frozen/thawed crickets are a success!

[ashleyelsha]

http://youtu.be/3ylfDUPdzdg

So I experimented with freezing some gutloaded crickets from a local pet store and it was a total success! I brought the crickets straight home and put them in the freezer. This evening I took 5 out, dusted them, and fed them. At first he didn't seem intersted, so I nudged a few with my finger. He snatched the first one hesitantly and then chowed down on the rest! It was awesome. So now I am going to order some in bulk online! I am going to gutlaod them for 24-48 hours when they arrive and then freeze them. I plan on feeding a combination of phoenix worms and f/t crickets.


Alright! Here is the link to my youtube video of toothless eating f/t crickets on his salad

http://youtu.be/3ylfDUPdzdg

 

[morphmom]

Huh, I'll be darned. That sounds like a really cool idea!

 

[ashleyelsha]

Still going well. He ate about 20 f/t dusted crickets today and then I filled his worm bowl with 15 phoenix worms and he at 10 of those before he scampered to his branch. He is one fat and happy dragon. and no catching crickets, feeding crickets , or dealing with cricket smell!

 

[morphmom]

It really does make sense

 

[Kajolic]

I'm going to have to try this! Never thought about trying it, but it really does seem to be working for you, I just hope my little guy isn't a picky eater! Thanks.

 

[morphmom]

One question though, what do you freeze them in? I wouldn't want them to get freezer burned.

 

[ashleyelsha]

One question though, what do you freeze them in? I wouldn't want them to get freezer burned.

Freezer bag. I plan on doing 2 weeks at a time. Day 3 success as well i left a salad topped with f/t dusted crickets this morning my husband told me the salad is scattered and the crickets are all gone.

Well I put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes in he bag they came in and then took them out. I made sure they were all separated, and put them in a freezer bag so they don't stick together. Then I can open it and take out however many I need.

 

[morphmom]

Hmmm...very interesting. Thanks!

 

[ashleyelsha]

Oh also. I don't dust them before I freeze because I'm not sure if that will degrade the vitamins. Although I'm sure the vitamins break down over time in the container anyway.

 

[ashleyelsha]

I am thinking about buying some Florida legal reaches and freezing them as soon as I get them. If I dont have to handle them live I might be able to tolerate it. Of course a small amount of handling will be necessary to gutload but I could figure a way to do that without touching them... Maybe...

 

[morphmom]

Crazy idea here. People make money off of frozen rodents, so why couldn't you make money off of frozen bugs? just a thought

 

[ashleyelsha]

Crazy idea here. People make money off of frozen rodents, so why couldn't you make money off of frozen bugs? just a thought

Not a bad idea. My husband and I have discussed opening a specialty reptile store, starting out small from home and online. We want to get licensed to start breeding some herps like corns and bearded dragons. It is just a dream and I know we would never get rich, but you never know right? Frozen food is expensive to ship though. Mice direct offers frozen roaches.

 

[morphmom]

Frozen food is expensive to ship though.

I agree that it would have to be an 'in-store' thing but alot of people are freaked out by live bugs. They freeze-dry em' and 'cook' them in a can so, why not freeze like premium raw dog food? Just an idea :wink:

 

[RainMaiden]

Does freezing crickets make them less nutritious? I did some reading on the subject and some people seem to think so. Many people feed frozen/thawed rodents instead of live without problems though. There are also premade raw dog and cat foods that are frozen/thawed and highly nutritious.

I don't see why they would be less nutritious if they are gutloaded with high quality food beforehand and dusted properly before feeding. Figured I'd ask anyway though.

 

[morphmom]

Does freezing crickets make them less nutritious?

That one's likely to get alot of opinions. Freezing anything will lessen the value but it would be so slight that I believe the gut loading would make up for it. Just my opinion though :wink: