Oh my gosh! So, do you like, breed your own live food, or buy direct from a warehouse somewhere? It scares me to think of Misun eating 100 crickets a day, that's like $12-15 per day! Not that I can't afford it, but that's a week's grocery bill for my household of 4! I do shop smart, & do the grocery game as well though!
And, the PetSmart around us, only get crickets on Tue & Thur. I went last week in the evening on Tue, & they were already sold out! I did have enough to last well past Thur, though, so please don't think he starved until then! I buy 100 @ a time, (up from 50 first few weeks) & I knew I was going to need more earlier than normal this week, so I popped in right @ noon (delivery time) Tue, to get my 100! Good thing, as he did not have enough to last through Tue night! I buy in advance to make sure they are gut loaded, but have had problems with them dying or getting too big before he can go through them all if I buy too many. I have a small & a large cricket keeper, so I transfer the existing crickets to small, then clean, & take large w/me to the store. From another thread, I posted how much he eats, (about 30+/day) & someone else said that seemed low. I do make sure he eats all he wants, & have started w/the greens but don't think he's eaten any yet. Also, since he went through the hundred in less time than ever before, it's obvious, & I know he IS eating more.
Another question: I've heard of people keeping the starter tank to use as a feeding tank. I took that to mean: put the live food in there, & transfer BD to the feeder for 10-15 minutes, however many times/day, and they will eat what all they want. Seemed like a good idea. Does anyone do this, or have experience w/it? Any drawbacks, (besides the cleaning of the tank) like, can't mix different live foods, unhealthy for the BD? I probably wouldn't mix foods anyway, just use other types as treats. Haven't done so yet, I know I need to start. Worms are hard to come by around here, I've found,,, good, live ones, that is. Easy to find freeze dried, but I wouldn't want to eat that, & how good could the nutrition be in that case? The live I have found, seem to be withered. Maybe that's what I heard/read about the 2 month mark, certain worms can't be fed, bc they're too big, outer skins too hard, something?
Which worms should I be feeding? I remember something about some have much higher fat/protein content,,, think it was the meal worms that have the hard shells, maybe? And since I haven't, will he jump after it 1st time, or have to get used to it? Should I just leave in there until he eats it, or take out after feeding time?
Ok, so maybe a FEW more questions!
Thanks, everyone, for all your advice, support, & sharing of your experience w/newbie owners!
Amber
Mariah:
Happened across your post about the velcro incident! So sorry to hear about that, but looks like she's much better now! VERY cute pics!