Freeze dried mealworms for baby toads?

[Adril]

I read on a website that you can feed a toad freeze dried mealworms if you soak them in water before giving it to them. Is that true? I think my toads would eat it. I would still be giving them live food, so that would not be their main food source. I was looking for a bit of an backup plan/extra filler for winter in case I have to ration my insects from my culture. My pet store doesn't always have the right size of crickets, so I can't fully depend on them. I was also planning on buying some bulk 0.25" mealworms to feed them, but I'd like a backup plan in case I need it.
I've never cared for baby toads in winter before.

[Herpin Man]

It is very unlikely that your toads will recognize dead, non-living mealworms as food. You would be better off culturing live mealworms. It's easy, and you can enhance the nutritional content of the mealworms by what you feed them, and dusting them with vitamins. However- even live mealworms are a poor diet for toads. They need variety. Since your cricket source is unreliable you could also culture dubia roaches (very nutritious and easy to culture) or European nightcrawlers. Isopods are also easy to culture.
For me, culturing my own feeders has been the way to go. I don't have to rely solely on outside suppliers to be able to feed my herps. My advice is to start now, though, as most feeder cultures take some time to get them producing well.

[Adril]

Thank you for the advice. I've already started an isopod culture. Would these be good mealworms to start a culture? https://www.amazon.com/Bulk-Live-Mea...WZR68EZJ2&th=1

[Herpin Man]

Yes. As long as they arrive alive and robust, mealworms are pretty much a commodity.

[Trout hunter]

I read on a website that you can feed a toad freeze dried mealworms if you soak them in water before giving it to them. Is that true? I think my toads would eat it. I would still be giving them live food, so that would not be their main food source. I was looking for a bit of an backup plan/extra filler for winter in case I have to ration my insects from my culture. My pet store doesn't always have the right size of crickets, so I can't fully depend on them. I was also planning on buying some bulk 0.25" mealworms to feed them, but I'd like a backup plan in case I need it.
I've never cared for baby toads in winter before.

Hello,

Just as a precaution I would not use freeze dried insects as food as it is not as nutritious as a live insect. the freeze dried bugs are not gut loaded and would not hold any signifiant nutrients other than a hard husk shell full of chitin. If your petstore isn't accommodating with cricket sizes I have cut crickets in half before and fed them to smaller toads with a small pair of tweezers or a piece of straw to impart movement.

[Adril]

I never thought of doing that. Thanks for the idea.