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Little Geckos Arent A Problem! (AKA-Micro Feeder Culture)
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By Starrynightexotics at 10/08/2007 - 21:07
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Micro-Feeder Culture
Micro feeder culture, literally the culturing of tiny prey items, is a facet of herpetoculture that is often overlooked by many. If you look at the composition of the Family Gekkoninae for example, you see that by exclusively dealing with larger species of geckos you miss out on the majority of animals present.
In the past the aversion to dealing with small species was understandable, with higher mortality rates and greater difficulties in obtaining an adequate food supply. Not to mention the lack of general knowledge. With the advances made since the days when Leopard Geckos were on the cutting edge of Gecko enthusiasts skills and the advances made in captive technology, lighting and caging, the only real aspect left that is of any considerable trouble outside of an specific animals Natural History data, is the food supply.
In this article Ill discuss several species of feeder insect that are useful for feeding even the smallest of gecko hatchlings. Ill also present simple methods I have come up with to succesfully culture each prey item. I will not be including information on any roach species as that information is wide spread and easily obtainable. Species worth mention when dealing with small geckos and other herps are Turkestan Roaches or Red Runners (Blatta lateralis) and Green Banana roaches (Panchlorea nivea)
A few general notes before delving into the species specific information. When culturing any insect, heat is usually a factor. Be sure to have an open strip of heat tape or other heating element to take advantage of. If you decide your needs are large enough to go all out, converting a closet or building a small heated rack is easy and inexpensive.
Depending on what species of feeder you decide are best for you, a wide array of containers can serve as enclosures for your culturing projects. Most setups are simple, and Ive found a majority of my needs are filled using the following- 10 and 5 gallon rubbermaids or aquariums, "shoe box" rubbermaids, 128 oz. deli cups, and 32 oz. deli cups. The methods below are those that have worked well for me over the past few years, I hope at the very least this provides a good hands on guide for some of you to build your own workable "recipes".
Crickets (Acheta domestica etc.)
I wont go into breeding crickets here, as that information is easily obtainable elsewhere. Also, I use a method that is far easier and more suitable to my needs in comparison to dealing with the hassle of the crickets complete life cycle.
While breeding crickets is far too time consuming, messy, and noisy for many, theres a technique that can help you maximize the benefits of crickets while minimizing the drawbacks. This method works especially well for people with a large demand for small food items. The basic idea is to constantly supply yourself with pinhead to 10 day old crickets at a minimum of cost, space and work.
Materials Needed:
Adult Crickets (about one hundred should be used per batch, minimum)
Brooding container (10-20 gallon rubbermaid, aquarium or similar container, taller is better)
8 oz. deli cups w/lids (not pre punched)
4.5 inch diameter metal screen
3-4 Rearing containers- (2-3 gallon rubbermaid or similar container)
Holding Container (5 gallon or better)
50/50 soil/sand mixture
Pinhead Farming
Obtain a number of adult crickets suitable to your needs once every seven to fourteen days. At least 100 is recommended, otherwise the production may not be worth the effort. A thousand adults can produce ten thousand or more pinheads depending on theri condition, temperatures and food supply. Place them into the brooding container with suitable food and water sources. Fill an 8 oz. deli cup 3/4 full with a semi moist soil/sand mix. Tamp the circle of metal screen down onto the top of the substrate until it is as flush as possible. Place the cup into the brooding container for 24 hours, removing it to an incubator and replacing with a fresh cup, repeat this process for 5-7 days.
Hatching will depend upon incubation temperatures. Here are values Ive recorded.
78-80 degrees: 16-18 days
81-82 degrees: 13-15 days
83-85 degrees:11-12 days
86-90 degrees: 9-10 days
At first signs of hatching, cups should be removed to a rearing container and kept at temperatures of 80 degrees or above. Provide large amounts of cover in the form of crumpled, stacked pieces of egg carton. Hatching will continue for 2-3 days. Provide nourishment to the young in the form of thinly sliced potato and a high grade insect chow. Fresh potato should be provided to young crickets everyday.
After 3-4 days in the rearing container the hatch can be transferred into the Holding container. Which, if filled a third full with small pieces of crumpled egg carton, can hold huge numbers of pinhead to week old crickets. If kept warm and dry die offs should be minimal.
Do not reuse laying media as it can become infested with mites and other organisms.
Fruit Flies (Drosophila)
Fruit flies are an incredibly useful food in dealing with small herps, especially those that are arboreal. Melanogaster fruit flies are a suitable food for even the tiniest of hatchlings. While a useful addition to a gecko keepers arsenal, fruit flies dont seem to quite cut it as a staple. They do add variety however, and help take pressure off of other prey colonies. Cultures should be stored at 78-84 degrees for best results in my experience.
Drosophila Fruit Fly Media
This culture media works well for both Drosophilea hydei and melanogaster. People from hotter, more humid climes will want to watch the inclusion of rolled oats and molasses as those two ingredients seem to increase my mold risk.
Materials Needed:
32 ounce or better culture container
1 cup Instant Potato Flakes
1 tablespoon corn meal
1 tablespoon rolled oats
1 tablespoon bakers or brewers yeast
1/2 tsp. spirulina algae
Mix dry components into bottom of culture container, in a liquid measuring cup mix the following:
1/2 cup orange juice (preferably not from concentrate.. get high pulp for larger yields)
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tsp. methyl paraben
Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture, stir well with a fork or other implement. Be sure to mix thoroughly with no dry mix stuck to the bottom or sides of cup. Allow mix to set for 30-60 minutes. Fold 4-5 coffee filters into a tapered shape, set deeply into the mix, repeat 2-3 times.
