should i get a cricket farm going before i get my geckos?

S

swisswiss

Member
pretty much what the title says.

though iv understood the general idea of how to set up a cricket/meal worm farm im still a little lost. Elizabeth's post is very useful in terms of proper feeds but im afraid I dont have a clear picture of the actual physical setup in my mind. i am, and will keep doing research on the subject but if anyone has any awesome easy links to send my way i would be very grateful.

but yeah would it be wiser to have a healthy stock of live crickets going before i get my geckos?

be warned ill have many more questions about the details of feeding geckos, especially the supplement section of the story as im a little over whelmed by the products out there...
 
CWilson13

CWilson13

New member
I can't speak on crickets, but I know having my Dubia Roach colony has been wonderful. Easy to take care of as well. I highly recommend having your own stock of feeders.
 
S

swisswiss

Member
yeah meal worms seem to be dead easy, dubias too but they are hella nasty looking.... might go down that road later... think im going to go for a mealworm culture and just order in crickets.... would this be already a decent varied diet?
 
JessJohnson87

JessJohnson87

New member
Yes. Dubia's are not nasty, I thought so when I considered adding them to my leo's diet, I have found myself highly fascinated by them. My husband was the one that asked me "why buy them all the time, can't you breed them?" So I said yes and he was like well do it, I was shocked he was going to let me breed roaches, he could care less about the worms. Superworms are hella easy to breed as well, same concept as mealworms. Are locusts available in your area? I know some Euro members feed locusts.

https://dubiaroachdepot.com/guidance/20-reasons-to-buy-dubia-roaches
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Hi ~

Ordering crickets from a reliable source is a good idea. They are usually healthier than those I find at big box pet stores. I sometimes order younger ones than I need and raise them to a decent size. It's easy to keep crickets alive for up to 2 months depending upon their initial size. :)

I suggest variety. I focus on crickets, use some dubia, and once in awhile feed hornworms and Phoenix worms.

To keep crickets:
  • Take a large container.
  • Get some egg flats.
  • Place the dry food on the bottom.
  • Place a lid of veggies off to one side (high calcium/low phosphorus veggies--collard greens, turnip greens, etc)
  • Keep the dry food dry.
  • Place 2 layers of egg flats on the bottom.
  • Cover the flats with a paper towel.
  • Spray or dampen the paper towel for moisture. (Some folks like cricket gels, but I've not used them.)
  • Moisten the paper towel every other day depending how warm it is.
  • I keep them at normal room temps (20-23*C).

Click: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...ckets-blaptica-dubia-hornworms-silkworms.html

PS:
How about beginning a thread right here for your setup, leo, and many other questions: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/community/leopard-geckos-husbandry-housing-and-heating/

It helps us all to have the discussion in one place rather than separate threads here and there. It gives us all the BIG picture much better.
 
Last edited:
CWilson13

CWilson13

New member
I was leery of Dubias too, they are roaches after all. Like Jess said though, they are actually far from nasty once you watch them. My situation was different though as my first Leo didn't like crickets.
No matter which route you take, it's obvious you are focused on the best options for your Leo. That is what really matters :)
 
S

swisswiss

Member
actually yes I saw locusts in a leo terrarium today at the pet store and thought to myself "oh what the....!!" they were pretty damn big, well larger than the head of the gecko. which i thought was a good estimate of the size of food to feed....I guess the exoskeleton of the locusts are softer and hence easier to digest? that why you can afford to feed gargantuan insects?

Ill admit im pretty interested in how the dubias lay eggs but im a bit of a sissy when it comes to picking them and feeding them to my leo.... I guess practice makes perfect though right?

raising crickets just sounds like a noisy, smelly PITA... especially for only two geckos....
 
