Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all -

Until I got Luna my herps cricket consumption was both small in number and small in size. With Luna eating 10+ a day I ordered 500 - good thing b/c about 100 have died since delivery! Anyway.....

What I have been doing is putting 1 to 2 days worth into a 2.5 gal with a nice variety of fresh veggies and fruit (orange, apple, turnip, kale, broccoli (did I read something bad about broccoli?), summer squash, carrot, etc. I also give them high quality gutload (herpnutrition) and let them feed for 24+ hours. The rest of the crix are now in a large container and I have been feeding them the same. But now I am thinking about feeding the big group regular gutload (Flukers, for now) and crix water with a few slices of fruits and veggies but not as I have been - they had a gourmet meal made fresh every other day.

My thinking is that they will get the very best right before they are eaten and that the “holding tank” will be a bit easier to maintain. Is this a good idea? Anyone have any pros/cons?

Thanks

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

Sounds like you are doing a great job.

What I do, and I think it work swell is this:

I take what will be fed and put them in a small container..nothing big..just enough to give them enough room not to trample one another.

I throw in some fresh vegies and one of those cricket bits from ectotherm. The ingredients are great and they are moist as well...so no need for the water.

I do this first thing in the am. I then go take a shower and get myself ready for work. about 1 hour later I dump them out and give them to the chams. I know they have eaten some as crickets will eat if given the food.

When done - i still have plenty of the food left over and throw more crickets in the feeding container. throw a piece of screen over the top - rubberband it on. then I go to work and when I get home I have some really fat crickets to give out.

Hope that helps with any questions you might have.

-adam
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Adam
Portland, OR

1.1 Jacksons Chameleons (Female is red phase)
0.0.4 Rhacodactylus ciliatus
0.1 Uroplatus Phantasticus

...that they had to feed for a full 24 hours to properly gutload. ??

>>Sounds like you are doing a great job.
>>
>>What I do, and I think it work swell is this:
>>
>>I take what will be fed and put them in a small container..nothing big..just enough to give them enough room not to trample one another.
>>
>>I throw in some fresh vegies and one of those cricket bits from ectotherm. The ingredients are great and they are moist as well...so no need for the water.
>>
>>I do this first thing in the am. I then go take a shower and get myself ready for work. about 1 hour later I dump them out and give them to the chams. I know they have eaten some as crickets will eat if given the food.
>>
>>When done - i still have plenty of the food left over and throw more crickets in the feeding container. throw a piece of screen over the top - rubberband it on. then I go to work and when I get home I have some really fat crickets to give out.
>>
>>Hope that helps with any questions you might have.
>>
>>-adam
>>-----
>>Adam
>>Portland, OR
>>
>>1.1 Jacksons Chameleons (Female is red phase)
>>0.0.4 Rhacodactylus ciliatus
>>0.1 Uroplatus Phantasticus
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

All I do is keep the whole bin fed well and pull them out when I need them. I have my large crickets in a large rubbermaid bin and I usually get 1000-2000 at a time. Lately I haven't even been messing with the expensive prepared diets that much but I just use a good mix of veggies. I buy frozen bags of peas, corn, brocolli, carrots, etc. etc. etc., mix them all together and stick a large bag in the freezer. Once a day I pull some out, thaw it in warm water and put a nice big leaf of collared greens on top and chop it up in one of those chopper machines that you bang your hand on top of then I feed this mix to the crickets. Occasionally I add a dash of multivitamin. It's a moisture and food source, and has all the vitamins and nutrients that any prepared mix would have, and it takes me about 5 minutes a day to feed all my crickets (2 or 3 sizes), cockroaches, superworms and any other insects I have at the time. I also use it to feed my tortioses and occasionally my veileds. Plus, your crickets stay gutloaded if you do this every day and mine seem to live for a long time on this diet. I used dry gutloads before and those cricket water gels, and I've had the best luck keeping insects alive with the veggie mix. I also give them a slice of apple or orange once or twice a week.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV