How to Feed Rice Flour Beetles to your Reptiles, Amphibians, or other Pets

Generally, Confused Rice Flour Beetle larvae are fed to your pet reptiles or amphibians. The adult Confused Rice Flour Beetles have chemical defenses that make them unappetizing to many reptiles and amphibians, but some will take them. At Josh’s Frogs, we sift out the Confused Rice Flour Beetle larvae, and feed them to poison dart frogs, bumble bee toads, small tree frogs, and some smaller species of geckos.

Confused Rice Flour Beetle larvae need to be separated from the Josh’s Frogs Rice Flour Beetle Media before feeding. Use the following steps as a guideline to harvesting and feeding Confused Rice Flour Beetles to your pet reptiles and amphibians:


  1. Use a Rice Flour Beetle Media sifter to scoop some of Josh’s Frogs Rice Flour Beetle Media containing beetles and larvae.

  2. Shake out the media over the culture. After the Josh’s Frogs Confused Rice Flour Beetle Media has been sifted out, you will be left with a Rice Flour Beetle Media sifter full of adult Confused Rice Flour Beetles, Rice Flour Beetle larvae, and shed skin/pupae.

  3. Set the sifter in the Rice Flour Beetle culture, allowing most of the adult Confused Rice Flour Beetles to crawl out of the sifter and back into the culture, leaving you with mostly larvae and shed skins.

  4. Dump the Confused Rice Flour Beetle larvae into a small bowl (half of a plastic petri dish works well) and place it into your pet reptile’s or amphibian’s enclosure. Your animal will relish picking out the Confused Rice Flour Beetle larvae, and appreciate the added variety in it’s diet.

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