Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I read a post a few days back about making cricket water. I am thinking this is a great idea... Paper towels get soiled too fast, and I am not paying $8 a jar for cricket water from the pet shop lol.
Anyway, I couldn't find agar agar. I was wondering if I can use gelatin powder instead? I think it should be fine... but I just wanted to check!
Thanks everyone!
~Lindsay
PS, Orion is getting HUGE! She's almost 5" ntv!!!!

Should work, not poisonous, let us know. what about a sponge?

I was also thinking about a sponge. I was worried about bacteria though...
I'm going to try the gelatine today... I guess we'll have to wait and see how it goes!

Victor Gomez recommended poly acrylamide(sp??) crystals. Look for them, I lost the URL. They are dirt cheap-literally--and safe, as well as safe to store at room temp. For the correct spelling, check the label of cricket water--that's what it is. Also used in diapers for absorbency.

Look at the label on the commercial cricket water/bites. The one I'm familiar with (can't remember the brand) use polyacrylamide gel. In the poly/gel form it is safe. It is used in molecular biological to separate nucleic acids and proteins based upon size. The interesting thing is, (just) acrylamide is highly toxic in the non-polymerized form. I have used gelatin before for crickets, even added some calcium powder to the mix. The benefit of polyacrylamide is that gelatin can be used as a good for bacteria whereas polyacrylamide cannot. The gelatin needs to be keep refrigerated and not left for long periods with the crickets.

What kind of store would carry it?