Cold Weather/USPS = Urgh Great cust. service=:D

[Shiva]

This being the first winter with beardies I have encountered a hurdle, a pretty big hurdle. Shipping crickets for live delivery. ughh

I live in Northern Maine and our weather at the warmest this time of year might hit 25 or on the rare occasion 32 degrees f with the typical being at or below zero. Right now it is 8 degrees with the sun shining and no wind. Dressing warm enough I enjoy the cold esp when there is no wind and the sun shines but it seems crickets do not share my comfort with the cold. AND My dragons do Not enjoy going without crickets!

The 2 nearest pet stores that carry crickets is either a one hour drive or a three hour drive. The 3 hour drive is petco and their crickets are expensive. The one hour is a small small pet store that sells other items, their pet section is actually quite small. I have been going there to buy crickets enough that they finally started giving me some deals. But it is not that great a deal and they frequently run out of crickets so they are not a reliable source. I can usually get 300 for $20. Also during inclement weather driving that distance is not ideal.

Ye not the best deal but when its cold and ur order of crickets arrive at 90% dead ....ughhh
I say 90% dead and it is NOT the fault of the source but rather the fact the post office did not hold them per request and they left them in the snow bank.

The first time I honestly did not think of holding them there the next order I went down and asked them to hold-spoke to the post master- and they were not held. This last time YAY they held them and I do have a lot dead but not nearly as many.

I have to shout out a big THANK YOU to Carolina Crickets http://www.carolinacrickets.com/...not only did they ship a replacement at no cost to me but they did it again and they wrote in big letters in red ink to HOLD. They have GREAT communication and between the two of us we were able to get live crickets. I will forever order from this company. They packed very well with heat and double boxing and lots of egg crates and potatoes. They are the BEST.

Now I still have an issue when it is very cold despite everything there are still dead ones. I will be doing overnight shipping for my next order with hold at the post office. Although this is an expensive option it is really the only way to go and it is still cheaper than driving down to the pet shop between fuel cost and the expensive crickets. I think I read somewhere that roaches do not like the cold either.

I will be speaking to the post master regarding the shipment that was left in the snow bank and hope to get a refund for my next order...maybe a free overnight lol well prob not that but who knows

I am looking at my babies while typing and they all have their happy faces with full bellies hanging from their hammocks with their little legs overhanging lol their sooo cute. Even with the difficulties in getting their food They are soooo worth it!

Going to let their bellies digest under their uvb than bath time.

And now I am done ranting

 

[Shiva]

Anyone else have issues with cold weather? If so, what are your solutions for getting the needed buggies? Does anyone in colder areas use roaches? How do they fare with the cold? How about keeping a colony? Do they need a warm enviorment? I keep my crickets in the shower (in a large bin) in the bathroom, however that room does get cold. The shower is closed with a door and it gets rather cool, nothing below freezing.

Any input or comments

:study: :mrgreen:

 

[AtlasStrike]

Crickets do better in warmer temperatures. I use a zoo med UTH on a rheostat (table top lamp dimmer) regulated to about 90F and a big plastic tub for mine. Charlie hasn't eaten more than 25 of the 500 I got from great lakes hornworm around the 20th of December. I've had less than 50 die in that time. I feed them green, oatmeal and cricket gutload and water crystals. Occasionally I throw in an apple core or some other "treat." I clean the bin once every few days and keep the top off as much as possible to keep the humidity down. They chirp like crazy now, and Charlie still won't eat them, but they are still alive. I almost feel like throwing them out into the snow, but that feels like such a waste...

 

[NeosMom]

I live in Florida, so I can't say I have weather issues. I've always hated that we don't get any cold here. I doubt if someone living with current temperatures of 8 degrees can really appreciate this, but it's quite depressing to bake Christmas cookies in shorts and a tank top.

Anyway, I'm learning to be more appreciative of our weather because the babies love it and I must say that it's super easy to deal with the food issue. My crickets and the superworm colony I just started this week are both stored right by the beardie homes. It's naturally the warmest place in the house. And on the rare occasion when the nighttime temperatures get too low, I have a small space heater that I turn on in the living room to keep all of the critters warmer at night. Nothing gets below about 68 around their tank and everything is fine. Of course, it is much warmer than that during the day.

