Things to feed crickets

[Gizalba]

Hi,

I have read that it's good to feed a varied diet of fruit and veg. I wondered if there are any fruits/veggies that are harmful to crickets or which they particularly don't like?

Thanks,

Becca

 

[m0lsx]

All I use for crickets is cheap porridge & a couple of slices of potato for moisture.

 

[Konstantin]

I use porridge too but water cristals for moisture.
They will eat any vegetables but you need to keep an eye for leftovers going bad(rotting, moldy...).Also its good to be cautious about any pesticides and chemicals that they may have as crickets are resilient to a much higher level to them but tarantulas are not.
Regards Konstantin

 

[octanejunkie]

Amazon.com : Repashy SuperLoad 12 Oz (3/4 lb) 340g JAR : Pet Supplies

Amazon.com : Repashy SuperLoad 12 Oz (3/4 lb) 340g JAR : Pet Supplies

www.amazon.com

I also offer apple, carrot, broccoli stems, oranges, etc

 

[Enn49]

I did read somewhere that you shouldn't feed them tomatoes as any left in their system can be harmful to Ts.

 

[Gizalba]

I use porridge too but water cristals for moisture.
They will eat any vegetables but you need to keep an eye for leftovers going bad(rotting, moldy...).Also its good to be cautious about any pesticides and chemicals that they may have as crickets are resilient to a much higher level to them but tarantulas are not.
Regards Konstantin

Thanks a lot!

 

[Gizalba]

I did read somewhere that you shouldn't feed them tomatoes as any left in their system can be harmful to Ts.

Thanks! Yeah I have just read the same in quite a few places online. Very important to know because I eat tomatoes so was wondering about them.

 

[menavodi]

Oats and water...

 

[Combat Advantage]

Hi,

I have read that it's good to feed a varied diet of fruit and veg. I wondered if there are any fruits/veggies that are harmful to crickets or which they particularly don't like?

Thanks,

Becca

Hi Becca,

I'm a wildlife specialist and a nutritionist, but not for crickets.
With that disclaimer, I suggest the following brief points. If you want me to give more details, just ask.

1. Clean housing. You know what dead crickets smell like. I used to buy them by the thousands/5,000 per purchase sometimes. That's a job to just to remove the dead ones every day.
If their cage is cleaned between each purchase, the pets immune system will not need to work so hard. It's a GOOD thing that they stink. God designed them to smell so bad because He knows how harmful they can be if eaten in that state.
One way to do this is to remove the pet store purchase to a high ventilation enclosure as soon as you get home. Should be cool and dry....out of direct sun.
Twice per day, Remove dead ones and uneaten food.
Only buy what you can use in a given period of time.

2. I offer the crickets a small slice of fruit or uncooked vegetable that I am eating at the time. Removing it before it molds or spoils is the key. Off the top of my head I can't think of anything that is actually toxic to them that isn't to us. However, I'm not a cricket vet.
If it doesn't look like they have eaten it, simply try a different kind next time. Peel the tough skin from broccoli and like veggies, so their weak mouth parts can get to the moisture.
This method works better than the little water dish or SpongeBob method for me. You have one less thing that needs cleaned each day.
Just replace it with a fresh piece of what you are eating. If you don't eat vegetables......do it for the health of your pets. . LOL!!
I doubt if your mom ever used that reason!

3. What is harmful to people is likely harmful to your pet over the long haul. Most of us don't know what those are. Even more don't care. It's a long list. So this doesn't turn into a book, I'll just throw out a few more common ones.
A. Glutens
B. Soy based people food or animal feed ..toxic
C. Corn. If not non gmo,....most are not....its TOXIC.
D. Dog food....some fish foods. Contains the above ingredients. Won't probably kill your pet right away, but my educated guess is that it will shorten their lives. I accidentally killed thousands of $ worth of my smithis by feeding reportedly high quality fish food to my feeder crickets.

4. High moisture content with low ventilation.
I already mentioned that but bears repeating. Plastic containers with snap on lids hold moisture and ammonia. They are petrie dishes for bacteria and molds, which young arachnids commonly die from....quickly.

That said, this sounds obvious, but wash your hands after handling cricket chores.
Pet stores and cricket farms are usually disgusting. The diseases on the bugs come back home and gram negative bacteria can grow fast. It's what led to the outlaw of small turtle sales. Turtles aren't normally that laden with bacteria in the wild. Nor are insects.......but some are. ie. Flies, ants...
This might be obvious to you, Becca, but lots of people probably will read this. Hopefully this will be helpful to you and to them.
Its late and I need to get up early for work tomorrow, so maybe PM to get my attention if you have questions. I might be in a hurry next time and forget to check back here. I'm guessing that this forum has that feature? I don't know. It's my second post here.

Best to you!

 

[Gizalba]

Hi Combat Advantage

Thanks so much for all of the detailed info it is very helpful!

