The feeding process.... from keeper to cage

[SueAndHerZoo]

Hi. Looking for the easiest, most efficient way to feed my veiled. I have the crickets in a Cricket Keeper (the enclosure that has four black tubes that the crickets are supposed to want to hide in and sometimes there's a few in there, sometimes the tubes are empty and sometimes there are TOO many in one tube.) It's a real crap shoot with these guys. What I've been doing is finding a tube that has some crickets in it, shaking out a few if there are too many for one feeding, scooping in some calcium (no D), shaking it up, and then shaking the coated crickets into a homemade feeder in the chameleon cage. It pretty much works most of the time but I'm wondering if some of you have other strategies and methods for getting coated crickets out of their bin into the chammy habitat.

I'm not a real fan of the cricket keeper ....when I have to remove the top lid I have to deal with the four black plastic tubes that have some crickets in it and those tubes take up a lot of space. I liked it better when I was using a tank with pieces of cardboard egg crate, but if using that again, how do I get them powdered and into the chammy's feeder? I'm sure there is a simple solution so I'd love it if some of you could share your feeding process. Thanks in advance!
Sue

 

[Beman]

TUb that I converted with toilet paper rolls in it.... Take roll shake into plastic solo cup. Pour bugs from solo cup into cricket shaker (I have a shaker for each supplement). Shake feeders and pour back into solo cup through the hole in the top. Then pour into feeder run.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

I like it! But why bother with the solo cup....couldn't you go right from toilet paper tube into shaker cup, and then out of the shaker cup into the chammy's feeder? And where does one get a shaker cup like that - I shall try Googling it.
Sue
P.S. Wow - found it - it's amazing how many products are out there to make reptilie-keeping easier! Genius!!!

 

[Beman]

I like it! But why bother with the solo cup....couldn't you go right from toilet paper tube into shaker cup, and then out of the shaker cup into the chammy's feeder? And where does one get a shaker cup like that - I shall try Googling it.
Sue
P.S. Wow - found it - it's amazing how many products are out there to make reptilie-keeping easier! Genius!!!

I like to count my feeders and when dealing with crickets its much easier to put the toilet paper roll into the solo cup to shake them off so they do not jump everywhere. Then they slide right out of the solo cup through the hole in the top of the shaker... Shake them up tap the rest of the supplement down into the bottom of the shaker and pour back out into the cup. I do not mess with feeders where Beman can see me. He gets overly excited so I need a quick pour out into the feeder.

You can get the cricket shaker on amazon, petco, etc. Typically cheaper at pet stores than amazon.

 

[crosscutts]

I use the cricket feeder too i’ve taken out two of the tubes , and only have a small amount of egg crate in the bottom when feeding them I shake all of the crickets out of the tube to make sure they have the opportunity to eat , within an hour or two they’re back in the tube , when putting them in a cup with my vitamins I just tap the tube a couple times only if you fall out , Seems to work pretty well

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

I use the cricket feeder too i’ve taken out two of the tubes , and only have a small amount of egg crate in the bottom when feeding them I shake all of the crickets out of the tube to make sure they have the opportunity to eat , within an hour or two they’re back in the tube , when putting them in a cup with my vitamins I just tap the tube a couple times only if you fall out , Seems to work pretty well

Good idea.... I'll take out two of the four tubes and block the openings where those were. Not enough room in there with all four tubes and harder to clean the cricket carrier.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

FWIW, crickets were a PITA, so I switched him over to dubia roaches.
Only problem with roaches is that they lack an essential nutrient—linoleic acid (Omega 6 fatty acid),
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/difference-in-roaches.185381/#post-1708350
which is one reason I include giant mealworms in his diet.
Another is that they keep 6 months in my fridge without pupating.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

FWIW, crickets were a PITA, so I switched him over to dubia roaches.
Only problem with roaches is that they lack an essential nutrient—linoleic acid (Omega 6 fatty acid),
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/difference-in-roaches.185381/#post-1708350
which is one reason I include giant mealworms in his diet.
Another is that they keep 6 months in my fridge without pupating.

EXCELLENT TIMING on that post because I was just reading and watching videos about dubia roaches, how to care for, how to keep, nutritional benefits/deficiencies, etc. And my question to this forum was going to be (if I couldn't find the answer myself elsewhere) is why do I need to even bother with crickets if dubia roaches are so much better and easier? So maybe after all these crickets are gone I can take a break from crickets and just buy them occasionally in small quantities? I'd much rather deal with the roaches (arriving Friday) than these friggin', pain in the butt, escaping crickets!
Sue

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

EXCELLENT TIMING on that post because I was just reading and watching videos about dubia roaches, how to care for, how to keep, nutritional benefits/deficiencies, etc. And my question to this forum was going to be (if I couldn't find the answer myself elsewhere) is why do I need to even bother with crickets if dubia roaches are so much better and easier? So maybe after all these crickets are gone I can take a break from crickets and just buy them occasionally in small quantities? I'd much rather deal with the roaches (arriving Friday) than these friggin', pain in the butt, escaping crickets!
Sue

Exactly. That's what I'm doing.

I have a sterilite bin—a little smaller than the huge ones. We save/recycle 1.5 doz. size egg cartons that fit perfectly, and recycled TP tubes along one long side. I use the TP tubes like cricket tubes—rap on the side and the roaches fall into the feeding dishes. Then I add a pinch of whatever (calcium, vitamins, calcium w/D3) put my hand over the feeder dishes and shake. Very easy.

Lately I've been counting bugs because the beardie is a pudge and on a diet, and I just like to keep track of what Ol' GrumpyPants is eating. They both get a few giant mealworms twice a week—the rest is roaches, and whatever I pick up at the local pet shop (owner keeps reptiles) for variety.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Exactly. That's what I'm doing.

I have a sterilite bin—a little smaller than the huge ones. We save/recycle 1.5 doz. size egg cartons that fit perfectly, and recycled TP tubes along one long side. I use the TP tubes like cricket tubes—rap on the side and the roaches fall into the feeding dishes. Then I add a pinch of whatever (calcium, vitamins, calcium w/D3) put my hand over the feeder dishes and shake. Very easy.

Lately I've been counting bugs because the beardie is a pudge and on a diet, and I just like to keep track of what Ol' GrumpyPants is eating. They both get a few giant mealworms twice a week—the rest is roaches, and whatever I pick up at the local pet shop (owner keeps reptiles) for variety.

Excellent! Bye Bye Crickets! Well, that is if the chammy takes to the dubia roaches. But he/she isn't really a huge fan of the crickets anyway so hopefully . . .

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Mine liked the crickets, and he's still not crazy about roaches, but he'll eat them!

I forgot to mention, I don't raise roaches. I tried, but it didn't work for me, so I mail-order 250-500 med. at a time and use them for both lizards (lasts about 6 months with the variety of others).

Of course now the little buggers are breeding on their own—not a lot, but those little ones sure weren't in there last time I did a complete overhaul.

The ones too big for the chameleon (hasn't happened yet) will get fed to the beardie. He LOVES 'em.