Blue Tongue Skink Feeders: Discoid Roaches vs. Locusts, Compared Honestly

The "discoid roaches vs. locusts" debate for blue tongue skinks shows up constantly, and most of the answers floating around are either copied from UK care sheets (where locusts are a grocery item) or quietly wrong about the nutrition. I keep feeder colonies and I've fed a lot of omnivorous lizards, so here's the honest, US-grounded version: how these two feeders actually compare on protein, fat, moisture, calcium, digestibility, husbandry, cost, legality, and enrichment — with the myths cut out — and which one I'd actually build a skink's diet around.

Short version up front, because you deserve it: nutritionally they're close; practically, discoid roaches win for almost every US keeper, mostly because locusts are legally hard to get here. But the why matters, and there are real cases where locusts earn their place. Let's go through it properly.

What a blue tongue skink actually eats

Blue tongue skinks (Tiliqua species) are stout, hardy, personable omnivores from Australia and Indonesia, and "omnivore" is the word that should drive every feeding decision. They are not insectivores you can feed bugs to forever, and they're not herbivores. They need a genuine mix.

A solid adult target is roughly:

• ◆~50% protein (feeder insects, lean cooked meats, the occasional egg),
• ◆~40% vegetables (collard, mustard, and dandelion greens, squash, and other leafy/low-starch veg as the bulk),
• ◆~10% fruit (berries, mango, papaya — small amounts, because of the sugar).

Juveniles skew more protein-heavy because they're growing fast; adults drift toward more plants. Hydration comes from a shallow water dish always available and from moisture in the food. And — this is the part people skip — calcium and vitamin D3 supplementation is non-negotiable, because the protein half of that diet leans heavily on feeder insects, and feeder insects have a calcium problem we'll get to.

So when we compare discoids and locusts, we're really comparing two candidates for the protein half of that plate. Both are legitimate. The question is which one serves the skink — and the keeper — better.

The non-protein half: greens, veg, and fruit

Before we get deep into the bug debate, it's worth grounding the other half of the plate, because the smartest feeder choice in the world fails if a skink is eating nothing but insects. Roughly 40% of an adult skink's diet should be vegetables and ~10% fruit, and the quality of that half matters as much as the protein.

• ◆Leafy greens form the bulk. Collard, mustard, dandelion, and turnip greens are staples — they bring fiber, vitamins, and (importantly) some calcium. Dark, calcium-leaning greens are your friends here.
• ◆Other vegetables in rotation. Squash (butternut, acorn), bell pepper, green beans, grated carrot, and similar add variety and nutrients. Use starchy vegetables sparingly.
• ◆Avoid the calcium thieves and toxins. Spinach, chard, and beet greens are high in oxalates that bind calcium — fine occasionally, bad as a base. Never feed avocado or rhubarb (toxic), and go easy on goitrogenic brassicas as a constant staple.
• ◆Fruit is a treat, ~10%. Berries, mango, papaya, and the occasional bit of melon — small amounts, because the sugar adds up and skinks will happily fill up on the sweet stuff and snub their greens.

Why spend a section on plants in a roach-vs-locust article? Because the most common real-world skink diet failure isn't picking the "wrong" bug — it's feeding too many bugs and not enough greens, then wondering why an omnivore is overweight or off. Get the plate proportions right first; then the protein-source debate actually matters.

Blue tongue skink species and how their diets differ

"Blue tongue skink" covers several Tiliqua species, and while the omnivore template holds across all of them, the emphasis shifts a bit — worth knowing before you optimize a feeder plan.

• ◆Northern (and other Australian) blue tongues (Tiliqua scincoides intermedia, T. s. scincoides, etc.) are the hardy, commonly kept types. The standard ~50/40/10 protein/veg/fruit split suits them well, and they handle a robust protein component.
• ◆Indonesian / Halmahera types (Tiliqua gigas and relatives) come from more humid, tropical environments and tend to be a touch more insectivorous and animal-protein-leaning, especially when younger. They still need their greens, but they often take protein eagerly.
• ◆Shinglebacks / blotched and pygmy types vary, and some keepers adjust ratios for individual animals.

