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Post by komodo on Oct 16, 2007 17:31:11 GMT -5
I have recently bought a leopard gecko, and I'm feeding it crickets. I want to know should I just put all the crickets in the gecko's cage, or should I keep it separate and only put in a few each day? Also does anyone breed crickets? If so how can I do that?
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Post by prismwolf on Oct 16, 2007 20:15:54 GMT -5
You should only put enough crix in there for feeding time. A full gecko will stop eating them and hungry crix are known for turning the table...especially at night. As for breeding crix...I've never done it...don't care to...they stink pretty bad...O.o Here's a link in case you think you would like to give it a try: www.anapsid.org/crickets.htmlwww.wormman.com/breeding_crickets.cfmwww.easyinsects.co.uk/livefood/crickets/ <---haven't looked at this one...but the other two have been around for awhile. Keep in mind if all you have is one gecko the crix get fed to...you will be wasting a lot of crix that die before they get eaten. The solution...Get more cricket eating beasties!! ;-) |
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Post by komodo on Oct 16, 2007 21:05:08 GMT -5
Thats the problem I found 3 dead crix and I'm given them the food and water from the pet store. I got a male leo because I don't want to mess with all the egg laying that the females do, so I can't get another male leo cause they will fight to the death.
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Post by prismwolf on Oct 17, 2007 7:42:36 GMT -5
Ok...you can get several different aquariums...;-)
One for another leo
One for a bearded dragon
One for a uromastyx
one for a tokay gecko.
Just kidding...totally!! If your crix are already nearly full-grown...they die pretty quickly. They only have an adult lifespan of about 2 weeks. What kind of container do you have them in? What kind of food and water from the pet store?
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Post by komodo on Oct 17, 2007 17:21:39 GMT -5
Fluker's Laboratories High-Calcium Cricket Feed, Fluker's Cricket Quencher, Lee's Pet Kricket Keepers. I got all the stuff from petco. Link: www.petco.com/Shop/SearchResults.aspx?Nav=1&N=0&Ntt=CricketThey were in a small plastic container when I bought them, and they were all type of sizes. I found a whole bunch dead this afternoone  . I only have two left  . |
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Post by prismwolf on Oct 17, 2007 19:08:12 GMT -5
I think you may need to rethink your housing design for these crix. I use those items, too. I took the tubes out of the cricket keeper and added it to the egg crate halves I place in a large rubbermaid tote. They need more room than the cricket keeper provides. I keep 2000...yes...3 zeros...at a time for at least 2 weeks. This time I just ordered 3000 and some phoenix worms. Here's a picture of the cricket keeper I use (click for larger image):    These pics were taken about 4-5 yrs ago. I use a larger tote now. There is a line of packing tape around the inside rim so the climbers can't get out. The tape is too slippery. The cricket keeper tubes have also been added. |
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Post by prismwolf on Oct 17, 2007 19:13:58 GMT -5
Another thing I don't do is buy from Petco or Petsmart. For one...those are 1 1/2 hours away in two different directions. For another...it's cheaper to buy online. You can purchase very small crix and just allow them to grow. You might want to think about a separate feed box for your leo, too. This way if he doesn't eat them all you can just place him back in his home and put the crix back in the tote. I order mine from www.wormman.com. Cheapest of the three I have tested in the last five or so weeks. The others I tried was reptilefood.com and southerncricket.com. |
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Post by ChamZilla on Oct 17, 2007 19:52:49 GMT -5
Hey there! I wouldn't put all the crickets in with your gecko. Crickets actually can bite and cause injury to your geckos eyes. I have actually been bitten by a cricket and when I pulled my finger away it decapatated him. Which I never in a million years thought they would bite. I keep mine in a small plastic aquarium with a screen lid, prism's idea is also a great idea. Crickets can climb up silicone so its not much use putting them in a glass aquarium with no lid. They will be running all over your house driving you nuts in the night. LOL I used to buy by the hundreds also, but it is hard now that I only have one lizard that eats crickets. I just go to the nearest pet store and buy 4 dozen a week. Sometimes they last two weeks. I don't use that cricket water or the cricket gut loading stuff. I make my own. I use potato's cut in half, carrots, bran, cornmeal, cornflakes and chicken meal. THis works great to gutload crickets. I did sucessfully breed crickets by accident once. I had them in a margerine container and had dirt in the bottom and they bread in there. I opened it up one day and there were all these pinhead crickets in there. But it was too damp in there and they died. Crickets deffinatly do stink, so I wouldn't want to keep tones of them and not clean the containers. But yes if you go to the store and buy 4 dozen large there will be a few that die every week till they are gone. This is normal and for this reason most places will give you a few more crickets than what you ordered. good luck with whatever you choose to do  |
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Post by komodo on Oct 17, 2007 21:07:52 GMT -5
How many crixs does a gecko eat in one day?
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Post by prismwolf on Oct 17, 2007 21:30:06 GMT -5
I also feed iguana salad. Forgot that part until Cham posted her gutload recipe.
How many they eat...I'm not even going to guess there. I don't keep geckos. I just know how to keep crix. I thought I knew how many crix chams will eat...until I actually got two of them! At 6 months old they go through about 60-75 1/4" crix a day. That, of course, is an estimate.
Even online stores send approx 50-100 extra per 1000 to account for losses. Some state that on their website even. Good luck with your options. Use what you think will work best...and if it doesn't...try an alternative...:-)
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. I only have two left 
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