other things like nightcrawlers, red wigglers, butterworms, meal worms, and wax worms do too.

D

You are correct. Most of the pet shops in the US don't feed their feeders at all; not even the fish. I breed my own mealies too. They originally came from pet store bought mealies that had babies, that had babies, but I feed mine a well balanced mealworm meal. I feel that this is healthier for my leopard geckos.

the pet shop here feed the crix oranges but prices are bad and watching them try to count crix is hard to watch (ask for six dozen and get about two dozen) our bait shop never has any feeders other than minnows, although I have saved sevral tiger salamanders (I release them, they live in the wild here naturally, the only salamander in our area)