Found mold in cricket food - worried

[Tacci]

He seems all good! He is a Sambava Panther he is 4 months old.

I simply didn't give him any crickets today. I'll be disposing them today and cleaning everything.

I gave him over a dozen bsfl, 2 superpowers, 5 silks, and a hornworm. But I am pretty sure he only ate his bsfl because of the dish I put them in. Won't even touch the super worms that are in the same dish lol. Finicky guy

Awwww

 

[elizaann2]

lol I am watching my guy right now and he's eyeing up the dish that has 2 superworms in there still.....but he's not eating them.

He also has not touched his silks (I put them in the WHITE bowl ) or the hornworm I put in there from what I see. Luckily I have another green dish. I just have to add some more ties to put it in his enclosure. I'll do that when I get home and I guess I'll try to hand feed him those worms

Maybe your guy just prefers to hunt them.

Its possible. The breeder I got him from does bioactive enclosures and free ranges all of his food.

 

[Steve A]

Its possible. The breeder I got him from does bioactive enclosures and free ranges all of his food.

Spike didnt even touch the superworms and they were in the green cup. Never even looked into the white cup so I dont think he even knows he had such a yummy surprise in there. I was free ranging them 1 by 1 when I fed them while I was home. But I'm at work now so I may set up a shallow dish for them.

these guys are even more picky them me! And I am super picky lol

 

[elizaann2]

Spike didnt even touch the superworms and they were in the green cup. Never even looked into the white cup so I dont think he even knows he had such a yummy surprise in there. I was free ranging them 1 by 1 when I fed them while I was home. But I'm at work now so I may set up a shallow dish for them.

these guys are even more picky them me! And I am super picky lol

Oh totally! I'll eat just about anything. My panther and Jacksons...nope not even close....

 

[Beman]

Okay so we began making a food for our crickets using greens and carrots, blending and freezing it into cubes. I put 2 cubes (plus some small pieces of carrot, flukers cricket diet + insect fuel) in the crickets food trays.

We put the food in there the night before last. Yesterday, I did not notice any mold. Today I went to clean the crickets cage, and feed them again, and I saw a bunch of white mold in the food tray. I've discarded most of the crickets, but I had already transferred some from the tubes of the cricket pen, to the new cage.


My worry is that at least today, my chameleon ate crickets that *possibly* ate from the moldy dish. How worried should I be, and what types of signs should I be looking for tomorrow of possible illness?

I've decided to NOT give them more of the frozen food for now, but instead, just cut up some collard greens, carrots, and do a mixture of the flukers cricket diet + insect fuel.

Will this be okay for now, until I get this figured out? I almost feel like I would be more comfortable just feeding them fresh veges like this. I'll remove this and replace it each day going forward regardless. I just didn't expect mold after like 1 1/2 days. I will add more greens later once I get a chance to get to the store. This is just what I have at the very moment.

Is it safe to feed the rest of these crickets to my chameleon? (I am assuming absolutely not and if that's the case...I will dispose of them tomorrow without feeding any crickets to my chameleon tomorrow).

My options if these crickets are NOT safe:

1) Feed my chameleon a mix of BSFL, silkworms, hornworm(s), superworm(s) until the next batch of crickets come (1 - 2 days..... they were already on the way)

2) go get crickets at petsmart tomorrow after work (rather not give him crickets from petsmart if I can avoid this.... but if there is real danger from this mold situation.... I'd of course do that if necessary).

How should I proceed with this situation??

I really hope I am overreacting here, yet again. But this is scaring the crap out of me. I really did not expect to find mold in there so quickly. I really hope my little guy is not in any kind of danger I am not 100% sure that the crickets he ate today even came in contact with that mold. But of course.......it's highly likely I think.


side note: How do you feel about me adding the flukers + insect fuel to the crickets diet like this? Should I avoid doing this and just stick to fresh veges?

Thank you all so much. Hoping for good news here




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Ok so your blending as well? Note if so then do not put any shredded in... I would not use the flukers... Add a tablespoon of the insect fuel to your blend. Freeze that... Only give the frozen cube. Change this out every day to every other day. Do not dust it with other stuff that is dry. You will get mold because that stuff is getting wet from the ice cubes.

 

[Steve A]

Ok so your blending as well? Note if so then do not put any shredded in... I would not use the flukers... Add a tablespoon of the insect fuel to your blend. Freeze that... Only give the frozen cube. Change this out every day to every other day. Do not dust it with other stuff that is dry. You will get mold because that stuff is getting wet from the ice cubes.

Yes we blended! ahhhhh ok. With that being said, since we froze a bunch already, can we simply defrost that.... add the insect fuel and then refreeze?

Also I am not sure how much stuff she made exactly It's a bunch. Would you still suggest just a tablespoon of insect fuel for the whole thing? Or is there some guidelines I could follow?

also, could I put some shredded carrots in the bottom of the container away from the frozen stuff in the dish? I'd like to add fresh carrots on top of what's in that stuff. If not I will simply just use the frozen stuff in the dish! ty

 

[elizaann2]

p.s. I am learning from here as well so thanks for asking your questions! I've been gut-loading via fresh fruits and veggies only so far but would like to up my gut-loading game so my bugs are healthier for my chams.

 

[Steve A]

p.s. I am learning from here as well so thanks for asking your questions! I've been gut-loading via fresh fruits and veggies only so far but would like to up my gut-loading game so my bugs are healthier for my chams.

No problem! I thought I was doing a good thing by offering the dry stuff on the side lol oops. We're learning though! :-D

 

[elizaann2]

No problem! I thought I was doing a good thing by offering the dry stuff on the side lol oops. We're learning though! :-D

Totally . Thats why I'm glad to be here. I would learn so much slower on my own

 

[Beman]

Yes we blended! ahhhhh ok. With that being said, since we froze a bunch already, can we simply defrost that.... add the insect fuel and then refreeze?

Also I am not sure how much stuff she made exactly It's a bunch. Would you still suggest just a tablespoon of insect fuel for the whole thing? Or is there some guidelines I could follow?

also, could I put some shredded carrots in the bottom of the container away from the frozen stuff in the dish? I'd like to add fresh carrots on top of what's in that stuff. If not I will simply just use the frozen stuff in the dish! ty

No when you do your fresh veg blended down. Add a tablespoon of the insect fuel blend it all together. Then freeze.

You do not need to add anything else in. Just put the cube in.

 

[Steve A]

No when you do your fresh veg blended down. Add a tablespoon of the insect fuel blend it all together. Then freeze.

You do not need to add anything else in. Just put the cube in.

Okay so would you recommend we trash the stuff we already made and start over? It was just kale, collard greens and carrots. No big deal but just want to make sure

 

[Beman]

Okay so would you recommend we trash the stuff we already made and start over? It was just kale, collard greens and carrots. No big deal but just want to make sure

You can use what you have. I would add a bit more variety into the mix. I also added dandelion greens and sweet potato then I would add a fruit as well. My ratio was 2-3 from leafy greens, 2 from other veg and 1 from fruit. Then I would add a tablespoon of my insect fuel and a teaspoon of bee pollen powder.

 

[Steve A]

@elizaann2 So I added some of the silkworms, and a hornworm to the green cup and wouldn't ya know..... he's eating them now

You can use what you have. I would add a bit more variety into the mix. I also added dandelion greens and sweet potato then I would add a fruit as well. My ratio was 2-3 from leafy greens, 2 from other veg and 1 from fruit. Then I would add a tablespoon of my insect fuel and a teaspoon of bee pollen powder.

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Ok we will use it up then and then make the next batch with the insect fuel. We will also definitely have more of a variety next time. I let my wife pick out what to get and I don't think I translated enough variety to her lol But I did give her this so I'm gonna partially blame her.