Adding in a variety

[Smitty]

Howdy,

I have about a 3-4 month old veiled. He is doing really good from everything I've seen (I saw him eat for the first time today! I know from his poop he has been eating, just never saw it until today!).

So, right now all he is eating are small to med crix (dusted). I've tried providing phoenix worms, butter worms and small meal worms but he just doesn't seem interested and hasn't eaten anything but crix. I want to try and offer some kind of variety but he just doesn't want to go for them!

Is this a problem?

I did change my feeder cup into something I saw on another post here - I cut the side off a 1/2 gallon milk jug and added screen for the crix to climb on. Boy did that get him excited! I think I'll throw some meal worms in and see if they will climb too.

Oh, I do know I can't have meal worms as a staple, I was just trying to give a change.

 

[Hempa]

Variety is good. If you can get your hands on roaches (B. dubia) you have another staple feeder.

 

[Smitty]

Roaches are a bit of a problem for me in FL. Every shop I've gone to say they can't sell roaches. I haven't tried buying roaches online yet though (I have spoken with some suppliers already and some will, some won't ship).

The other thing with the roaches are the size. Bob is still not too big and I would think the roaches would be a bit too big for him. I do like the idea of getting the roaches, I just don't want to have 2000 of them before Bob is big enough to eat them!

 

[Smitty]

Ok, I have been doing more research and think I have found an outlet to purchase. I want to have everything set up as much as possible before getting the Dubia.

In my research it says that it is best to keep them at 80-95 degrees. That is too warm for inside the house (except maybe in a closet, which was my thought) and it is too cool for outside in my shed (I live in FL).

Where does everyone else keep them? I was thinking the closest because 1) it isn't part of the house in air conditioning so it will stay warmer as long as the door stays shut and 2) it is dark in there and 3) much easier to keep the cat and dog out of them!

 

[PardalisGirl]

Yeah, in Florida you are not supposed to have non native roaches.........Nobody is supposed to ship them to you either (doesn't mean it does not happen of course!) I have friends in Florida that have native ones running around on their property that they feed to their lizards. Have you tried silkworms? It sounds like you are doing a great job trying to supply a variety of foods. Many juveniles prefer crickets in the beginning because of the movement. He will start trying other things as he grows. Don't give up on the butterworms, etc. Butterworms have a lot of calcium. My young ones don't seem to like them until they get a little older for some reason.

 

[Smitty]

I have not tried the silkworms yet. I don't have a local place to purchase them from and it is so hot outside I didn't want to order them online because they would then end up at the post office for an extra day.

I can always try butter worms again. He didn't like them at all the first time, or the meal worms, or the pheonix worms! But he still gobbles down the crix very fast.