Crickets How to Save Money and Time Feeding Your Reptiles
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
- Do you HATE buying and feeding crickets to your reptiles? Are you tired of spending money on crickets only to see them die in just a couple days!
Luckily, there are great ways to save money and time when considering feeding crickets to your reptiles. I'll share my experiences and let you know how YOU can save in buying, keeping, harvesting, and feeding crickets.
Whether you're feeding bearded dragons, crested geckos, leopard geckos, monitors, or any other reptile, crickets are a necessary annoyance!
Some reptiles just do NOT want to eat dubias or mealworms. Crickets are actually a better food item for many reptiles / geckos.
I'll walk through a few tips we use to buy crickets for less money, keep your crickets alive longer, harvest your crickets without them jumping on the floor, and how to feed crickets so they don't eventually hide somewhere in the enclosure only to die without being eaten.
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Wow thanks, I’m a teen trying to keep crickets (because my parents don’t want dubias in the house), and I’m really scared to take care of crickets, but I’ll do anything for my baby gecko.
Keep up the great work! Let me know if you have any questions.
Putting a thin layer of sand on the bottom of the tub helps absorb urates and cuts back on the smell.
Also instead of misting I use a small poultry waterer and pack the bottom with spaghnum to prevent drowning.
I don't use a substrate as it just plain gets in the way. I replace the egg cartons every couple days (should have mentioned that in the video) and that works - without dealing with a substrate. Also, the poultry water feeders are notorious for harboring bacteria. Now, if this works for you, cool.
I didn't know that mealworm cups would work like that for crickets, I'm getting a whole bunch soon to breed, this is quite helpful.
Very glad this helped!
great information thank you for sharing and keep up the great work
Thanks Andrew.
I thought I posted this before but I must have forgot to hit post. I'm that 1 person Wally. Even with all the negative aspect of cricket keeping they are still my favorite insect to breed. Why? because I can get 10,000 or more from one breeding and I seem to get the best feeding response from my animals (I'm going to try the red ROBINS once more though) My biggest issue was getting the pinheads to live past the first molt or two (which you addressed with the misting) once I figured it out they are very hardy. I'm still tweaking my setup but my last hatch is going into its 3 molt now and I still have several thousand left. Once they've molted 3 or 4 times they become very easy to maintain. When I have my baby tailless whipscorpions I pretty much need the pinheads because nothing else works as well. One tip, as someone below mentioned, go with banded crickets over the house crickets. They are hardier and they don't smell as much. The one downside, if you need large crickets, is they don't get as large but when you are keeping more alive to feed off you can make up for that by feeding more.
No doubt about it. Easy easy to breed.... but a lot of keepers are knocked back the at first couple of molts. Warm/Humid and bingo. BUT... a bit of work :)
Great video Wally, I only feed mealworms and dubia. I only keep Leos, but I have those same 'mealworm' dishes that I throw some medium sized dubia into along with the mealworms for the geckos that prefer dubia, but if crickets don't jump out right away if they're dusted... Then I'm gonna try that out, and see if mine like em. Thanks for the tips man, and also bring Gary Orner on soon for an 'Expert Breeder Interview', having Andrew on was great to watch, and Gary deserves way more followers than he has.
Keep me posted on how the crickets works. I think Gary chats geckos every week on his channel so it would be a bit redundant I think. But thank you for the suggestion.
I have a small container with dairy cows and crickets, and springtails (: cant wait to set up my 10 gal, its mostly for my lil cows but its nice to not worry about food for my T's
Nice!! Great idea! Now, if I were feeding a tarantula isopods, I would give only one per feeding and MAKE SURE it is eaten while watching. If not eaten, I would remove it.
@@SupremeGecko oh I just feed my T the crickets, I live in a small town so it's nice to have a few chipping around, I got my four cows as a freebie about 2 two months ago and they're already having many babies ^^ I've heard conflicting things about keeping rollie pollies with T's together so they're gonna stay separate (:
Great video very interesting
Thank you very much. First time visinting our channel. If so, hope you enjoy what we do.
Locusts are a better option for me. They're cheap, about the same size, better nutrition for my mantises and they're as easy if not easier to keep and feed.
Great option. I'm guessing you are not in the US, correct?
Great video! I don't feed crickets often but I'm going to remember these tips when I do.
Hope it helps if you do.
Great video. Main feeder here in Canada
You cannot do dubias in Canada can you?
@@SupremeGecko no roaches at all.
I like working with crickets
I don't mind them myself.
@@SupremeGecko good😊😊😊
Great video as always Wally! I actually did learn some good stuff from this, even after like 20 years of feeding crickets! 🤣 thanks!
I feel we could ALL learn something from our animals every day. Thanks for watching.
Thank you Wally. It was very helpful.
Fantastic!
My reptiles eat crickets so I have to buy him a couple times a week so I really do hope this video helps me
I do too. Thank you for watching.
Great video. After Handy Dandy watches this, she can take over all cricket work from this point forward.
👀
No sir! Annnnnd, his way is better than yours LOL. KEEP IT CLEAN from now on, mister! 😘
I love this! The exchange between you two. As you know, it's all about sharing. I've learned from you and was hoping this might be something you might be able to use.
Love the exchange between the two of you! Crickets just get dirty FAST! When I saw you with the plastic bag though, I thought the bigger plastic tub might help.
I by mine by the 1000 count box and keep them in glass tank. I like to place the collection cup into the tank and knock them into it there, that keep everything in one tank. I keep a chicken water container that has a sponge in the water area for them to drink.
That works out better, by the 1000. Be careful of the chicken waterer. I know a lot of people use this but I also know it can harbor a lot of bad things if not religiously cleaned out.
What a great video
Thank you Emily
Great tips Wally!
Thank Bob. This was a really fun video to do as I knew it would help people immediately.
I've been having some luck with keeping cricket enclosures as dry as possible but supplying them with a water source. The best thing I've found so far is a test tube laid flat on its side, filled with water and plugged up with cotton, the same as used in antkeeping.
I really like this idea! I'll try this. When I mention misting in the video, it really is less about hydration than humidity to aid the younger crickets to molt.
@@SupremeGecko Yeah I'll have to incorporate some of your techniques as well. one day we'll crack the cricket code.
I buy from rainbowMealworns, but when they are out of the insects I need, I buy from Fluckers.
I typically buy anywhere from 3-6k crickets for the month. I use bins and I also have cleaner crew larva to help keep the bins clean
Sounds like a nice setup. Thanks for sharing
Come on Wally - Crickets are so much fun !
Nooooooo!
Excellent Video Wally!!! I Heard Banded Crickets are better in nutrition and live twice the amount as the regular variety and give off very little smell!!!
Good call. I didn't want to get too much into the depths of crickets in this video (it started out just as a How To Harvest video, then became more). The issue with bandeds is that they are a bit quicker than the greys so some animals (my knobtails) do not prefer them.
I don't know about the nutrition part (a lot of cricket nutrition comes from what you feed your crickets anyway) but you are right, for almost everything else the bandeds are superior to the house crickets
I hate crickets but still buy them to give a variety of different bugs. We only buy in small amounts because we only have a few geckos.
Right! I only buy them to give a variety too.
Never dealt with them but I’ve heard of all the reasons why people hate them. I’ll stick with my mealworm and Turkestan roach colonies for my tarantulas. Great video 👍
I don't blame you. Make sure you check out peanut beetles when you get a chance.
@@SupremeGecko Went ahead and saw your latest video on peanut beetles. Never heard of then before and the information was great. They are little too small for what I have now but maybe that will change in the future. I also had the same issues with my mealworms with them having bad molts but a lid fixed that for the most part. Thanks for the information.
@@nihil8131 makes sense.
I love to keep cricketts
I hope the video helped.
for mourning geckos, i like joshs frogs 50 pack of pinheads.......for my tokay i just buy at local pet store, just a dozen
Cool! I think the buying in bulk will work for some and of course not for others. If you do pinheads for your mournings, you should try peanut beetles! Message me on FB if interested.
