Why!?

[ChameleonRave]

hjkdhska

So I ordered some feeders for the babies this Saturday through the petstore.. I got an email from the owner saying they are in and we where working out a good price. Well she must of have forgotten that, because she only ordered viles of FF's and 500 pinheads. She is charging me $15 per vile and $35 for the 500 pinheads..

Seriously, I can't afford $15 per vile every few days... What can I do? I don't have enough to order online atm. Not until this weekend.. I'm kind of stuck with things to do and what to feed. I'm going to get A vile and the pinheads. But I need other solutions..

 

[Jimturner]

I've been in your shoes before... No fun. I lived in a small town in southern Alberta... not too many options. I was lucky and found a few sources for fruit flies though. Is there a large college or university near you? Alot of times they will have a biology dept that may give you a starter culture. Also, I found some very tiny parasitic wasps, I know, sounds scary... LOL but they are commonly used for biological "green" fly control @ feedlots and pig farms. The wasps are about the size of hydei and lay their eggs in maggots which then don't turn into flies. These were a great little feeder that may be common in more rural areas. The only problem I had with the wasps is that they have working wings... Fruit flies breed quickly and as long as you don't feed them all off and leave a few in the vial to breed, the vial will keep producing flies for quite some time. Add a tiny bit of yeast to the vial, it will start fermenting and kick the flies into a breeding frenzy. Try to get a couple vials and rotate them. Hope this helps. Cheers!

 

[ChameleonRave]

I've been in your shoes before... No fun. I lived in a small town in southern Alberta... not too many options. I was lucky and found a few sources for fruit flies though. Is there a large college or university near you? Alot of times they will have a biology dept that may give you a starter culture. Also, I found some very tiny parasitic wasps, I know, sounds scary... LOL but they are commonly used for biological fly control @ feedlots and pig farms. The wasps are about the size of hydei and lay their eggs in maggots which then don't turn into flies. These were a great little feeder that may be common in more rural areas. The only problem I had with the wasps is that they have working wings... Fruit flies breed quickly and as long as you don't feed them all off and leave a few in the vial to breed, the vial will keep producing flies for quite some time. Add a tiny bit of yeast to the vial, it will start fermenting and kick the flies into a breeding frenzy. Try to get a couple vials and rotate them. Hope this helps. Cheers!

Thanks, There is a tech. school that i'm sitting at right now and there is a biologist here that keeps reptiles in his class. I might visit with him.
I know I won't be doing this again with the pet store. It's ridiculous.

 

[clarkrw3]

Thanks, There is a tech. school that i'm sitting at right now and there is a biologist here that keeps reptiles in his class. I might visit with him.
I know I won't be doing this again with the pet store. It's ridiculous.

You can also try and get some black crickets and have them lay for you. They last a really long time and you only need 15 or so females and just rotate out laying bins. They females live forever (5ish months). The eggs hatch at 7-10 days and give you a ton of pins for free. The blacks have less problems with crashing and are much easier to breed with out heat support. They also gutload like dubia...they are SO fat

I think I got my starter adult crickets from Mulberry farms. And haven't had to buy crickets since.

 

[Elizadolots]

Can't you get a fruit fly culture to get you started? Or, just put a piece of fruit out for a bit and flies will show up?

 

[ChameleonRave]

I never really thought of that. I did end up paying about $40 for 500 pinheads though.

 

[Olimpia]

Oooph, you got mugged! I can't believe they charged you that much! Good luck finding other options because I agree, that's too expensive and there's no reason you SHOULD have to pay that much for flies and pinheads.

 

[ChameleonRave]

Oooph, you got mugged! I can't believe they charged you that much! Good luck finding other options because I agree, that's too expensive and there's no reason you SHOULD have to pay that much for flies and pinheads.

Exactly why I hate this area. They have the right as they say to charge that much just because there isn't many keepers here and since I am one of the only people hatching out reptiles than I have to pay the most for them...

I will be getting two starter dubia colonies this week and one should be arriving tomorrow and the next later this week if not next week. I will also be getting tiny baby silk worms for my critters. I am now only ordering feeders off the internet. I can't be pulling out that kind of money every day. Laurie was nice enough to send me some FF cultures which should be here in the next few days. I can't wait to see them start eating. I got to see them drink and open their eyes for the first time. Quite amazing.

 

[Olimpia]

Yea, jeez, stick to online stores from now on. I'll pay $40 for 1,000 medium crickets, butterworms, and hornworms with shipping included!

 

[ChameleonRave]

I must find that site. .-. I pay $3 for a box of half dead crickets. ><

 

[Olimpia]

Personally, I use Mulberry, but I'm sure the other sponsors are probably also great companies. But I've tried a few others and if I got a box of dead insects other companies have given me issues when having to refund or replace. Mulberry never gives me issues, so they've made a loyal customer. Especially now that they sell crickets again, yay!

 

[ChameleonRave]

Personally, I use Mulberry, but I'm sure the other sponsors are probably also great companies. But I've tried a few others and if I got a box of dead insects other companies have given me issues when having to refund or replace. Mulberry never gives me issues, so they've made a loyal customer. Especially now that they sell crickets again, yay!

Awesome! I was going to try them, but I didn't know if was sure about them.

 

[jake01]

agreed. ordering online is the best bet especially for areas like SD.

 

[pssh]

Have you tried putting money on a pre-pad visa card? It's a lot easier to buy stuff online with them.

If needed, the fruit suggestion always works! Plus they are fruit gutloaded then! The downside is that they fly.

 

[ChameleonRave]

Have you tried putting money on a pre-pad visa card? It's a lot easier to buy stuff online with them.

If needed, the fruit suggestion always works! Plus they are fruit gutloaded then! The downside is that they fly.

I have my own checking account that I use my debit card with, but I have direct deposit and I don't get paid until tomorrow.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

For crickets try Armstrong. Ive tried a few others and Armstrong has by far the healthiest small crickets Ive ordered. Rarely get a tube of doa's. And if you do they replace immed no questions asked. Ive tried a few of the other big name companies and none had the overcounts and live arrivals like Armstrong. And I can get 2k pins cheaper than you paid for 500.

For your ff's order from Josh's Frogs. His cultures produce literally tens of 1000's of flies. 3 or 4 of his cultures will last you for several weeks as long as you rotate which one you feed from.

 

[ChameleonRave]

For crickets try Armstrong. Ive tried a few others and Armstrong has by far the healthiest small crickets Ive ordered. Rarely get a tube of doa's. And if you do they replace immed no questions asked. Ive tried a few of the other big name companies and none had the overcounts and live arrivals like Armstrong. And I can get 2k pins cheaper than you paid for 500.

For your ff's order from Josh's Frogs. His cultures produce literally tens of 1000's of flies. 3 or 4 of his cultures will last you for several weeks as long as you rotate which one you feed from.

Thank you. Since I get paid tomorrow I will be ordering from one of them. I will check them out so thank you.