refrigerating crickets

[lbanta]

how long do you need to refrigerate crickets to slow them down a bit for feeding Leopard Geckos?

 

[acpart]

I wouldn't recommend refrigerating them at all. They will likely go into a cold coma and ultimately die. A better method is to put them in a bowl and remove their legs.

Aliza

 

[hmarie186]

+1 Aliza.

If you grab them by the back leg with tweezers pretty close to their body, they usually lose it in the process of fighting to get away. Then just do it again to the other leg. I de-legged all crickets before feeding to confine them to a bowl.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

This is my method. Works for 2 wo crix and older.

I gently secure the cricket in my left hand (I'm a righty) between my first 2 fingers and my thumb. Then I cut off only the back jumper legs right below the "knees" with a scissors. This way the crickets can still walk, if your goal is to slow them down.

This works for medium tall dishes with perpendicular sides. The deeper the better.

Click: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=420810677967088&oid=359607730781688

That pretty much keeps them in food dishes depending upon their size. The larger the cricket or the dubia, the more they can scale even vertically sided feeding dishes.

 

[Tongue Flicker]

I would normally just get a small seamless box, put the crickets in (with a little calcium powder if needed) and just do 4-5 light, up & down shakes as if you're using a maracas and that's usually suffice to make them dizzy for a few minutes without killing them.

Or just remove the hind legs. If you feed just a couple of large crickets, you could always just cut the tips of their legs to prevent them from climbing over to hide or escape from your gecko.

 

[hmarie186]

This is my method. Works for 2 wo crix and older.

I gently secure the cricket in my left hand (I'm a righty) between my first 2 fingers and my thumb. Then I cut off only the back jumper legs right below the "knees" with a scissors.

I can't imagine touching one! Don't they try to bite you? I don't handle any of the feeders..

 

[majahawt]

I can't imagine touching one! Don't they try to bite you? I don't handle any of the feeders..

I would just sorta hand them to my boyfriend lol. I think what he used to do though, is hold them with tongs right on the middle of their body and then use scissors to lift the jumper legs up and cut some off. A lot of the time they just drop'em too

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I gently secure the cricket in my left hand (I'm a righty) between my first 2 fingers and my thumb. Then I cut off only the back jumper legs right below the "knees" with a scissors. This way the crickets can still walk, if your goal is to slow them down.

I can't imagine touching one! Don't they try to bite you? I don't handle any of the feeders..

I always use Acheta domestica crickets: ~1/2 inch maximium size. These are "gentle" crickets. Have not been bitten yet.

Gryllus assimilis are more aggressive. Those WILL bite. Check with your source. When the denso virus decimated USA cricket populations several years ago and closed down many suppliers, the Acheta domestica were "endangered". Fortunately some companies still produce them.