I am having a horrible time with live crickets. Cricket keepers are crappy, and I am totally lost at how to keep my crickets healthy and full of nutrients for my young leos. Both of them let me hand feed them the dead crickets so I was wondering if maybe they would let me hand feed them the canned crickets? Canned crickets are just easier to coat with calcium and vitamins. I just need some help so if anyone would PLEASE help me with this before it drives me crazy, thank you.....I HATE CRICKETS...arghhh
2007-07-10 15:02:20 · 6 answers · asked by Kayla S 1 in Pets ➔ Reptiles
Live crickets are better, but have you tried super worms?
I find that the geckos fill out better, and the worms are easier to maintain for periods of time.
I much prefer them to crickets, and my geckos are healthier.
2007-07-10 15:11:00 · answer #1 · answered by Dion J 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Crickets should be 'loaded' with nutritional food 48 hours and continuously before feeding them to the geckos. I don't know exactly what foods are healthy for leos, but look up fruits and veggies good to feed them, and feed these to the crickets.
Coating can be done very easily. Some people gather the crickets in a bag, along with calcium and shake. I have actually read somewhere that someone sprinkled water on the crickets for the calcium to stick better. I've never tried this though, so I'm not sure. Some people actually feed their crockets calcium coated food. I give my geckos a dish of calcium which they do lick. I still coat crickets, but I'm not as worried about their health this way.
Canned crickets aren't as healthy because of the perservatives used. I'm sure if you read the ingredients and nutritional value, it would state high calcium and low fat, etc. But the perservatives aren't too good for the geckos, so I'd stay away from them.
If your leos are old enough, you could try mealworms.
2007-07-10 22:20:00 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Many reptiles won't eat the canned bugs. Keeping crickets is easy--I've had over 10,000 of them! Get a large rubbermaid container, about 2 feet long by 2 feet high. Place a couple of paper towels in the bottom and some cardboard tubes or egg crates to hide in. Supply a shallow dish for food (use powdered gutload, not the gel), and a very shallow dish of fresh water. That's it! Clean once or twice a week by shaking out the crickets and removing everything (but leave the crickets in the container). Tilt the container and wipe down any poops and dead bugs. They'll live a long time like this. When you are ready to feed, simply pick up one of the cardboard tubes and tap into a tall plastic cup. Add a pinch of Calcium or multi vitamins and give it a swirl, then dump into Leo cage. Meal worms are also good for Leos, and you can keep them in a small shoebox sized plastic box, filled with a couple of inches of oatmeal and some cricket gutload. Add a fresh piece of carrot or potato every day for moisture. If you don't feed them within a couple of weeks, they'll pupate and turn into beetles. You can refrigerate them, but take them out for 2 days so they can eat before using them to feed to the Leos. Feeding live prey is a part of reptile keeping, and is the best for them. More info can be found on the forums at www.reptilerooms.com. I highly recommend this site and visit if often.
2007-07-10 22:41:27 · answer #3 · answered by KimbeeJ 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I feel your pain as I had tree frogs and the dang crickets were a pain to keep alive and was a pain going to store every few days,etc. We used GUTLOAD..but wasn't much help.
I say if your geckos eat from your hand, GREAt, than no biggy feeding the canned ones. think of it like vegs we eat.. sure fresh is best..but nothing wrong w/canned.
2007-07-10 23:01:10 · answer #4 · answered by 4kkz 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Silkworms are also an excellent source of food. They're are one of the healthiest foods you can feed. I used to purchase mine from http://www.mulberryfarms.com .
Watch coating the canned crickets. They often already have nutrients added to them. You could overdose your leos. Live is better, though. Crix do stink, but now you have the leos...and they need the nutrition from them...:-) You can get used to it if you use a strong cloths pin...:-D
2007-07-10 22:20:23 · answer #5 · answered by prism_wolf 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Canned crickets are no good. I do not recommend it. they do not have nearly as much as the nutritional value as a live one.
2007-07-11 02:58:13 · answer #6 · answered by Spiral Out 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