Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Lately I've been handfeeding Lance. Usually I stun or kill a cricket and then hold it by a leg or ovipositor for him to eat. It got me thinking. If he'll eat a cricket that's been dead for 30 seconds, what would keep him from eating one that's been dead for a couple of days or a week? It would be a lot easier if i could just order 1000 crickets, put them in bags, and freeze them. I could take them out later and thaw them for him to eat. It seems like this would be a thing that a lot of people do, but i've never heard of anyone doing it. Is there any reason why this would be a bad thing? besides him not getting enough excercise from chasing crickets. Thanks
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Scott,
Proud owner of
0.0.1 Bearded dragon (Lance)
2.0.0 Rats (George and Lenny)
0.0.5 Red Belly Piranhas in a 75g tank

why do u stun/kill the crickets??!! whats the point? and theres problems with freezing crickets it wouldnt work too well
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sincerely,
Jonathan D. de Kluyver
JDDK Reptiles
Quality Reptiles and Amphibianswww.jddkreptiles.com

I've heard of several people freezing crix in bulk then feeding them at a later date - just be sure to gutload them first to boost nutritional value, and to ensure they're fully thawed.

mmmmm crixicles lol
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Ross

0.2 Bearded Dragons (1 Yellow, 1 Chris Allen/Sandfire)

You would have read that I was HANDFEEDING him. I found that it's a lot easier to catch and hold a cricket if it isn't alive anymore. As for freezing them, why wouldn't it work very well? If you didn't know, crickets are coldblooded. That means when their body temperature gets below a certain point, they die. As far as I can tell, it would work. I think i'll try it with a test batch of crickets, just to make sure he'll eat them. Instead of skimming over a post and laughing at what you misread, maybe you could give me a couple a reasons why it wouldn't work, maybe even some past experience? It would be really helpful, i'm new at this and open to any advice, I just would like to make sure its educated advice. Thanks.
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Scott,
Proud owner of
0.0.1 Bearded dragon (Lance)
2.0.0 Rats (George and Lenny)
0.0.5 Red Belly Piranhas in a 75g tank

my adults. They don't eat enough to eat the 1000 I order for them before they die off, so I gut load them for 36 hours and freeze them. I've been doing it since late summer and have had no problems at all. Hope that helps you some.

I don't see any reason why this wouldn't work, although I don't do this myself, I'm lucky enough to live only a few blocks away from a store I can purchase crickets at, and when I hand feed, I do handfeed the crickets live. So yeah, as long as you remember to gut load the crickets and dust them with vitamin supplement powders then I can't see any reason this wouldn't work... just make sure that the crickets are fully thawed out, I keep snakes as well, so I have thawed out frozen foods for them, the way I usualy tell if they're thawed is that that the rat/mouse shouldn't feel cool to the touch, and just poke around with your finger to make sure that there's nothing still frozen on the inside.

no actually i didnt misread your post. i knew you were hand feeding them but i dont see a point in hand feeding crickets... and even if u are whats the point in stunning or killing them... why not hand feed him live crickets. and go ahead and waste your time freezing crickets. why not try defrosting them in the microwave while ur at it.
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sincerely,
Jonathan D. de Kluyver
JDDK Reptiles
Quality Reptiles and Amphibianswww.jddkreptiles.com

Sorry, had to come in here. Im not bashing you, Jonathan, but I think that, for the respect of the poster, others, and yourself, that you be a little more mature. He said that he finds it a hassle to not only catch and hold live, jumping crickets while handfeeding, but also a waste of money to order crickets in bulk and have them die on him. Freezing is an excellent idea, especially for someone who's dragon actually eats dead/non moving items (besides salad). You jumped his case whether you read the post thouroughly or not. Please, try to keep an open mind. I understand that you are young, as am I, but I beleive that I compose myself in a mature, respectful manner, like everyone should look for, and expect in all people on this forum. I see you are in business, but acting the way you just did is doing nothing but hurting your name. Be respectful of others, dont judge so quickly, and forgive and forget.

Thanks

David - KDRKreatures
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David and Kevin

KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

Email

w/e.
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sincerely,
Jonathan D. de Kluyver
JDDK Reptiles
Quality Reptiles and Amphibianswww.jddkreptiles.com

Well, I have frozen them by accident (forgot to bring them in from the car on a cold day) and they kind of dry out and turn into shells. Maybe if you could find a way to flash freeze them it would work. You could also just buy the Can O Crickets.
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A mans got to do what a mans got to do. A woman has to do what he can't.

Mom to:

1 little boy born 7/19/04
2 male RES, born 1999
1 ribbon snake, age unknown
3 FBT, ages unknown
1 female bearded dragon, born 5/2002
1 male lab mix, born 5/24/03
1 female calico cat, born 6/7/04

____

sig file edited 1/29/05 [phw]

Actually that does not sound like a bad idea! I have started to hand feed my Beardie.. so why not freeze a whole bunch to do so. But if you are even worried about exercise you can still buy SOME live ones to give to him to chase around and eat.
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My Babies:

1 Bearded Dragon Little Buddy
2 Leopard Geckos Astrid, Quin
1 Pictus Gecko Raine
1 Boxer Puppy Apollo
2 Hollond Lop Bunnies Panda, Oreo

I personally prefer for my beardies to hunt their food like they would in the wild, but if you want to freeze crickets for later feeding you definetly need to gutload them, cuz dead crickets breakdown quickly, therefor loose protein, and thats no good for any reptile,

2 bearded dragons- hanzel&gretel
3 schnauzers-tramp,taz,cassie
2 cockatiels-charlie,bird
1 parakeet-peety
1 tortoise-Ms. thang
2 cats-gus,jojo
3 hermit crabs-larry,curly,mo
1 hamster-sammy
9 goldfish-aw forget those names

Roaches freeze well, but you don't need to freeze them. They are not going to hop out of your hand like a cricket so hand feeding is a breeze. They also live much longer so you don't need to worry about them dying before you can feed them. Oh yeah, they are bigger than crickets and so you don't need as many. Oh yeah, they are also big whimps and aren't going to chew on your dragon if their not eaten. Oh yeah, they don't smell. Check out my documentation under my help and support section. I have kept reptiles for 20 years. I bred beardies over 10 years ago before everyone had them. I used roaches when I bred all my frilled dragon. I was just like you, thinking I would never try them, now I have 20,000 of them and can't say enough good things about them.
James
www.blaberus.com

right now he's only about 6-7 inches long and can barely eat adult crickets. About what size do you start to feed your beardeds roaches? And What kind do you use? Thanks.
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Scott,
Proud owner of
0.0.1 Bearded dragon (Lance)
2.0.0 Rats (George and Lenny)
0.0.5 Red Belly Piranhas in a 75g tank

First I'd like to say I disagree with feeding the can o crix. You have no idea what they gutloaded them with before feeding, and they have to have some kind of preservatives in them to allow them to last so long.

Roaches you can feed to just about any age beardie. Just get an appropriate sized roach lol. For your dragon I would go for lobster roaches. The nymphs would prolly be about the right size for our beardie.

Oh Yeah! One of my beardies love them, the other could care a less about them, but thats a good idea!