Need some more advice

[cushcameleon]

So I still need to buy a humidity gauge and thermometer for my cage, I know its and essential part and I plan on getting them tomorrow. Anyone have suggestions as to which ones I should get? Or are the combo packs from pet stores reliable enough? Also I am very skeptical to buy more crickets for my cham. I know there a reliable food source but I feel that I can give it a mixed variety of nutrition using supplements and different worms. I have heard that crickets are more prone to carrying parasites, also I have a hard time keeping them alive for more then a few days and I never found a reliable container to keep them in. Any comments or suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[PantherVeileD]

go to LLLreptile if you live in San Diego. I think its like a 30-40 min drive. There have lots of supplies you need at a good price!

 

[jojackson]

I have a hard time keeping them alive for more then a few days

Well fed and cared for crickets (CB) shouldnt carry parasites and should live for atleast several weeks no problem. Keep Them DRY and WELL VENTILATED !!
This is the most important thing.
After that, MOISTURE! No water, dont bother with crystals, fresh raw carrot (as Is) is sufficient.
Replace as Eaten.
CLEAN, once every 2 weeks or so depending on feeding.

I never found a reliable container to keep them in.

You need a decent sized tub, something like this

some come with removable wheels. Since crickets need ventilation, you can cut away 80% of the lid from the middle, and hotweld fly/window screen over it!

http://www.evoker.net/~swiftrat/herps/crickets/crickets.htm

http://www.premiumcrickets.com/custom.aspx?id=4

 

[chambabysitter1]

Humidity/Thermometer: Go to Lowes, Walmart, or Home Depot. I found mine at Lowe's. In the gardening section, usually indoors by the other weather monitoring/misc stuff. There is a brand called "Acu-Rite". It has a probe and is about the size of the palm of your hand. 15 bucks or something like that.

Feeders: Keep a variety of feeders, but crickets or roaches are going to need to be a staple. The chitin is important.

I would try to find more articles that are related to the specificity of a rudis, the care probably differs in some ways. I've kept about 500 crickets in a similar tub as above for well over a month now. Just make sure temps and ventilation is good, and they will thrive.

 

[hallenhe]

People generally are skeptical of the combo humidity gauge/thermometers you get in pet stores (the plastic things you can mount on the wall, with a needle pointing to the readings). Probe based ones are better. If you want extreme accuracy and don't care about money, there are things called temperature guns that the better pet stores carry.

I haven't had trouble with crickets as a staple (giving them a variety of gutloads, thus providing variety to the cham), with various worms (wax, meal (only very rarely), horn and super (probably too big for a rudis) as treats.

 

[FroggtheCham]

I've been using a 10 gal aquarium with a screen lid to house crickets. I keep around 4 doz at a time to ensure they are well loaded before feeding. You can use cotton balls wet, not soaked with H2O for hydration as long as you change them often in addition to the carrots. I feed a calcium enriched cricket food a long with rotating greens, fruits, and other veg. So far so good. I've tried the hygrometer/temp gauges from the petstore and compared them to one purchased from wal-mart. The cheap petstore model did not work!! Hope this can help!!