Discoid Roaches vs. Termites for Blue Tongue Skinks
Blue tongue skinks (Tiliqua spp.) are omnivores, and the protein half of their diet is where keepers spend the most energy deciding. Discoid roaches (Blaberus discoidalis) are the workhorse feeder. Termites come up because they're a natural wild prey item and they're soft-bodied. I've fielded this comparison a lot, so here's the practical breakdown of which belongs in the staple rotation and which is, at most, an occasional supplement.
What a blue tongue skink needs from a feeder
A good captive diet for a blue tongue runs roughly 50% animal protein, 40% vegetables and greens, and 10% fruit. The protein side has to be appropriately sized (nothing wider than the gap between the eyes), digestible, and — this is the part people skip — gut-loaded and dusted with calcium. That last point decides most of this comparison, so let me be blunt about it before the table: like nearly every feeder insect, both discoid roaches and termites are phosphorus-heavy. Neither is naturally calcium-balanced. You dust both. Anyone telling you discoids come pre-balanced is repeating a myth.
Adults eat protein about 2–3 times a week; juveniles eat more often because they're growing.
The nutrition comparison
The clearest difference between these two is the protein-to-fat ratio.
| Discoid roach | Termite | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein (dry matter) | ~20–23% | ~13–15% |
| Fat (dry matter) | ~7–9% | ~12–15% |
| Body / shell | Soft exoskeleton, easy to digest | Very soft-bodied, easy to digest |
| Calcium balance | Phosphorus-heavy — dust before feeding | Phosphorus-heavy/low calcium — dust before feeding |
| Sourcing | Captive-bred, year-round | Mostly wild-caught, limited |
| Storage / husbandry | Breeds in a warm bin, stores for weeks | Needs wood + humidity, escapes, doesn't store |
Read the protein and fat rows together. Discoids deliver more protein and less fat — a lean, muscle-building profile you can feed regularly without packing weight onto the skink. Termites flip that: less protein, more fat. That higher fat makes them a calorie-dense option that can be useful for an underweight, recovering, or breeding skink, but it's exactly why they're a poor everyday staple — feed them often and you trend toward an overweight lizard.
Digestibility: both win, slightly different reasons
This is the one category where termites genuinely compete. Both insects are easy on a skink's gut. Discoid roaches have a notably soft exoskeleton for a roach, far less chitinous than crickets or superworms, so impaction risk is low. Termites barely have a hard shell at all, which makes them one of the most digestible feeders going — a real plus for juveniles or skinks with sensitive digestion. So digestibility isn't the deciding factor here; sourcing and nutrition are.
Where termites fall apart: sourcing and husbandry
This is the practical wall. Discoid roaches are captive-bred at scale, sold year-round, ship well, and either store for weeks in a warm bin or breed into a self-sustaining colony on kitchen scraps and roach chow. They cost roughly a dime to fifty cents apiece in bulk. They don't climb smooth surfaces and adults don't fly, so containment is trivial.
Termites are the opposite in nearly every way:
- Hard to source consistently. They aren't farmed at scale for reptiles; supply is limited and often wild-caught.
- Hard to keep alive. They need specific humidity and a wood/cellulose food source. They don't sit in a deli cup like roaches.
- Escape-prone — and that's a real problem. Loose termites can find their way into wooden structures in your home. That alone makes me cautious about keeping them around.
- Pricier per insect when you can get them at all.
Safety and risk
Discoid roaches: size them correctly to avoid choking in small skinks; don't overfeed protein; source captive-bred to avoid parasites. Some keepers develop a mild handling allergy over time.
Termites: the headline risk is chemical exposure. Wild-caught termites or those from treated wood may carry pesticides or wood-treatment chemicals that are genuinely dangerous to a reptile. Relying on them also narrows dietary variety, since their nutrient profile is incomplete. And there's the home-infestation angle from escapees.
My verdict
For a blue tongue skink, discoid roaches are the staple; termites are an occasional supplement at best. Discoids give you the better macro profile (more protein, less fat), captive-bred reliability, trivial husbandry, and safe sourcing. Termites are highly digestible and their fat can help a skink that needs to gain weight, but the chemical-exposure risk, poor availability, and the fact that they won't store make them impractical for regular feeding.
The real goal isn't one perfect bug — it's variety on a reliable base. Build the protein half of the diet around dusted, gut-loaded discoid roaches, rotate in other safe feeders for diversity, and keep the greens and vegetables consistent. If you want a steady, captive-bred supply, All Angles Creatures stocks discoid roaches in skink-appropriate sizes.
For the underlying nutrition principles — why gut-loading and calcium dusting matter so much for reptile bone health — the Merck Veterinary Manual on reptile nutrition is a reliable, non-commercial reference.
Weighing other feeders? See Discoid Roaches vs. Katydids for Blue Tongue Skinks and the full exotic animal care guides.