Medium Woodies

Keepers size feeders by a rule of thumb: a feeder should be no wider than the space between the animal's eyes. Judge width, not length.

The mistake at this grade is stepping up on the calendar rather than on the animal. If your lizard is chewing at a medium woodie, dropping parts of it, or turning away after one, go back to small for a few weeks. Too wide risks choking and impaction.

These are supplier grades rather than a measured size, so check the feeder against your animal's eyes rather than trusting the grade name alone.

Growing juveniles are usually fed daily or close to it, tapering towards every second day as they mature. Offer what the animal takes in ten to fifteen minutes and remove the rest.

Buy about a week's worth, and re-check the quantity each time rather than repeating the last order. Appetite changes quickly through this stage, in both directions – a juvenile coming up to a shed will often go off food for several days.

Like almost every feeder insect other than black soldier fly larvae, woodies carry more phosphorus than calcium. Insectivores need that ratio reversed, and the shortfall is the direct cause of metabolic bone disease in captive reptiles.

A juvenile in fast growth is the animal least able to absorb that shortfall. Bone laid down badly now does not correct later, which is why this grade in particular should never be fed undusted.

We do not publish a calcium-to-phosphorus figure for woodies, because there is no published nutritional analysis for the roach supplied under that trade name in Australia. Treat them as calcium-poor and supplement accordingly.

Do both. Gut-load for 24 to 48 hours on a calcium-rich food, dust with calcium immediately before offering, and feed out promptly.

Gut-loading alone is not enough – published work on feeder insects shows the calcium sits in the gut contents and is shed again once the calcium-rich food is removed. Use calcium with D3 where the animal has no UVB; where good UVB is provided, plain calcium is usually the better choice, since D3 can be over-supplied.

Keep them in a smooth-sided, ventilated tub at room temperature and out of direct sun, with egg carton or cardboard for surface area.

Keep it dry – damp and crowding kill a tub of roaches faster than hunger does. Feed a dry grain-based chow with a slice of carrot or similar for moisture rather than an open water dish. At this size the feeders are strong enough to shift a loose lid, so use one that clips.

Suitable for juvenile and sub-adult bearded dragons, water dragons, skinks, larger geckos, adult frogs and insectivorous birds.

Not suitable for hatchlings and very small juveniles – drop back to small woodies. Not suitable as a sole diet for omnivores such as bearded dragons and blue-tongues, which need plant matter alongside insects.

Woodies are quick and head straight for cover. Remove uneaten feeders at the end of the day rather than letting them burrow into substrate, where they are easy to lose and easy to forget.

Keep the lid on the tub, and wash hands after handling feeders or cleaning containers.

• Exo Terra Calcium + D3 Powder – the dusting step that matters most while an animal is growing.
• Zoo Med Cricket Block – gut-load and moisture in one, with no drowning risk in the tub.
• Small Woodies – the grade below, if your animal is still working too hard at these.
• Large Woodies – the grade above, once your animal is fully grown.

Live feeders are supplied for in-store collection or local delivery, with our live arrival guarantee.

Bulk counts are order in only and are not held in store. Place your bulk order by Monday for arrival on Wednesday.

Bulk orders are for in-store pickup only and cannot be posted or delivered.

When should I move my lizard from small to medium woodies?

Move up when the gap between the animal's eyes is clearly wider than a medium woodie and it is taking small ones without effort. Size on the animal, not on its age.

Can I feed a mix of small and medium woodies?

Yes, and it is a sensible way to bridge a size step. Offer the larger grade first while the animal is keenest, and keep smaller ones on hand in case it struggles.

Do woodies still need dusting with calcium?

Yes. Feeder roaches are calcium-poor relative to phosphorus, so dust with a calcium supplement immediately before every feed. Only black soldier fly larvae are routinely fed undusted.

My juvenile has stopped eating. Is something wrong with the woodies?

Usually not. A juvenile lizard commonly goes off food for a few days around a shed, or when the enclosure is too cool to digest properly. Check basking temperatures first, then reassess the feeder size.