The practical upshot for this comparison: a higher-protein feeder (locusts) versus a leaner-but-still-strong staple (discoids) is a marginal nutritional distinction that's swamped by getting the overall ratio right for your particular skink and life stage. Both feeders fit any of these species when gut-loaded, dusted, and paired with the right amount of plant matter.

Why the protein half is where keepers go wrong

You'd think protein would be the easy part, and in a sense it is: both feeders deliver plenty. The mistakes happen around the protein, not in it:

• ◆Treating insects as the whole diet. A skink fed only bugs, even great bugs, gets too much protein and not enough plant fiber and variety. The feeder choice doesn't fix a lopsided plate.
• ◆Ignoring fat. Captive skinks trend toward obesity. The fattier the protein source and the more of it, the worse.
• ◆Skipping calcium because of a myth. This is the big one for this exact comparison, and it's why I'll spend real time on Ca:P below: a lot of advice claims locusts have a "favorable" calcium ratio. They don't. Believe that myth, skip the calcium powder, and you march a skink toward metabolic bone disease.

Keep those three in mind and the roach-vs-locust decision gets a lot clearer.

Discoid roaches, honestly assessed

Discoid roaches (Blaberus discoidalis) are a tropical feeder roach and, in my experience, the most forgiving staple you can build an omnivore's diet around.

What's genuinely good about them:

• ◆Strong protein, moderate fat. Roughly 20–25% protein with moderate fat — a lean, muscle-building profile that supports a growing or active skink without piling on calories.
• ◆Low chitin, easy to digest. Their softer exoskeleton (lower chitin than crickets or beetles) makes them gentle on a skink's gut — good for juveniles, good for older animals, low impaction risk when sized right.
• ◆They don't climb smooth surfaces and don't fly. A plain bin contains them. A dropped one doesn't vanish behind your furniture. For a feeder you keep in the house, this is a bigger quality-of-life feature than it sounds.
• ◆Nearly odorless and easy to keep. A healthy colony barely smells, tolerates a range of conditions, and breeds readily — so you can grow your own supply cheaply.
• ◆Slower-moving. They creep rather than bolt, which makes them easy for a deliberate feeder like a skink to catch and eat without a frustrating chase.

The honest catch: their calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is inverted (phosphorus-heavy), like nearly every feeder insect — so they must be gut-loaded and calcium-dusted. Anyone telling you discoids have a naturally great calcium ratio is repeating marketing, not biology. Dusted and gut-loaded, though, they're as good a skink staple as exists.

If you want to build a colony or just buy clean, well-started stock to feed off, All Angles Creatures stocks discoid roaches in sizes that work for both. (For the full keeping-and-breeding rundown, see my discoid roach playbook.)

Locusts, honestly assessed (and the US legality problem)

Locusts — the swarming-phase grasshoppers used as feeders, mainly Schistocerca and Locusta species — are a genuinely excellent feeder insect. In the UK and much of Europe they're a standard, easy-to-buy reptile food, which is exactly why so much online advice treats them as a casual option.

What's genuinely good about them:

• ◆Very high protein, low fat. Locusts run ~25% protein and up, with relatively low fat — arguably an even leaner, higher-protein profile than roaches. For a lean, growing skink, that's a strong profile.
• ◆Soft-bodied (mostly) and digestible. Easy enough for younger or older skinks, though their exoskeleton is a touch harder than a discoid's, and the big hind legs are a consideration (more below).
• ◆High moisture and excellent enrichment. Locusts are active jumpers and flyers. That movement triggers a skink's hunting instincts hard — they're one of the more stimulating feeders you can offer, turning feeding into genuine enrichment and exercise.

