Cricket Food Recipes

[HewesHort]

Thanks Froggsong! im glad to hear that the dried veggies are working out well, i guess its time to dust off the dehydrator! would beets be a good option, im afraid they may contain oxalates or something. gotta do a little research.

[Kyle The Toad]

This is off-topic, but would it be a good idea to feed the crickets right before feeding them to your animals? I don't raise crickets, I buy them from Petco and immediately give them to my toads. Could I put food in the bag that the crickets come in, wait for them to eat and then feed them to my toads?

[beckdg]

Originally Posted by Kyle The Toad

This is off-topic, but would it be a good idea to feed the crickets right before feeding them to your animals? I don't raise crickets, I buy them from Petco and immediately give them to my toads. Could I put food in the bag that the crickets come in, wait for them to eat and then feed them to my toads?

that's the idea of gut loading. give them a healthy meal that'll improve thier overall nutrition. offering real, healthy ingredients is a great way to avoid chemical issues.

[froggsong]

Yes, you should always gutload the crickets, unless you keep them gutloaded with good stuff like I do. You should have a container (even a large butter bowl with holes in the lid) that you can put them in overnight to gutload them, they'll die in the bag if left for that long, and they'll need plenty of egg carton to climb on anyway. Ideally, they should be gutloaded for 24hrs. Crickets have very little nutrition on their own, you should think of them as an empty shell. They don't gutload them at the pet store either... They just feed them potato.
If you can find it in bulk, mazuri rat block is a GREAT feeder and gutload for the crickets, as well as mealworms, superworms, etc. I've had GREAT results using this, even better than my own gutload. The bugs grow huge and fat. I've never seen mealies the size of the ones I got this last time, except the ones they feed steroids to. Plus, that stuff is super nutritious, so it's a great gutload.

[Kyle The Toad]

Froggsong, I meant is it okay to feed them maybe a half hour before I give them to the toads. I went ahead and did this last night. I put them in an empty aquarium and gave them carrots, peanuts and spinach along with water and let them eat for a while. Petco must not feed them very well, because they went crazy over the food.

[froggsong]

Feeding them right before you feeding them to the toads is better than not feeding them at all, but you should feed them for 24 hrs to be sure they are more nutritious. Like I said, crickets are basically an empty shell, you have to give them time to get full of good stuff for the toads, or else you're not getting them as much nutrients as they should get.

No more spinach though, it has high oxalates. You can try something like collards or dark cabbage instead.

[Kyle The Toad]

Thanks, Froggsong.

[privdncr]

I use zoo med large river shrimp and dried cat food. thinkin about adding fish flakes now.