Before adding flies, sprinkle top of culture with an additional 1/2 teaspoon of bakers yeast.
Add 8-12 flies to start a new culture
Springtails (Collembola)
Shoebox sized rubbermaids are a great container for cultures of these tiny arthropods. Methods abound, what has worked best for me has been a thin peat or coco fiber substrate, kept constantly moist. Covering this is a layer of natural charcoal (well rinsed) for cover and helping remove toxic buildups. A starter culture of springtails is added. Keep the substrate moist and feed 2nd to 3rd day with bakers yeast, spirulina algae, oatmeal, cornmeal, or fish flakes.
Cultures should begin producing within weeks, oftentimes blooming several times before needing to be reseeded.
Isopods (Crustacea)
Roley poleys, armadillo bugs, sow bugs, wood lice.. these small terrestrial crustaceans go by a wide variety of names, and come in an even wider variety of species and localities. Easy to culture and maintain, they make great prey items for animals such as Sphaerodactylus,Teratoscincus,Uroplatus, Dendrobatids, small Skinks, and a wide variety of other herps. They seem especially useful for rainforest dwellers, also those species that are highly terrestrial. The only real drawbacks to them is the time consuming nature of sorting them out of the substrate to be fed off.
Materials Needed:
128 oz deli Cup (punched) or Rubbermaid Shoebox
corkbark or egg carton
Topsoil/Sand/Peat and/or Green Moss Mix
Dried oak or maple Leaves
Mix the individual components of the substrate equally and place about 2 inches of the mix into each of your cultures. Place sheets of bark or egg carton onto the soils surface and layer crushed dried leaves about 1/4 inch thick across the entire surface. Add 50-100 isopods to each culture to get it started. Feed potato slices as often as old food is eaten or rots. Every week to two weeks sprinkle fish flakes, spirulina algae, insect chow, bakers yeast or brewers yeast into each culture. Generally a teaspoon and a half to two teaspoons will be sufficient for several hundred adults.
Keep the substrate moist at all times, but not wet. At temperatures of 72-78 degrees, you should see young out of most species of isopod within 3-5 weeks.
Dwarf White Woodlice- Topping out at about 1/4 of an inch in length, this is the smallest feeder isopod available. They are also extremely soft bodied, and like all isopods have a high calcium content. This species is capable of explosive reproduction if kept at steady temperatures at the warm end of the range for isopods, even straying into the low 80s. Bark chips, cork flats and other forms of cover are highly appreciated by this species, they don't do as well with egg carton as other species
Firebrats (Thermobius)
These strange creatures, (which are closely related to the silverfish you encounter in your bathroom), are another easily kept small food species that are great for a variety of herps. Keep them secure as escapees can infest homes in extremely hot areas. Also, their intolerance for moisture limits their usefulness in feeding many species which require moist environments.
Materials Needed:
1-2 Gallon Rubbermaid or similar container (be sure the sides are completely smooth)
Egg Cartons
Paper Towel
Cotton Balls
Fish Flakes
Place a few layers of paper towel into the bottom of the rubbermaid container, crumple a few sheets and wad them up beneath a few stacks of chunked egg carton. Add a few cotton balls to various areas of the culture to facilitate egg laying. Add 100 or so firebrats to the culture. Sprinkle fresh fish flakes (or dog kibble, cat chow, rolled oats, corn meal, rye, buckwheat etc etc.) into the culture every 3-5 days.
Keep the culture at 88-110 degrees, the hotter you can manage it the better. Ensure that the culture never comes into contact with moisture. Overly moist conditions will kill the Firebrats very quickly.
I have used the following resources in my own research and thereby to write this guide:
Professional Breders series: Live Foods for Terrarium Animals
Breeding Food Animals/Live Food For Terrarium Animals
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Syndicate
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Though, don't you have to keep the crickets humid after hatchling out for a week or so when they need to shed the first layer of skin...? I have killed off thousands due to not keeping it humid enough. Correct me if i'm wrong
Ken
Im not so sure its an ambient humidity issue as opposed to their just being enough moisture available in general. Also, Ive noticed alot of people in different areas geographically have far different results with different methods.. living in Fl. I assume youre AC is on alot, thereby making your house drier than mine on average as alot of the time we dont need it and the outside humidity seeps in.
Id suggest a cricket waterer of some kind if you try again with anything Ive recommended and it still doesnt pan out well.
And yes, I have a AC unit in the window here in sunny FL just to keep in even colder! My humidity in the gecko room usually is 39-48%. Not like I want, but hey...I had a very lucky year with my geckos producing and I thank god or whoever
Thanks again, Tom...you contribute alot. Talk to you soon...btw, lost your number...
I hadn't even considered Firebrats. Given my present location, excess humidity shouldn't be an issue (since generally my problem is keeping everything humid enough, and not the other way around.)
I'll have to find a source for them and try to get a starter culture going, just to see how well they fare as feeders for my stenodactylus.
F.Bruse-M.Meyer-W.Schmidt.
Has detailed info on culturing of:
-mice
-springtails,firebrats
-true flies
-True bugs, such as bean aphids
-beetles
-crickets and katydids
-and literally every other feeder animals in the hobby today, and as this is a european book which has been translated, there are animals in here which have never been a staple in the states, such as annam stick insects.
Also covers the manner in which to fabricate a "culture chamber" which is basically a giant incubator/small room with shelves lined with heat tape on which to place your bins, and maintain contant temp values within this area.
Available through Zoo Book Sales, zoobooksales.com
Thanks,
Jason