@@SupremeGecko i have tried bean beetles, kinda stinky…maybe sometime i will try the peanut beetles :))
@@sandysizemore1828 I HATE bean beetles! If you ever want to try the PBs, just contact me on FB. You pay for the shipping ($8) and I will send you over a healthy sized culture. :)
Thanks for another great video! Can crickets climb the plastic tubs and deli cups?
Nope. But they don't need to as they jump about 30 feet in the air ;)
Great video
Thank you Oscar
I grow the crickets. I'm from Georgia Western Europe
I would enjoy hearing your experiences sometime on how you grow crickets.
Love it! We order 2-5K depending! The smell is just the worst!
Yes.... and if you forget about a tub for a few weeks..... you get cricket soup. Yum!
@@SupremeGecko where do you get yours from??
@@NickHowellElectricgeckos crickets?
I love keeping variety of feeders even if it's crickets it's for your pets not for you. If you don't like crickets feel you're being selfish and don't care about your pets.
Well, if you pets prefer or adjust to other feeder items (as long as they are as healthy), that isn't an issue. :)
Doesn't everyone feed crickets? I still purchase mine from the store but will check the sites you gave for a better deal.
I'm finding that there are some keepers that like to stay as far away from them as possible :)
Hi, I've been through a few videos but don't see anywhere yet where you list your calcium dust. Do you have some thing you specifically recommend or a source? Thanks!
Yes I do! I thought I mentioned this in the Supplementation video. I use OsteForm.
@@SupremeGecko thankyou so much! I haven't watched the supplement video, I'll check that out next!
I only keep small quantities of crickets (~30) and I still hate the smell. They are so gross...
:) 100% agree. A necessary evil for us.
I put crickets straight i to the fridge when I get em, puts em to sleep permanently, silences the noise perfectly, and keeps em fresh for my herps.......
How long do you keep them in the fridge?
@@SupremeGecko till they are gone
@@SupremeGecko mind you, i only have a beardie atm, so im not storing a whole lot for too long. even after a week in, they still twitch once they warm up, although i bet its just nerves catching up.....
@@TheLordbal so you are feeding the dead?
@@SupremeGecko technically yes
I breed them in my tokay tank without effort!
Crickets?
@@SupremeGecko yes crickets they love it in that tank!
I like crickets simply cause my dragons prefer them over the other readily available feeders.
Good point.
Last!!!
This made me laugh
1000 crickets every month but also semi successful breeding them
Nice on the breeding. Congratulations!
@@SupremeGecko thanks I failed many times
I really wish we could have locust feeders like the EU has...
I know. That would be interesting. But I certainly understand.
Prices definitely went up the cheapest crickets I can find that's 1,000 of them is $18
At The Bug Co.?
@@SupremeGecko no in jeneral
Also apparently the bug co dissent exist
I look and I found the website but it doesn't exist
@@TheCritterCorner620 What The Bug Co dissent? :) We order every other week!
@@SupremeGecko I don't know what is going on then I am so confused
@@TheCritterCorner620 :) I don't know either. PM me on FB and I can get you the info.
I hate dealing with crickets.
Me too!
I get mine from petco and I only get what I need
Cool
I buy about 1000 from Josh’s frogs every 3 weeks
Check out the other 3 sources I gave on the video. I love Josh's Frogs but I love saving me some $$$ sometimes more ;)
@@SupremeGecko I definitely will
I hate crickets as well lol
Absolutely
@@SupremeGecko I got some cb grasshoppers and I'm hoping that the will breed but haven't had luck since I got them
I buy 25 crickets for my bearded dragon
How long do they last you?
@@SupremeGecko about a week, then they die, because I used a tiny carrier that is less than a foot in length, and way too small to keep anything alive, because my parents respect my lizard, and my dog, and don't care about any other animals/bugs
I do everything for my fish and snails myself
@@reptileclub8681 Great! What do you do?
@@reptileclub8681 With proper care, they should last a lot longer. Taking care of your feeders, takes care of your animals.
hate crickets
Absolutely me too.
I hate crickets!
Me too!!!!
I hate crickets
I do too but we need to feed them :(