cricket care?

[jasimmons86]

can i get by with buying crickets once a month or longer?
i live about an hour away from the nearest place that sells decent crickets.
I don't want to have to travel there all the time.

if i buy 500 at a time will they even survive a month?

is it bad for the chameleon if i gutload crickets with dog or cat food?
i was reading a post i found on the internet talking about it.

 

[carol5208]

yes, 500 will survive a month if they are taken care of and fed well, They become full grown at about 5 weeks and will beging to chirp! How old is your chameleon and how many crickets are you feeding a day? Also gutload is important and dog and cat food is not the best, I would use fresh fruits and vegetables.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I buy 500 once a month and have hardly any losses, aside from the intentional ones! You just have to feed them and keep them hydrated. They'd last longer if I had fewer mouths to feed too. This thread has some good ideas for how to contain them. I used to only gutload the ones I was going to feed that week but it was a hassle to keep too many containers so now I just throw gutload in the whole thing so I can just grab the closest ones, so that keeps the rest alive and thriving. If you want to buy in bulk I'd suggest ordering online vs the pet store. It's usually WAY cheaper, even with shipping, and they deliver to your door so you wouldn't even have to make the drive!

Dog and cat food has much higher protein levels than you really want your cham to be ingesting. Too much protein in the diet can lead to health problems like gout. For that reason it's not recommended. This site has good info on fruits and veggies you'll want to use to gutload. Aim for higher calcium to phosphorus ratios and limit oxalates and goitrogens. One of the members on here sells 'cricket crack' for the dry portion of gutload if you're interested. The fluker dry mix doesn't have much in it really. Hope that helps!

 

[jasimmons86]

I don't have my chameleon yet, I'm just preparing everything first

I'm going to order him tomorrow from one of the site sponsors,

I'm just getting some last minute questions out of the way before i make the big leap.

thanks for answering, and I'll stick with fruits and veges

 

[jdog1027]

I think it would depend on what size they are when you buy them. If your buying full-grown winged crickets, they are probablly not going to last for a whole month.

 

[jasimmons86]

im getting a baby chameleon, around 4 weeks.
so i ordered 1/4" crickets.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I think it would depend on what size they are when you buy them. If your buying full-grown winged crickets, they are probablly not going to last for a whole month.

Good point. I buy them at 1/2" and they last well over a month for me so if you want them long term make sure you get them smaller so they continue to grow. Also they're quieter!