The catches, and they're significant for US keepers:

• ◆Legality. This is the one that decides it for most Americans. Live locusts and grasshoppers are regulated as agricultural pests in the US; importing them or moving them across state lines requires permits administered by USDA APHIS, and as a result they are not legally or readily available the way they are in the UK. Much of the glowing advice about locust feeding simply doesn't account for this. Don't order around a federal pest regulation — if you can't get them legally, that's your answer.
• ◆Their Ca:P ratio is also inverted. Despite the persistent claim that locusts have a "naturally favorable" calcium ratio, they are phosphorus-heavy like other feeder insects and need calcium dusting too. (Full myth-bust below.)
• ◆Harder to keep. They want hotter temperatures (often 90s–100s °F), bright light, lots of space and fresh greens, and they produce more waste and are prone to crowding stress and cannibalism. Most keepers buy rather than breed them — which, combined with the legality issue, makes a steady US supply genuinely difficult.
• ◆Strong hind legs. Large locusts have spiny back legs worth removing for smaller or juvenile skinks to avoid irritation or impaction.

So: a great feeder on paper, hobbled in the US by law and supply.

Head-to-head: protein

Both feeders clear the bar easily. Discoids land around 20–25% protein with a well-balanced amino acid profile; locusts run slightly higher, often 25–28% on a dry-matter basis, also with useful amino acids for growth and immunity. The difference is real but small, and it's swamped by the rest of the diet and by gut-loading.

Verdict: roughly a tie, with a slight raw-protein edge to locusts. For a blue tongue skink, both deliver more than enough protein for the ~50% protein half of the plate. Protein is not where this decision should be made.

Head-to-head: fat and moisture

Both are relatively lean — neither is a fat bomb like a waxworm or even a mealworm. Locusts tend to run a little leaner and wetter (higher moisture, good for hydration), while discoids carry a moderate, steady fat level that's fine for a staple. Neither will make a skink obese on its own; overfeeding any protein and skimping on greens will.

Verdict: close, slight edge to locusts on leanness and hydration. Again, not a deciding factor for a well-rounded skink diet.

Head-to-head: calcium and phosphorus (the myth to bust)

This is the section that matters most, because it's where the common advice is flat wrong.

The recommended calcium-to-phosphorus ratio for reptiles is about 2:1 (calcium to phosphorus). Tilt it the other way for long enough and you get metabolic bone disease — soft jaw, bent limbs, tremors, fractures — one of the most common and most preventable nutritional diseases in captive reptiles (the Merck/MSD Veterinary Manual covers the clinical picture). So the Ca:P of a feeder is a big deal.

Here's the truth: both discoid roaches and locusts have an inverted, phosphorus-heavy Ca:P ratio. Neither is naturally calcium-adequate. You'll read that discoids are "balanced" and that locusts are "more naturally favorable" — both claims are myths repeated across care sheets. Among common feeders, the only one that's genuinely calcium-rich is black soldier fly larvae (BSFL); roaches, locusts, crickets, and mealworms all need help.

The practical consequence is identical for both feeders: gut-load them 24+ hours ahead with calcium-rich greens, and dust them with a reptile calcium supplement (plus D3 on schedule if UVB is weak) right before feeding. Do that, and either feeder is safe. Skip it because you believed the "favorable ratio" myth, and either feeder contributes to MBD.

Verdict: a true tie — both need calcium supplementation, full stop. This is the single most important correction in the whole comparison. (For the deeper mechanics of why almost every feeder fails on calcium, see my guide on reading a feeder's nutrition.)

Head-to-head: chitin and digestibility

Discoid roaches have a softer, lower-chitin exoskeleton, which is part of their staple reputation — easy on the gut, low impaction risk, good for juvenile and senior skinks alike. Locusts are also fairly soft-bodied but run a touch harder/chitinier, and they bring the hind-leg consideration: for smaller skinks, remove the big spiny back legs.

Verdict: slight edge to discoids on plain digestibility and on not having to prep the feeder.

Head-to-head: husbandry and breeding

This is where the gap widens.

Discoid roaches are low-maintenance: a ventilated bin, ~85–95°F from a side-mounted heat source on a thermostat, moderate humidity, cheap food (produce plus a dry protein base), and minimal cleaning. They don't climb smooth walls or fly, they barely smell, and they breed readily in captivity — so you can grow a self-sustaining supply and stop re-buying.

Locusts are higher-effort: they want hotter temps (often ~86–104°F), bright light including UV, a lot of space to prevent crowding stress and cannibalism, fresh greens daily, and frequent cleaning thanks to a fast metabolism and high waste output. They're strong jumpers, so containment is a chore, and they're labor-intensive to breed — most keepers buy them.

Verdict: decisive edge to discoids. If you want a feeder you can keep, breed, and forget, it's the roach.

Head-to-head: cost, availability, and legality

For US keepers this is the section that ends the debate.

• ◆Discoids are affordable, widely available from US reptile and feeder suppliers, legal in most of the US, and breedable at home for near-zero marginal cost. (One regional note: confirm your local rules — Florida keepers favor discoids precisely because dubia are restricted there, and discoids are an accepted feeder.)
• ◆Locusts carry a higher price, a shorter feeder lifespan, and — most importantly — are restricted in the US as agricultural pests, requiring USDA permits to import or move. That makes a reliable, legal US supply genuinely hard to come by. Where they are available (much of Europe), they're a fine, even premium, option.

Verdict: decisive edge to discoids in the US, almost entirely on legality and supply.

Head-to-head: feeding response and enrichment

Here's the one place locusts clearly win. Their erratic jumping and fluttering trigger a skink's hunting instinct, producing an energetic chase — real mental and physical enrichment that mimics wild foraging. Discoids creep slowly; the skink approaches, observes, and takes them deliberately. That's easier feeding (less likely to be abandoned, simple for a slow or older animal), but it's less stimulating.

Verdict: edge to locusts on enrichment and natural-behavior stimulation; edge to discoids on reliable, fuss-free consumption. Pick based on whether you value the hunt or the certainty. (You can also recreate some enrichment by feeding discoids with tongs or scattering them, rather than dropping them in a dish.)

The comparison table

Approximate, as-fed where noted; real values swing with diet, life stage, and source. Trust the relationships over the decimals.

The pattern is clear: nutritionally close (both need calcium), practically lopsided toward discoids — except on enrichment, where locusts shine.

Feeding hazards and safety (both feeders)

Whichever you choose, the same safety rules apply:

• ◆Size matters. A feeder should be no larger than the space between the skink's eyes. Oversized prey is a choking and impaction risk, especially for juveniles.
• ◆Remove locust hind legs for smaller/younger skinks; the spiny back legs can irritate or block the gut.
• ◆Source clean, captive-bred stock and quarantine. Both roaches and locusts can carry parasites from poor or wild sources. Never feed wild-caught insects (parasites, pesticides). Buy from reputable suppliers.
• ◆Gut-load 24+ hours and dust with calcium — every time, for both feeders. Wash any produce used for gut-loading; never gut-load on foods toxic to reptiles (avocado, rhubarb).
• ◆Remove uneaten live insects. Roaches and locusts can nibble or stress a skink if left in the enclosure overnight.

Other proteins worth knowing (beyond roaches and locusts)

This is a head-to-head, but a skink's protein half shouldn't be a monoculture of either bug — variety covers the gaps no single feeder fills. Worth keeping in the rotation:

• ◆Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL). The one common feeder with a genuinely favorable calcium ratio. They earn a regular slot precisely because they help with the calcium problem both roaches and locusts share.
• ◆Other feeder roaches (dubia, where legal for you) — nutritionally near-identical to discoids, another easy staple.
• ◆Lean cooked meats and the occasional egg. A bit of cooked, unseasoned lean meat (turkey, chicken) or a little boiled/scrambled egg is a legitimate protein for skinks in moderation — useful variety, not a daily base.
• ◆High-quality commercial skink/omnivore diets. Some keepers use a reputable prepared diet as part of the protein rotation; convenient and consistent, best alongside live feeders rather than instead of them.
• ◆Treats and tools sparingly. Hornworms (hydration), the occasional superworm (watch the fat) — small parts of the picture, never the base.

The point: discoids (or locusts where legal) anchor the protein, and you rotate the rest in so the diet is complete and interesting.

