Dusting your pet's food is an important part of providing quality care to your pet reptile or amphibian. In the wild, your pet would eat a wide variety of foods. In captivity, the selection is much more limited. To make up for this lack of nutrients, feeder insects, vegetable matter, and the like should be dusted with quality vitamin/mineral supplements before feeding to your reptile or amphibian.
What should I dust? Vegetable matter, most feeder insects. As a stand-alone food item, most of these will be nutritionally incomplete. Dusting with the proper vitamins/minerals will aid in providing a balanced diet for your pet reptile or amphibian.
What shouldn't I dust? Rodents, premade gel or pellet diets, phoenix worms, hornworms. Rodents are generally considered a complete meal, especially when fed a quality, well rounded rodent chow before they are dispatched. Premade diets, such as pelleted foods or Repashy SuperFoods, are designed to be nutritionally complete. Phoenix worms are very high in calcium, and should not be fed as a staple anyway. Hornworms are best fed as a treat, and are difficult to dust due to their smooth skin.
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