Questions: Worms, Crickets & Dusting

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Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy

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In an effort to provide Howie with a large variety of food and save a few bucks, I've purchased a bunch of feeders from a supplier instead of the local pet sore. Not knowing exactingly how much he would each over a long period of time, I have estimated way too much. Plus in an effort to be nice, the seller [very nice fellow] gave me a bunch of freebies. Now I'm stumped at how to try to keep all of these critters well fed and alive until Howie eats them all. The following is a list of all my feeders. Some of which I think I can keep going, others I have no idea.

Crickets - Been feeding them carrots and Flukers Gut Load, cleaning out keeper every few days.

Phoenix Worms - I think I'm not supposed to do anything with these and they will keep just fine.

Butter Worms - No clue what to do with these.

Silk Worms - No clue what to do with these. The little chuck of food they came with is all gone now. I ordered 5 and he gave me at least 20.

Mealworms - I didn't order these, he just threw them in. Been feeding them carrots and Flukers Gut Load. These are quite mature, many are pupating.

So here's my Questions:

1) What to feed these feeders?
2) Do I need to dust all of them?
3) Howie had previously never had his meals dusted and does not like it one bit. Any suggestions?
4) Since I've been offer worms, Howie has no interest in the crickets, which was his sole diet before I got him. Is this a problem?
5) What's your Geckos favourite feeder? I got Howie a Hornworm, and he thought it was manna from heaven. :yahoo:
 
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Tlor Fett

Tlor Fett

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1.
Pretty much what your feeding them is pretty good.

The Silkworm / Hornworms eat only that cube stuff and its a bit of a complex mixture of stuff turned into that pudding (did it once) your better off feeding them off first or finding someone (pet store) who wants to feed them to something.

The Butter worms and Phoenix worms are not fed at all.

Butter worms (treat not staple food) will stay plump and alive in your refrigerator for about 3-4 months without food or water.

DO NOT put Phoenix worms in the fridge, they can live for about 3 weeks.

2. Dusting never hurts in my opinion, sometimes a gecko can get too much calcium but I dust all the time and leave powder in a dish and have never had this occur. (8 years of breeding)

3. Try less dust or just dont dust them maybe put them in a dish with the dust so when he gets them he snags some dust too

4. He will probably ignore the crickets until he is "hungry" sometimes it becomes a problem feeding a Leo these other feeders and then them not wanting to go back to their original diet. Crickets are more nutritious then the meal worms, where as the Pheonix worms I beleive the highest in nutrition (someone correct me if im wrong)

5. Mine generally go nuts over anything that moves a lot, so crix and roaches get the most attention, otherwise they just sit on top of their food bowls scooping up worms.
 
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Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy

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Thanks so much for your reply. Very informative.

I think I'm not letting him get hungry enough to really feel the need to hunt down his crickets. I've been checking if he's hungry by offering up a worms daily. He's got a couple dusted crickets hopping around most of the time. When I can't find them anymore, I toss in a couple more. Unfortunately he hasn't got the eating from a dish thing yet.
 
bud1988

bud1988

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My Leo LOVED Crix for a long time (7 months) , she would rattle her tail and Launch at them very quick.

But about a month ago she started to not seem as interested as before.
But when she sees a meal worn she jumps it lol.

Think I need more variety.. where did you get your bundle of bugs? :D
 
Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy

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UPDATE: Buying feeders in bulk... not what it's cracked up to be.

Aside from finding out what Howie likes and what he doesn't, the whole bulk buy turned out to be a bit of a waste. He is not interested in the Phoenix worms at all. Their web site suggests the small size for Leo's but I think they are way to small to warrant any interest whatsoever. The silkworms were great, but buying any more than 10 at a time is a waste since they tend to expire into a thin pile of water and skin after a couple of weeks. The crickets are dying off faster than they're getting eaten. The mealworms must have been quite old when I got them as they were pupating almost immediately and within a couple of weeks.. beetles.
The butterworms are thankfully holding their own in the fridge. Guess I'll just stick to the pet store feeders for now.:roll:
 
stringmouse

stringmouse

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crickets can be tricky to care for. I have just recently gotten the hang of it. The main problem seems to be with moisture. They need a constant supply of water that they can drink from, but not drown in. I have a shallow glass dish with a folded paper towel in it that I wet every morning, and change out about every other day. If you have some left, maybe you can try it. You will still get a handful of dead ones, but not nearly as many. Other than that, they are voracious eaters and I have to replenish their food every day. I feed them orange cubes and Flukers powdered feed, and the occasional potato/veggie.
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Thin Lizzy said:
UPDATE: Buying feeders in bulk... not what it's cracked up to be.

