Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK, I am fairly new to beardies although I have had reptiles on and off for most of my life.
So I was thinking of ways I could cut a few corners on costs and decided to raise mealworms for an occasional treat.
A while back, I had bought a used snake rack which is essentially shelving with plastic bins with holes in them, with heat tape usually on the bottom used to contain snake hatchlings or small snakes. I knew I did not have time to rewire it (I did that this weekend though) so decided to use the rack, which was temporarily stored in my bedroom, to house the mealworm colony. I put the several thousand mealies in with their food and went shopping.
When I returned, I was HORRIFIED to find out that mealworms are a lot more active than I thought and they could (and DID) get out of the airholes in the bins!!! There were mealworms EVERYWHERE. I swept under the bed today and even though it has been a while, discovered two more.
Just thought I'd share, and save some other poor soul from an experience like this We learn by experience, and I sure as **** am not gonna make this particular mistake, again........
I am sure there may be more funny stories in store as I learn to breed roaches......

had just got my shipment of crickets in at the time it was only a few thousand, and I was keeping them in a large Rubbermaid bin with a screen on top just hot glued on. Well, I came home to find crickets greeting me at the front door, and my cat Gable inside the bin and crickets EVERYWHERE in the house!! The ceilings, the walls, the bathtub everywhere!!. I had to get my shop vac and I vacuumed up about 2 thousand crickets that day, and still had chirpers behind the fridge for months LOL. Lucky for the cat we found him trapped inside the bin early enough not to have caused him any harm with hungry nasty crickets all over him as the screen closed him in and trapped him. He was fine, but if he had to spend a while in there the poor cat would have been missing as those crickets would have made dinner of him, gross!!! Very funny looking back on it LOL, but at the time boy did that SUCK!!!!!!
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Webshots photos
www.Mystical-Dragons.com

I had a similar experience but the cat involved was a excellent cricket hunter and hunted down all the chippers very soon, but since I was living in an apartment building at the time the neighbors got a load of crickets and could not figure out why. Needless to say for the sake of peace I did not enlighten them. Oh well! that is ancient history.

And to think my roommates complain when they see an single escaped cricket... I think I'd have no option but to move out if I ever had mass escape like that!!!
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Ross

1.0 Bearded Dragon (Fuego)
2.1 Roommates (require more cleaning up after than the dragon)

man that's a funny story. good luck with the roaches!

i had an order of 1,000 crickets come in. we always keep the beardie room door closed becsue of 2 nosey cats. well some how i forgot to close the door... i get home and notice the door open. i run in the screen on top of the lizard cage was pushed in. (very over weight cat!) no where to be found. the beardies were fine. cat probably stepped on it pushed it in and got scared and ran... well then i see cickets all over the floor. it knocked teh rubbermade container over and it was laying on it's side between 2 shelf's. let me exaplain it right here. it was as if the top cornor was bearly open... so when ever ANY cricket where near the bottom... now the top they fell out. so it took for ever to pick up those damn crickets. did i mention i was painting at this time so all this happen in my bedroom! every night before bed i had to do a cricket check on my pillow. lets just say i make sure that door is closed all the time now!