A sample feeding schedule by life stage

Concrete beats vague, so here's a workable template — adjust to your individual skink's body condition.

Juveniles (fast growth):

• ◆Feed daily, with protein at most meals.
• ◆Protein: appropriately sized discoid roaches (gut-loaded, calcium-dusted), rotated with BSFL and other proteins.
• ◆Greens/veg offered daily alongside; juveniles often eat more protein-heavy but should still see plants.
• ◆Calcium with most feedings; multivitamin lighter, per your supplement guidance and UVB setup.

Adults (maintenance):

• ◆Feed roughly every 2–3 days.
• ◆Target about half protein, half greens/veg over the week, with fruit as an occasional ~10% treat.
• ◆Protein: gut-loaded, calcium-dusted discoid roaches as the staple, rotated with BSFL and variety.
• ◆Calcium dusting on protein per schedule; D3 weighted by how much UVB the animal gets; multivitamin on a lighter cadence.

Always:

• ◆Size feeders to no larger than the space between the eyes.
• ◆Fresh water available at all times.
• ◆Remove uneaten live insects so they don't stress or nibble the skink.
• ◆Watch body condition over weeks — a skink getting chunky needs less protein/fat and more greens; a thin one needs more.

Gut-loading and dusting, step by step

Both discoids and locusts require this — it's how you turn a phosphorus-heavy feeder into a safe meal.

1. ◆Gut-load 24+ hours ahead. House the feeders on nutrient-dense food before offering them: calcium-rich greens (collard, dandelion, mustard), squash, carrot, and a quality commercial gut-load. This fills the insect with what you want in your skink.
2. ◆Wash produce, skip the unsafe stuff. No pesticide-treated greens; never gut-load on avocado or rhubarb.
3. ◆Dust right before feeding. A light, even coat of reptile calcium powder on the feeders. Don't cake them — over-dusted insects get refused, and excess fat-soluble vitamins (A/D3) cause their own problems.
4. ◆Match supplement type to your setup. Plain calcium most of the time for animals with good UVB; calcium-with-D3 more important when UVB is weak; a multivitamin on a lighter schedule for vitamin A and trace minerals.
5. ◆For locusts, prep the legs. Remove large spiny hind legs for smaller or juvenile skinks before offering.

Do this every time, for either feeder, and the calcium myth becomes irrelevant — you've manually built the right ratio.

Common feeding mistakes I see

• ◆Believing locusts (or roaches) don't need calcium. They do. Both are phosphorus-heavy. This is the single most damaging myth in skink feeding.
• ◆All bugs, no greens. An omnivore fed like an insectivore gets fat and unbalanced. Hold the ~50/40/10 line.
• ◆Fatty feeders as a staple. Superworms and similar are treats; as a base they drive obesity.
• ◆Oversized prey. Feeders bigger than the gap between the eyes risk choking and impaction, especially in juveniles.
• ◆Wild-caught insects. Parasites and pesticides. Always use clean, captive-bred stock and quarantine new batches.
• ◆Leaving live insects in overnight. Roaches and locusts can nibble or stress a skink that's done eating.
• ◆Assuming UK advice transfers. Much online locust guidance assumes easy legal access US keepers don't have.

Signs your skink's diet is off

Skinks report diet problems slowly, but they do report them. Watching for these closes the loop between your feeder plan and the animal's actual health:

• ◆Soft or rubbery lower jaw, bowed or swollen limbs, tremors, reluctance to walk, fractures. The metabolic bone disease picture — almost always a calcium/D3 failure. If you've been skipping calcium because you believed a feeder was "balanced," this is the bill coming due. Re-check dusting, UVB, and the calcium myth.
• ◆Getting chunky, visible fat, a sluggish skink that snubs greens. Too much protein/fat and not enough plant matter. Pull back the bugs (and any fatty treats), push the greens.
• ◆Poor or stuck sheds, swollen or weepy eyes. Often a vitamin A gap — revisit the multivitamin and don't lean only on beta-carotene gut-loads.
• ◆Lethargy, frequent illness, dull color. Can follow a monotonous, under-supplemented diet. Broaden the rotation and tighten supplementation.
• ◆Undigested feeder parts in droppings, straining. Possibly oversized or too-chitinous prey — size down and favor softer feeders.