 

[Shiva]

no no dont throw them in the snow lol send them to me (my guys LOVE their crickets!) and ur little heater thing hehe I am sure tho that Charlie will eat them soon well maybe, what else do u feed Charlie? Where do u live? Most of my die off is in the actual shipping. Once here they do ok considering they are in a cold shower. Maybe I will add heat...husband is not going to like another something heated..he grudgingly accepts the snakes geckos and dragons needing heat and the fish but gripes about it occasionally. I have heat emitters and under-tank heaters that go under tile but its the lights that he gripes more about. Maybe i can use an under tank heater under a tile (tile would help disperse the heat) that will heat them up enough but than they would have to live outside the shower ...no outlets there lol I have gut load and other cricket foods and add potato in for them. some of the food i have seems like it has oatmeal in it.
What kind of greens? same as the dragons? There are quite a few that are not dead but not much more than that, they mostly stay on their back with slight movement to their legs. since their not quite dead i still feed it to them as long as they see some movement they are good.

I visit florida in march and at times wish i could move down there...love the weather and my critters would LOVE the weather ! and I could have a koi pond which i cant up here ahh well

thanks for the replies

 

[NeosMom]

Shiva - Where are you coming in Florida?

 

[Shiva]

We go to Naples ....a lot of snow birds in the area. My in-laws go down for the coldest months. We will be going down prob in March.

Where are you?

 

[Shiva]

and honestly I would live down there and just visit here to get my cold weather fix lol ...but my husband wont move and my sister would prob kill me if I moved away :shock:

But every time I visit I just love it and would stay.

I know some day we will be snow birds, like my inlaws

 

[NeosMom]

That is a riot! I live in Naples! I was born here. Always shocks the snowbirds when I tell them that!

 

[Shiva]

hahaha small world

 

[kimbasmom]

I'm in Iowa... work third shift and the first winter I had Kimba I had a horrible time even with overnight. I have a bin by my door and if I didn't hear the fedex guy knock, or if he didn't knock, then they'd put them in the bin. Would end up with about 50% dead after putting the box on top of the beardie cage to warm up and see how many crickets revived.

My solution is that I have a PO box. I ordered from hungrylizard.com (I think), and had them ship using USPS to my PO Box. Very little DOA and they stay nice and warm.

Now that I have dubia, that's how I solved my winter shipping problems. No more breaking my sleep cycle and no more chirpies! :lol:

Good luck!

 

[AtlasStrike]

Aww, I WISH Charlie would eat them!!! I really don't know what his problem is. He's been eating mostly supers, but even then, not really enough in my opinion. He also gets greens, collard, turnip and occasionally dandelion or mustard. He hasn't been eating much of those either. I think he hates his viv, because the last few days I've had him set up on my floor with a basking spot, and today was the first time in ages that he actually ate greens without being hand fed and he ate some medium supers as well.

The crickets get whatever greens he doesn't eat at the end of the day, or the middle if I refresh his salad as well as the other stuff.

I WISH I had dubia. I REALLY want dubia, I just don't have the money to start. I wonder if I order 1000 or so mediums and just leave them for a few months if that will get me started.

 

[kimbasmom]

Aww, I WISH Charlie would eat them!!! I really don't know what his problem is. He's been eating mostly supers, but even then, not really enough in my opinion. He also gets greens, collard, turnip and occasionally dandelion or mustard. He hasn't been eating much of those either. I think he hates his viv, because the last few days I've had him set up on my floor with a basking spot, and today was the first time in ages that he actually ate greens without being hand fed and he ate some medium supers as well.

The crickets get whatever greens he doesn't eat at the end of the day, or the middle if I refresh his salad as well as the other stuff.

I WISH I had dubia. I REALLY want dubia, I just don't have the money to start. I wonder if I order 1000 or so mediums and just leave them for a few months if that will get me started.

You wouldn't need that much. If you only have one beardie, you could probably start with 20-50 mixed and let them sit for a month or so, you could probably start feeding off from the colony then. I have two beardies and two colonies, and that makes me more than enough to sell either through local shows or online. And I'm very careful in leaving a bunch when I do sell.