S

swisswiss

Member
Elizabeth Freer said:
Hi ~

Ordering crickets from a reliable source is a good idea. They are usually healthier than those I find at big box pet stores. I sometimes order younger ones than I need and raise them to a decent size. It's easy to keep crickets alive for up to 2 months depending upon their initial size. :)


I suggest variety. I focus on crickets, use some dubia, and once in awhile feed hornworms and Phoenix worms.

To keep crickets:
  • Take a large container.
  • Get some egg flats.
  • Place the dry food on the bottom.
  • Place a lid of veggies off to one side (high calcium/low phosphorus veggies--collard greens, turnip greens, etc)
  • Keep the dry food dry.
  • Place 2 layers of egg flats on the bottom.
  • Cover the flats with a paper towel.
  • Spray or dampen the paper towel for moisture. (Some folks like cricket gels, but I've not used them.)
  • Moisten the paper towel every other day depending how warm it is.
  • I keep them at normal room temps (20-23*C).

Click: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...ckets-blaptica-dubia-hornworms-silkworms.html

PS:
How about beginning a thread right here for your setup, leo, and many other questions: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/community/leopard-geckos-husbandry-housing-and-heating/

It helps us all to have the discussion in one place rather than separate threads here and there. It gives us all the BIG picture much better.
Click to expand...

thats actually exactly my plan of action, iv found a site that sells 70....-.- or 35 grams (roughly 500 crickets) i figured at 60 crickets a week for two geckos 500 should last me at the very least a month...probably more if i feed different insect....

so yeah the idea would be to buy them small and "raise" them...maybe once i get the hang of it ill be tempted to farm them but again for just two geckos not really sure its worth the hassle...
 
S

swisswiss

Member
so my plan is to set up the drawer farm system for the meal worms

1st drawer: beetles with mesh base
2nd drawer: eggs and young-lings, when i start seeing the young-lings ill move them to the 3rd drawer
3rd drawer: teen/grow-out/pupa drawer with mesh at base as well (as they shift they should automatically clean their drawer and the poop will fall in the 4th drawer). the second i see a beetle it will be transferred back to the first drawer...and so on.....
4th drawer: poop drawer


yay or nay?

also would 500 grams worth of meal worms suffice to start the farm? they dont mention the actual number of worms just the weight :s

P.s: thx Wilson, I really am trying my best to get this right the first time ;)
 
Last edited:
CWilson13

CWilson13

New member
Space on top of the head between the Leos eyes is what I was taught how to gauge how large a feeder can be. So you had that right for sure :) Even with Hornworms which have no real exoskeleton I follow that, I'd hate for one of mine to choke because I gave them a giant bit of food.
Honestly, I can't tell what the Dubias eggs look like, well mostly because I only go near them for food, water, and cleaning. Other than to scoop a few into a dish to feed off. I have had to grab a couple so far and they really are a lot like wood lice (pill/potato bugs) in how they feel and move when on my hands. Not the greatest of sensations but nothing that'd make your skin crawl. Just be sure to wash thoroughly after and all will be well.
Crickets are noisy and smelly, part of why I was happy Apollo didn't like them :coverlaugh:
 
JessJohnson87

JessJohnson87

New member
I use a spoon to pick up my dubia roaches, I refuse to touch them with my bare fingers....

On the mealworm drawer thing, if you use a plastic 3 drawer set-up, you can drill holes into the first drawer so the eggs from the beetles fall into the 2nd drawer. The beetles have the tendency to eat the eggs and smaller larvae
 
S

swisswiss

Member
......I hate you guys.....

set up my mealworm farm....and prepared the Dubia container....yuck!


had a few questions on the subject....

a) iv read I can use mealworm beetles to keep the dubia colony clean? if thats so that would be really cool. Because im all for doing combo things like that since ill have a mealworm farm going....

b) im not planning in having dubias and mealworms by the thousands, again this will be my food source for just two geckos and I think already they will reproduce more than i can feed...right?

c)iv ordered a kilo of mealworms to get my farm started/ feed some to the geckos (i should be getting them Tuesday.... whoopwhoop!!) do you folks think thats enough or over kill? if so i have plenty of birds in my garden who im sure would would feast on the them too...

