Crickets for Cresteds

[Shadera]

I'm gathering a small group of cresteds, for the joy of keeping them and to see if I can produce some nice babies when the balls don't have any interest in hanky panky.

I feed Repashy CGD. I'd like to offer a few crickets or other insects now and then for some variety. What are the best to offer, and what's best for my situation - buy them when I need them, or breed my own? Does anyone have some step-by-step advice for setting up such a feeder colony? What's the best way to make them super-nutritious for the cresties? (Brand name product recommendations, instructions, etc.)

I've never fed insects to anything before, but I want these guys to be as healthy as they can possibly be in my captive care. Any and all advice and tips is/are appreciated. Thank you.

 

[garweft]

I feed mine CGD on Monday and Wednesday (I add a little extra calcium to the mix on wednesday) and then give them about 5 crickets each on Friday. I would just get them as you need them since you really won't need to have them constantly. Breeding crickets is very easy, but raising them for weeks is no fun and takes up too much space and time. Not to mention you'll have way more than you'll most likely need and end up dumping them out. About the only time I breed them is to get pinheads for my dart frogs.

You can buy the Fluker gutload, but it is too much money for too little gutload IMHO. I use chicken feed sold specifically for chickens laying eggs (layer chicken feed) sold at feed stores. The bag is huge and will last forever (just keep it dry). I also offer spring mix greens for moisture and extra nutrition, but carrots or potatoes would work as well. They only need to be allowed to feed for 24hrs on the gutload material and then are ready to be fed. You can dust them with calcium powder and then feed them off.

 

[Shadera]

Excellent, and just the amount of detail I was looking for. Thanks for the tips Matt.

 

[rlapointe]

if you are still using repashy you might want to look into the clarks diet. i used to use repashy and i hated it. i looks gross, smells gross, and fruit flies used to get in it. clarks now made by PMP reptiles smells great looks fine kind of a yellow color and no more fruit flies. i use 2oz little plastic cups in holders and i make my own mixture. i use a full jar of baby food half a jar of water and half a jar of the clarks with 10cc of liquid calcium in it as well as tossing in some vitamins. i use the 2oz cups for my bigger cresteds and i use the lids for my smaller geckos that way i can toss it out when im done. i leave the cups in there for 2 days they seem to prefer that they will clean the cup out if it is in there for two days rather than one. i buy crickets 1000 at a time and keep them in a 20 gallon long tank with egg crates in there for climbing surfaces as it is important to have enough room for crickets to spread out and not be standing on each other. make sure your screen top in steel and not fiberglass that can chew through the fiberglass. the smallest possible holes in the screen are best. i prefer using water gel rather than water pillows because you can always see how much is left there is now guesing like there is with the pillows and you just have to add more you dont have to rewet it. for food the cheapest best food is dog food. it is very high in protien which will actually cause the crickets to breed in the tank and you will have different sizes to choose from. depending on the size of your collection of cresteds it might be a wise idea to buy crickets a size smaller than you need because they willl grow and you are better off having to feed a few extra crickets because they are smaller when you first get them than end up having a bunch you cant use because they are too big. remember crickets should only be as big as the distance between the nose and the eyes anything bigger will be hard for the gecko to eat. i feed crickets every 3 days i never really count how many i throw in but i make sure i give them enough for them to run around and chase them get them a little active but i remove any uneaten food the next morning. for under weight geckos try a few wax worms for the gecko that needs to put on weight. the best way to keep your crickets alive is to keep them cool and dry try to keep the tank from getting too humid. try ordering crickets online from places like ghanns or newyork worms or crickets online. crickets online will let you order in smaller quanties sure as 250 where the others are 500 or 1000. and best part of all you dont have to dust them because the mixed CGD has everything in it. i hope i answered all of your questions. good luck