Originally I had them in a 'cricket pen' but it was way too small, they kept escaping but also they looked cramped and like they would be unhappy in all the dirt. Here is a picture of their enclosure now - they are much easier to clean and feed in this! >

3. What is harmful to people is likely harmful to your pet over the long haul. Most of us don't know what those are. Even more don't care. It's a long list. So this doesn't turn into a book, I'll just throw out a few more common ones.
A. Glutens
B. Soy based people food or animal feed ..toxic
C. Corn. If not non gmo,....most are not....its TOXIC.
D. Dog food....some fish foods. Contains the above ingredients. Won't probably kill your pet right away, but my educated guess is that it will shorten their lives. I accidentally killed thousands of $ worth of my smithis by feeding reportedly high quality fish food to my feeder crickets.

- Regarding this bit however, I wondered if you could tell me more about why soy based food is toxic to humans? I have soy milk as a dairy substitute and wasn't aware it was dangerous.

 

[Rs50matt]

More people have died to religion than soy milk. I wouldn’t worry about it at all.

 

[Combat Advantage]

Hi Combat Advantage

Thanks so much for all of the detailed info it is very helpful!

Originally I had them in a 'cricket pen' but it was way too small, they kept escaping but also they looked cramped and like they would be unhappy in all the dirt. Here is a picture of their enclosure now - they are much easier to clean and feed in this! >

View attachment 47846View attachment 47847



- Regarding this bit however, I wondered if you could tell me more about why soy based food is toxic to humans? I have soy milk as a dairy substitute and wasn't aware it was dangerous.

Great question Gizalba.

First, your set up is impressive!
The crickets have a three course meal, a clean table, and good hide areas.

To answer your question about soy.

It's been a large agricultural crop for many decades. This is not due to the nutritional value of soy. It's due mainly to the profits for big agriculture and chemical companies like Monsanto. They are the first, if I remember correctly, to make commercial use of the Gene Gun. They genetically modify high value crops like soy which I will try to find a documentary or link to an interview with an expert on the subject that you can watch. This thread would turn into a book otherwise. Here's one:

Glyphosate chemical that is commercially called Round Up.
It is used on All 99.9% of soy crops.
It kills weeds, and people, but not GMO soybeans. A book or three could be written on this. I will just give bullet points and if you want further information, feel free to ask and I will explain or post links.
*Nickname in agricultural academia.....Liquid Cancer. I first heard this term at one of the top US colleges of agriculture. That's how carcinogenic the professors considered it.

*I have first hand experience with a beloved pet my Mom had. It was the family dog. I noticed that she bought a bottle of it. I warned the family to take it back to the store or dispose of it properly. Next thing I know is that it was applied to the fence line and the dog immediately developed a major stomach tumor and was killed. Some may say that this was an acceptable loss because more people died from religion than this issue. They can assume that for themselves. I would not ever use it on people or pet food, or knowingly consume it. There's no truley known safe amount. The poison is used with absolutely no limits on many crops as well as just to dry them at harvest.

*Soy used to be promoted by vegetarians from the 1970s to 2,000s as a healthy meat alternative. I understand why that information would still be promoted to us. Big agra marketing propaganda. It's promoted by schools and the FDA that its nutritious and delicious. There is a new term for estrogen dominance in men and adolescents... "Soy boys.". Plants produce estrogens....a female dominant hormone. This doesn't mean that its healthy for women though. For them it has caused cancers, miscarriages, early onset of puberty. Babies formulas containing soy is essentially giving them birth control pills.
Men and boys should not consume soy for reasons that it throws off testosterone hormones radically and eventually leads to a host of health problems. Plastics also leach estrogen mimickers. This is why I have eliminated plastics from my food storage.
It has been shown that mature men who eat right and avoid plastics, stay fit, have higher levels of T than average American men in their 20s.
I doubt if there are studies of the effects of soy meal on tarantula feed. However, I see no reason why they would not suffer health challenges from it as well.

Stay Healthy and Happy Gizalba!

 

[WolfSpider]

I guess I am an outlier. I buy 6 dozen per week. I keep them with an egg crate piece in a large deli cup. I put about 50 little green moisture cubes of cricket food. That's it. My Ts eat them all before the week is over--very few dead loss cause They are consumed within 2 days.

 

[Combat Advantage]

I guess I am an outlier. I buy 6 dozen per week. I keep them with an egg crate piece in a large deli cup. I put about 50 little green moisture cubes of cricket food. That's it. My Ts eat them all before the week is over--very few dead loss cause They are consumed within 2 days.

That's good that it works so well for you.
I used to go through lots too and think that you hit on a key that was mentioned earlier.
1. You buy what you need and no more.
2. You use what you have very quickly.

With perishables like fruit, vegetables and crickets, spoilage happens sooner than later.
Ammonia and other noxious gasses build up if its not kept up....and multiple that with a set-up for one thousand or 5,000 adults and oh boy.... that's when losses happen fast along with bacterial growth.