d) how often and what table scrapings exactly can I feed the dubias? I mean i realize they are roaches and will probably eat my bones if i leave my hands in there long enough but what food is best used to "gutload them" in view of being fed to my geckos?

im a little lost on the matter, iv read several articles, some saying you "MUST" feed roach chow, others saying you can make your own and others still saying if you feed a varied diet of fruit and vegetables that you dont need to add either the chow or water.

e) can I put the pupas in the frass drawer, and would it be a bad idea to dump said frass occasionally in the dubia colony to feed the young nymphs

anyway thx for the feedback and I hope you enjoyed this little update....
 

Attachments

  • DSC04689.jpg
    DSC04689.jpg
    94 KB · Views: 9
  • DSC04690.jpg
    DSC04690.jpg
    90.3 KB · Views: 8
  • DSC04691.jpg
    DSC04691.jpg
    93.9 KB · Views: 8
  • DSC04692.jpg
    DSC04692.jpg
    90.8 KB · Views: 9
  • DSC04693.jpg
    DSC04693.jpg
    87.7 KB · Views: 9
Last edited:
Hilde

Hilde

Administrator
Staff member
c)iv ordered a kilo of mealworms to get my farm started/ feed some to the geckos (i should be getting them Tuesday.... whoopwhoop!!) do you folks think thats enough or over kill? if so i have plenty of birds in my garden who im sure would would feast on the them too...
Click to expand...
I'm guessing that's several thousand mealworms. My calculations say it's close to 5,000.
You'll have more than enough to feed to the birds.

With more than 20 geckos who will eat mealworms, I still don't need 5,000 at a time, even for breeding purposes. The extras go to the birds. They really appreciate them in winter, when decent food is scarce, and in the summer, when they've got their kids to feed.

tmnymws3.jpg
tmnymws4u.jpg
tmnymws5.jpg
 
S

swisswiss

Member
Hilde said:
I'm guessing that's several thousand mealworms. My calculations say it's close to 5,000.
You'll have more than enough to feed to the birds.

With more than 20 geckos who will eat mealworms, I still don't need 5,000 at a time, even for breeding purposes. The extras go to the birds. They really appreciate them in winter, when decent food is scarce, and in the summer, when they've got their kids to feed.

View attachment 37944
View attachment 37945
View attachment 37946
Click to expand...


I have a crazy amount of wild life that scurrys through my garden. from red kites to hedgehogs, through foxes, squirrels, robins and woodpeckers and many, many more im sure most of them will be delighted by the squigglies. any ideas about this whole mealworm beetle/clean up crew story? according to vikipedia the consume polyster as well...which is mind blowing if you ask me...
 
JessJohnson87

JessJohnson87

New member
My darkling beetles are currently eating the pupae that did not make it to beetle stage. I also noticed that my roaches will eat the molted exo-skeleton that they leave behind. I feed my roaches adult bearded dragon pellets with carrots, collard greens and apples. My beetles get the same veggies/fruits except they really love kale and I have them on a bed of oats.

Like Hilde said, if you get too many of either, you can throw the worms outside and freeze the roaches before you put them outside. The woodland critters will appreciate it. Also, you don't hate us....I hate roaches but I put my disgust aside for the health of my leo, my cresite is not interested in the roaches.
 
CWilson13

CWilson13

New member
I feed lots of collard, mustard, turnip greens to my roaches. I toss a few carrot slices in occasionally to help with moisture. I keep the roach chow in with them all the time and have some Zoo Med Adult Bearded Dragon pellets in there as well. I regularly have used this link for info on nutritional values of everyday foods. Thanks to Elizabeth Freer for that btw :)
Show Foods

It starts at turnip greens but you can search for many other things with just a few clicks. Another good one that I am waiting to try is Dandelion greens. I have heard many good things about them.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top