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It was already mentioned that feeder crickets can be fed to
a variety of animals. They are readily accepted by all
insectivorous lizards, fish, amphibians, primates, arachnids and
chameleons. It is important to only feed the correct sized crickets. Too large crickets may result in
gut obstructions and impactions. Most of the time, animals like
hatchling
Bearded dragons won't even bother looking or eating prey if
they are too large.
Remember that this might have the same effect as feeding
nothing, i.e. underfeeding and deficiencies.
A common problem with feeding crickets is that
these insects are
nocturnal (night living) and most lizards are active during
the day. This can result in injuries when crickets nibble on
their predators when they are too passive to respond (remember reptiles are ectothermic and poikilothermic and they are totally dependant
on heat for energy). This problem can be prevented by only feeding enough
feeder crickets for the recommended feeding period and by hand
feeding, preventing excess crickets from taking over during the
night. Escapees will die and attract unwanted ants and other
predators to the cage.
Most
insectivorous animals will only eat live crickets, but sometimes, or
when trained or conditioned these animals will eat dead insects
too.
Crickets can be stored in a fridge for about a week if there
is need for it. Feeder crickets should
always be gut loaded
and dusted prior to
feeding them to other animals. |
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