Aside from finding out what Howie likes and what he doesn't, the whole bulk buy turned out to be a bit of a waste. He is not interested in the Phoenix worms at all. Their web site suggests the small size for Leo's but I think they are way to small to warrant any interest whatsoever. The silkworms were great, but buying any more than 10 at a time is a waste since they tend to expire into a thin pile of water and skin after a couple of weeks. The crickets are dying off faster than they're getting eaten. The mealworms must have been quite old when I got them as they were pupating almost immediately and within a couple of weeks.. beetles.
The butterworms are thankfully holding their own in the fridge. Guess I'll just stick to the pet store feeders for now.:roll:
Click to expand...

Thin Lizzy ~

What supplement are you using for light dusting?

Let me know if you'd like my Hornworm Guidelines.

About crickets:

Hassle-free Cricket Care
ElizabethFreer@aol.com
Geckos Unlimited/Pacific Northwest Herpetological Society
2 March 2013 (amended)
(www.GeckosUnlimited.com)

Take a suitably sized container, for instance, an extra large Kritter Keeper or a 56 quart Sterilite bin. Place a good quality all purpose poultry feed and dry oatmeal on the bottom of the cage. Add your crickets. Next cover with a double layer of egg cartons. On top of the egg cartons place a folded paper towel. Spray the paper towel generously every other day. Keep crickets between 70 F and the mid 80s. They will grow faster if warmer, but seem to do fine at 70 F. If room temperatures exceed 85 F spray the paper towel daily.

Spraying the paper towel is an excellent way to provide moisture for your crickets and save them from perishing from too much moisture.

Feed crickets an All Purpose Poultry Feed (contains about 16% protein, 3% fat, & vitamin A acetate), dry oatmeal, alfalfa hay (“Hay-Kob”: 800-332-5623), collard greens, carrots, winter squash. General Mills' dry cereal whole grain TOTAL can also be used in a pinch.

Do not feed insects puppy, kitten, dog, and/or cat biscuits/food OR tropical fish flakes. Those are way too high in protein and fat and potentially could cause hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease).

By following these recommendations it is quite easy to keep your crickets alive and thriving easily one to two months past purchase.

Formally "gutload" crickets 48 hours prior to feeding off to geckos with T-REX Calcium Plus Food for Crickets.

2 March 2013:
Captured directly from Hilde's post #134, 27 Feb 2013, on "spoiled by crickets" thread in the crestie forum:
"If you feed the insects a decent diet full time, not just a day before feeding them off, you really improve the nutrients they'll provide - build a better body, not just fill the relatively short intestinal tract."


Maurice Pudlo's Feeder Diet Recommendations
Feeder Insect Diets & Gutload
 
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Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy

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Thanks Elizabeth.. I just read through these last night. I think my biggest problem was the size of my keeper. I'll be sure to give this another try.
 
Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy

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I'm lucky enough to have a mulberry tree in my back yard. I'll look into making up some silkworm food in the spring.

I dust with reptivite and repti-calcium both with d3.

Just this morning Howie made a liar out of me and went into his moist hide. Happy about that. Also, his colours seemed super bright today.

photo-1.jpgphoto-2.JPG

In the picture outside of the hide there is a cricket in the right side bottom of the pic. Does this appear to be too large for him?
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Thin Lizzy said:
I'm lucky enough to have a mulberry tree in my back yard. I'll look into making up some silkworm food in the spring.

I dust with reptivite and repti-calcium both with d3.

Just this morning Howie made a liar out of me and went into his moist hide. Happy about that. Also, his colours seemed super bright today.

View attachment 21229View attachment 21230

In the picture outside of the hide there is a cricket in the right side bottom of the pic. Does this appear to be too large for him?
Click to expand...

Thin Lizzy said:
Ha Ha... my pics are upside down.:roll: I'm sure you get the picture.
Click to expand...

Don't stand on my head much any more ;-). Howie has "sticking" powers beyond ANY leo I have ever known!!! Imagine that, he can stick to the ceiling of his hide!!!!

Cricket and leo look to be of great sizes.
 
stringmouse

stringmouse

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Howie is adorable. And it looks like he still has some growing to do, so I think the hide is a good size. And the cricket looks good too, I don't think they're too big.
 
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