Pesky Crickets

[Reptilelady]

Hi Everyone,
Since variety is a spice of life, more like variety of feeders is the life for beardies :lol:
I ran out of BSFL and dubias as i ordered some more so in the meantime while im waiting for shipment, i just ran to this local petstore more like a mom and pop shop.. not a major store brand since we all can relate our experiences plus it would kill me to see other beardies not being cared for (hit and miss) with them. Depending who is working and if its busy crowded then they leave their animals in dirty environment which makes me mad :roll:

Back to these pesky darn crickets ( i hate them now) since they are a pain, i usually have to remove most of my furnishings because they like to hide and plus it seems a bit better for my beardie to get more exercise. As soon as he tries to go eat them, immediately jumps away and he gets discouraged a bit so he ends up walking away. I keep saying " go get him!"

The thing is, do you guys do this as well or just pop those crickets in and let them find it? My beardie has been kinda spoiled though so im trying to make him a better hunter but you know in small baby steps :lol: Wondering whats the best way to go about it to making him a better hunter?

 

[Gormagon]

When you dust them, you need to shake them up pretty good to disorient them or make it to where the can't jump.

I stopped feeding crickets when I he'd to treat Peaches for parasites last year and, after I read that they can carry parasites, she gets NO CRICKETS! I had to give her probiotics to replace her good gut flora so her appetite would come back after the treatments. Went to Dubai roaches after that and, no more parasites since, eats good and, real healthy. They don't smell, make noise or, die off.

 

[Reptilelady]

Yeah I do that shake them up pretty good but still they jump around drives me insane! I will have to make sure when he near almost out of his dubias and BSFL to order more. Do you have a paid sub every month? Or is bi weekly good deal?

I first started out with 100 BSFL and he loves them so now I'm increasing to 200. He really goes crazy for them. As soon as i bring the white cup hes running back and forth and most of the time he will snatch it out of my hand/tweezers.

Heres a pic of him just recently ate a cricket with powder :lol:

 

[SHBailey]

I got a big plastic storage tub to use as a feeding pen. If I remember correctly, crickets can jump up to 12 inches so the sides have to be taller than that and slick enough so they can't climb out. I also have one of those "Kricket Keepers" with the black tubes. So at feeding time I put the calcium powder and vitamins in a little deli cup, put the cup down in the plastic storage bin, dump the crickets from the tube into the cup, put the lid (with a few tiny air holes poked in it) on the cup, shake them up, put it down in the bin, then put the beardie in the bin and turn the crickets loose in the bin. They can't get away and they have no place to hide, and if he can't catch them they're still contained.

I've been using the "vita bugs" crickets that come in those nifty little clear plastic boxes with some egg crate and a food cube, and so far I haven't had any problems with parasites.

I should add, however, that lately our beardie has been having trouble catching crickets and/or roaches in the bin, possibly because it gets too cold and the surface is too slick for him to get a good foothold, so I've been offering him roaches in a little dish right in his tank on his basking platform, and he seems to be able to scarf them up with less trouble. I can do that with roaches because they're much easier to catch than crickets as long as you can keep track of them all and make sure they don't sneak away and run up your arm, etc. I wouldn't do that with crickets though -- they jump away and hide behind the cage furniture where neither the beardie nor I can catch them.

 

[Gormagon]

Yeah I do that shake them up pretty good but still they jump around drives me insane! I will have to make sure when he near almost out of his dubias and BSFL to order more. Do you have a paid sub every month? Or is bi weekly good deal?

I first started out with 100 BSFL and he loves them so now I'm increasing to 200. He really goes crazy for them. As soon as i bring the white cup hes running back and forth and most of the time he will snatch it out of my hand/tweezers.

Heres a pic of him just recently ate a cricket with powder :lol:

I get them locally and have started a colony. I hate ordering online, I'm a hands on shopper mostly.

 

[BeardieLover232]

I used to do crickets, when i ran out of roaches. but they stink. and somehow manage to escape. how does one escape doe..
but i do agree, they can carry parasites and etc, it is better off with roaches, or any alternative. horns worms, caliworms, etc.
I wanna start a colony myself, but the wait it horrifying! D:

 

[SHBailey]

We've had pretty good luck buying our crickets and roaches at the pet stores (Petco and Petsmart), but we've had a few discussions about breeding our own. Haven't had the nerve to try it yet -- still debating about whether it would take more or less time and energy to maintain a breeding colony than it takes to run out to the pet store every time we need more. :?