Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I went to get crickets the other day and they were alot bigger than usuall, I think the lady wasnt listening when I told her what i wanted. But Nacho seems to follow the "way bigger is way better" theory, and went for them like they were gonna go bad fast.., they are about the size of her head, 2 times the normal size I get.. She looked so bloated when she was done, but was "hunting" for more, and probably would have eaten them. LOL Is it bad for her to do this, is it possible to feed her stuff that is too big?

The typical theory is that crickets should be no wider than half the width of the gecko's head. Larger than that *can* cause problems, so I'd carefully observe your little guy to make sure s/he's doing ok. My understanding is that it's usually a problem of them having a difficult time swallowing an item that's too large, so if the gecko got them down ok you're probably alright this time. In the future I'd try to be sure you're getting the size you need though. Perhaps there's a size in between the ones you usually get and these too big ones? (I know some pet stores stock a multitude of sizes, some only a few, so your mileage may vary on that.)
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

When you say they should be half the size of the Geckos head do you man from tail to end or in width? Im presumming its width. Silly question i know but.....

I was wondering the same thing.

Width between the eyes from side to side---from eye to eye! If the cricket from heat to toe is longer then the width of the geckos eyes, then it's too big!

Your gecko shadow should be on small pin head cricks! I would suggest getting them from like LLL reptiles and buy in bulk...cheaper for you and the readily avaliable for the leo!

I get 2000 from LLL every 2 weeks for 26.99 and i have 2 beardies a uro and 7 leos! That all eat crickets in some ay or another!

yes i dont buy from LLL but i get mine directly from the place who sells to LLL. hehe i cheat and get them at a better price. i live near the cricket farm and LLL(both locations). but anyhow i would actually feed medium size at that age and just make sure not to feed to many at a time. maybe feed a few and wait 20 minutes and then feed a few more. pin heads are probably getting a little to small but could still work. it is all just personal prefference so i dont disagree with anyone. however and adult cricket would be to big at this timae and for a while.

Nice i take it you live in So cal then? I am from PA so i have to order! LOL and even all the way across counrty it only costs 26.99 which is real cheap! LOL SO that is pretty neat! LOL

yeah its crazy. i have NEVER seen so many bugs. its actually super cool but super gross at the same time. haha. there is also these nasty spiders that crawl arround everywhere at the cricket farm. they dont breed them but because the entire building is heated to breed the crickets the spiders thrive and feed off of them. they also breed most of the meal worms arround here and wax worms, night crawlers, silkworms, roaches, super worms. its really funny when they ship the super worms they put like a thousand or more in a bag similar to a bag to ship a snake in and when you touch it, it is the craziest feeling. the worm room is amazing too, you can just grab a hand full of pure squigling worms with none of that shaving stuff. they also have a place up north i guess in LA county, im in san diego county.
just want to warn you, i wouldnt buy any reptiles form LLL without seeing current pictures of the specific animal. over the past years i have learned not to buy animals from there except this last little guy i had to get. he/she is a gargoyle and was freshly in (cheap too). i did however give him a few doses of panacure because i wasnt taking any chances this time. i only by my supplies from there now.

I got my leopard from LLL before I heard their bad marks back in September, and he was free of parasites (at least from a fecal standpoint), though my friend that went with me got a CG that started showing signs of MBD a week later.

I'm wondering though...this bug company. Do they have lobster roaches? I'm up in Irvine, Central SD is only about an hour away. I hate ordering stuff, so it'd be way easier to just drive.

well i cant say anything to bad about the things ive seen at LLL because if i said that this entire thread would be removed, so that is just a simple way of saying it, or how they make their sells to knew reptile owners. i go there like at least once a month, i actually try not to go there but its easier then the internet.

on the lobster roach thing im not sure but you can call 411 and it is called Rainbow mealworms, located in Bonsal. they wont give very good deals to people buying singly i just know people who know people, haha. however it will probably be better then anywhere else i suppose.
that gargoyle that i bought was actually housed with cresteds that they were eating and there was another gargoyle that looked like skin and bones, had skin stuck all over, and was ready to keal over, it wasnt there last time. poor little thing i think it passed on. anyhow there is way more where that came from. this my be taken off now but maybe not.

Did you say the gargoyles were EATING cresties?

yes, i did. while i didnt actually see it happen that is what the employee said. i asked to look at the gargoyles and the employee said something like.......wow, all the cresteds are gone these guys must have eaten them. and the gargoyles (except the one that was skin and bones) were so fat they looked like they had baloons in their bellies. but anyhow they were full of cresties! in the crested gecko book it says that it will happen too so im sure thats what happened. needless to say i dont think they house them together anymore but still there are many other horific things i have seen there.

Jesus..that's rough. It bothers me when things from the same genus start eating each other. I guess it is a dog eat dog world (gecko eat gecko) though. I love how these "specialty shops" don't follow their own suggestions with the animals they're trying to sell.

Regardless, are you by any chance going to the show next sunday in Del Mar? It's something like 7$ with the coupon off their website.

no, i was hoping i wouldnt have to work but i do. it sucks, all weekend too. o well. there is going to be another show that is supposed to be better on June31 and july1 i want a booth there but im not sure if im gunna have enough babies by then. if not im for sure gunna check it out though. maybe you can google it, look under reptilesupershow in san diego.

One of my friends just hatched out some baby chams, I can ask him if he'd be willing to split a booth with you if he wanted. He's a vet tech, he does all my work on my animals. We'll be at the show sunday (i'm calling in sick)