None of this replaces a reptile-savvy vet when something's clearly wrong, but it tells you which part of the feeding plan to re-examine. A skink in good shape is bright-eyed, active, well-muscled without being fat, sheds cleanly, and eats with interest.

Transitioning a picky skink to a new feeder

Skinks form food preferences, and a skink raised on locusts (common with imports from regions where locusts are the default) may initially snub discoids, or vice versa. Switching is usually straightforward with patience:

• ◆Feed hungry. Offer the new feeder first, at the start of a meal, when the skink is most motivated — not after it's already filled up on the familiar food.
• ◆Use movement and presentation. Tong-feeding or wiggling a discoid can trigger a response in a skink used to active locusts. For a skink used to slow roaches, a more active feeder may need to be offered in a shallow dish so it can't escape.
• ◆Mix old and new. Combine a few of the new feeder with the accepted one in the same meal so it gets sampled, then shift the ratio over a couple of weeks.
• ◆Don't panic over a missed meal. A healthy adult skink can skip feedings without harm; hunger does a lot of the persuading. Keep offering rather than caving back to the familiar food every time.

Because discoids are the more practical long-term feeder for US keepers, transitioning a locust-raised import onto discoids is the common direction — and it usually takes a couple of weeks of patient offering.

Breeding discoids for a self-sustaining skink supply

One underrated advantage of choosing discoids as the staple: you can breed your own and largely stop buying feeders. A blue tongue skink eats enough protein that a home colony pays for itself quickly, and discoids are about as forgiving a feeder roach as exists.

The short version: an opaque bin with cross-ventilation (fine metal mesh over the openings to contain pinhead nymphs), vertical cardboard egg flats for surface area, side-mounted heat on a thermostat at ~85–90°F, moderate humidity, and a diet of dry protein base plus rotated produce. Discoids are live-bearers, don't climb smooth walls, and barely smell — so a colony in a closet quietly produces a steady supply of gut-loadable feeders sized from tiny nymphs (for juvenile skinks) to large adults. Start bigger than you think and leave it alone for the first few months while it establishes.

That self-sufficiency is something locusts simply can't offer most US keepers — between the legality issue and how labor-intensive they are to breed — and it's a big part of why discoids win the practical contest. For the complete build, heat, humidity, gut-loading, and troubleshooting, see my discoid roach keeping and breeding playbook.

How I'd actually feed a blue tongue skink

If you're in the US and want the straight recommendation:

• ◆Build the protein half on discoid roaches as the staple. They're legal, cheap, breedable, easy to keep, easy to digest, and a skink eats them happily. Gut-load and calcium-dust every feeding.
• ◆Rotate for variety, because no single feeder is complete — work in other roaches, black soldier fly larvae (for the calcium they actually bring), and occasional treats. Variety covers nutritional gaps and keeps the skink interested.
• ◆If you can legally get locusts and want the enrichment, use them as a stimulating variety feeder, not because they're nutritionally superior — they aren't meaningfully so, and they need the same calcium dusting. Remove the big legs for smaller skinks.
• ◆Don't forget the other 50%. Leafy greens and vegetables as the bulk of the non-protein side, fruit sparingly, calcium/D3 on schedule, fresh water always available. The best feeder choice still fails if the plate is all bugs.

The honest bottom line: this "showdown" is closer than the internet makes it sound on nutrition, and more lopsided than it sounds on practicality. For nearly every US keeper, discoid roaches are the better staple — legality, supply, ease, and digestibility carry the day — while locusts are a fine, enrichment-rich option wherever you can actually get them legally. Either way, the thing that protects your skink isn't the bug you pick. It's the calcium you dust on it and the greens you put next to it.

Want the nutrition fundamentals behind these calls? Read my guide on how to read a feeder's nutritional value, or the full discoid roach keeping and breeding playbook. Browse the whole feeder insect care library for hornworms, silkworms, BSFL, and more.