very helpful, thanks
Live Insect Nutritional Analysis
Note:
Ca
refers to the calcium-phosphorus ratios.[attachment=0:c82p7y09]insectanalysis.htm[/attachment:c82p7y09]
Ca
refers to the calcium-phosphorus ratios.[attachment=0:c82p7y09]insectanalysis.htm[/attachment:c82p7y09]1 - 20 of 22 Posts
When you're talking about the percentage of certain nutrients in food, you should also consider how much moisture/water is in the food. For instance, if the guaranteed analysis chart on the label of your dry cat food reads "28% protein" and that on your canned cat food reads "9% protein", you may think the canned cat food has much less protein. However, to compare these two different types of food properly, the two should be compared on an equal basis. The best way to do this to take out all the moisture/water in the food and then compare each ingredient value.
If you take all the moisture/water out of the two samples I used above (using 10% for dry food and 78% for canned food for moisture/water), the numbers change to 31.1% protein for dry food and 36.3% for canned food. This basis used to compare the nutrients of different types of food after taking out moisture/water is called Dry Matter Basis or DMB [see How To Calculate the Percent Dry Matter in a Pet Food for details].
I think the chart posted here could be a bit misleading as it's not based on DMB. My fear is that someone looking at this chart will think, "Oh, mealworms have only 12.70% fat. That's not bad," when in fact, using DMB, the fat content in mealworms amounts to a whopping 33.42% (58.42% DMB for waxworms)! :shock:
So please use careful judgement when you're deciding to choose feeder insects as a treat for your hedgie.
For those who are interested, you can read and compare different bugs for insectivorous house pets based on DMB values in the following academic paper.
Feeding Captive Insectivorous Animals: Nutritional Aspects of Insects as Food
If you take all the moisture/water out of the two samples I used above (using 10% for dry food and 78% for canned food for moisture/water), the numbers change to 31.1% protein for dry food and 36.3% for canned food. This basis used to compare the nutrients of different types of food after taking out moisture/water is called Dry Matter Basis or DMB [see How To Calculate the Percent Dry Matter in a Pet Food for details].
I think the chart posted here could be a bit misleading as it's not based on DMB. My fear is that someone looking at this chart will think, "Oh, mealworms have only 12.70% fat. That's not bad," when in fact, using DMB, the fat content in mealworms amounts to a whopping 33.42% (58.42% DMB for waxworms)! :shock:
So please use careful judgement when you're deciding to choose feeder insects as a treat for your hedgie.
For those who are interested, you can read and compare different bugs for insectivorous house pets based on DMB values in the following academic paper.
Feeding Captive Insectivorous Animals: Nutritional Aspects of Insects as Food
On a DM basis, superworms come out as 43% protein, and 45% fat. Silkworms came out as 266% protein, and 44% fat. I hope I did the math right...
I just used the link hedgieMate provided ( http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/dm.html ) and calculated from there. I hope this is along the lines you were looking for.
I just used the link hedgieMate provided ( http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/dm.html ) and calculated from there. I hope this is along the lines you were looking for.
Heehee, "266% of protein"? :lol: Let me guess, LG, math isn't your forte, is it? You do other things very well, so it doesn't matter though.LizardGirl said:
I don't have time to check the accuracy of the info I have at hand, but according to it, the nutritional analysis of silkworms is something like: 75% moisture, 10% protein, and 6% fat. These numbers translate to 40% protein DMB and 24% fat DMB.
For hornworms, the analysis is like: 9% protein, 3% fat, and 85% moisture. If this data is accurate, the numbers will be 60% protein DMB and 20% fat DMB.
Keep in mind that many vets and hedgehog experts believe too much protein is harmful to hedgehogs causing various degrees of renal damage on the long term.
Furthermore, while it's important to know the values of protein, fat, fibre, and moisture in your hedgie's food, other nutrients such as ash, calcium, phosphorus, and fatty acids also contribute to your hedgie's overall health but they're rarely listed on a pet food package. So try doing some research and find out the nutrient values as much as you can before feeding any food to your hedgehog.
I haven't read about an age limit to when you can begin feeding mealworms. But as moxieberry mentioned to you in another thread, live is definitely better. I saw that you were planning to order some, so that's great!
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