Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been feeding my crix Fluker's cricket food, the brown powdery stuff in a jar. I've had the jar for two months. There is still plenty left. I keep it in a dry, well ventilated room, and I change out the food in the tank daily. I also give them Fluker's orange cricket water gel. Last week my crix started dying off rapidly. A few days ago, a couple hours after I gave them fresh food and water gel, I found several dead crickets IN the food dish, on top of the food. The jar says the food is perishable and can get moldy, but it doesn't look moldy to me. It looks exactly the same as it always has. But just in case, I've been feeding them raw potatoe for a few days now. I have noticed SIGNIFICANTLY fewer die offs. So, is the food bad? What does mold look like in cricket food? How could I have missed it? Or is it something else that killed them? I hate to throw away so much cricket food if I don't have to. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Gwen

I would get rid of both the gel and food personally and feed the crickets the same great greens and vegetables you feed your bearded dragon. You can also add/use fishfood flakes, crushed low fat catfood, skim milk powder or a mixture of all the dry stuff. For moisture, the fresh greens and vegetetables provide alot, also y ou can use potatoe, orange slices, carrots or squash as the 'water source'.

I do remember reading somewhere here or on another site about the gel based 'water' sources for crickets, how it can sometimes block the insides of crickets, either by drying up and turning rock hard, or swelling up. Also, if your reptiles eat these crickets, the gel can build up in your dragon's gut causing blockage over time.

Crickets don't normally drink out of standing water, though they may drink dew droplets on grass etc. Most of their water is obtained from the foods they eat, much like bearded dragons. Misting their greens before putting them into the cage would be much better than using gel.
-----
PHLdyPayne

We have had great success with placing catfood in a plastic lid like the ones that comes on a cup of butter that has water in it.
This is just enough for the food to soak up with out getting to mushy. this also give the crix a chance to drink some water if they desire.

Thanks, guys! Well, at least now I know not to buy that over-priced cricket food at Petsmart. They really seem to love the potato! (That's what was in the box they were shipped in, so I figured they were used to it.)

Gwen

You can feed them all veggies, fruit and salads that are good for your dragon. Be careful with endive though, it seems to kill crix.
Does anyone knows of some other foods that are deadly for crickets?