Thanks to you guys, Kritz is finally here!

[Jess]

When I had crickets, I just vaccuumed it out. It doesnt need to be sanatized or anything- you just want the dead cricket and crap out, so the remaining live crickets dont get sick from it.

 

[Rukia1988]

i vaccum mine out too and take a paper towel to it. they dont like it very clean...

 

[Xanthur34]

Sounds good, maybe I could borrow my mom's vaccuum and use the hose attachment to do that. That would work out nicely.

I placed an order to Ghann's for 500 crickets yesterday, hoping to get them today. I'm a little nervous to see if they all survived, considering how they suspended their guarantees... :/

Also, I tried to give Kritz some Acorn Squash today, he ate about 2 pieces, then wouldn't accept anything less than a cricket. What a spoiled little guy he is! :roll:

 

[Xanthur34]

Well I got that cricket order from Ghann's. And guess what? About 98 percent of them were dead! I opened up the box and didn't even see one moving cricket in the bunch! It wasn't until I put them all in my 20gal that I saw about 3 or 4 of them moving around, a few others twitching on their backs.

I understand that Ghann's is going through bad weather that's hurting their crickets, but it's just ridiculous how little real service I got :x I mean seriously, there's $24 gone and Kritz is still hungry!

I'm gonna give them a call today and see if anything can be done... though I doubt it.

 

[munchkins9802]

I used to get my crickets at premiumcrickets.com. Try them. 98% dead in my opinion is not acceptable. I would actually fight it if they dont remedy it as you paid for crickets

 

[Xanthur34]

Thanks a lot for the website! I'll take a look at it.

Yeah, I'm going to try to get my money back, otherwise I doubt I'll ever use Ghann's ever again. Did I mention that the shipment came the day AFTER the next-day delivery date was made? :roll: Water under the bridge now, I guess...

As for my 500 dead crickets, I tried to at least get a little use out of them. I offered them to Kritz for dinner and he didn't seem to mind them. Is that alright, or should I just throw the rest out?

 

[Rukia1988]

I buy from reptilefood.com and I did not have one dead cricket this morning when they were delivered. I ordered 2000 and I was pretty pleased with that. I use to get them ordered through this pet store called chicago reptile house but I would have like 1/3 of those dead by the time I got home. Yeah Ghanns should refund you or send you some more crickets. I don't think they want to lose your business.

 

[Xanthur34]

Thanks for the other website option! I'll be comparing those and seeing which I like better.

How about those dead crickets I got though? Safe to eat, or do I need to throw them out?

 

[munchkins9802]

i think dead ones occasionally are free but I would throw out the majority or put them all back in the box from Ghanns to prove they were dead--have you heard back from Ghanns yet/?

 

[Xanthur34]

I got a message from them asking for the name on the credit card I used and for the order number I was. I'm going to send them that info and then see what happens

 

[Xanthur34]

Nothing back from Ghann's yet after I sent them the information they asked for. Then again it is the weekend, so it may be some time. I just want them to repay me so I can be done with this situation :?

Also, I have to confess something. We've got an aunt visiting and I had to help entertain her last night, and before I knew it, it was past 10:30 and I hadn't fed Kritz his dinner! I usually turn his lights off at midnight when I go to bed, so that would'nt have givin him enough time of light after a dinner. So, I played it safe and didn't give him any I felt bad to do it, but better safe than sorry, right?

On the plus side, he ate until he couldn't even look at any more crickets this morning, so that made me feel a bit better

Question though: How much would you say would be OVERFEEDING a beardie? I usually stop feeding him if 10 minutes has gone by in his eating (heard that tip a few times). What do you think?

 

[Jess]

At least you fed him in the morning, instead of feeding him late and having him throw up :? Ive done that before, andI felt really bad!
I forgot to feed Dudley once when I was babysitting, so I got him a treat of crickets the next day along with his supers He didnt seem to mind, LOL!

And you cant really overfeed them. Unlike mammals, reptiles will only eat if they feel hungry... So if he is full, he just wont eat any more.

 

[Xanthur34]

Aww, so that's what happens if they don't get enough light after their dinner? That's rough

I would take your advice on giving Kritz an apology treat the next day... if he'd eat anything other than crickets!! haha :roll:

Good to know I can't overfeed him I should show you some newer pictures to see what Kritz looks like now. My family makes fun of him and calls him 'Fatzy' because of how round he's getting! :lol: I'm just expecting that's normal growth though, eh?

 

[Jess]

LOL, yeah thats a good thing!
Well, you CAN over feed adults, since they have a pretty slow metabolism and can really pack on the grams. But until theyre about 2 years old, you dont really have to worry about it. Especially for a little growing one... He needs all the calories he can get right now!

 

[Xanthur34]

Haha! Needs the calories for that insane growth rate, huh? Everytime my family sees him they say 'I swear he's bigger than a few days ago!' :lol:

Kritz seems to also need the calories for his running, the little bugger almost got away from me when he made a break for it this morning. He jumped right out of his feeding bin and made a mad dash :shock: I caught him though, thankfully.

Today I'm playing with an electric timer that I got for my birthday. I'm seeing if it'll be suitable to take control of Kritz's lights. It has an emergency rechargable battery just in case a power outage happens, so it sounds pretty good to me!