Crickets - feeding and dusting with....

[Tigergenesis]

Any thoughts or opinions on using the Trex/Sandfire Superfoods Cricket diet as the sole food source for crickets and the Leopard Gecko Dust Insect Cricket Balancer as dust? I'm usually not one for 'convenience' foods like this, but am wondering if these are so bad?

[SatanicIntention]

Those cricket diet things are pretty much a waste of money. I put a wet paper towel in a jar lid in with them, some crushed up dog food, potatoes, carrots, etc. You can also go to the feed store and get some of the chicken laying feed(I remember someone on here saying it's the same stuff as the Fluker's Cricket Diet, looks like ground up corn. For my dust, I use Rep-Cal and Herptivite. I wish Herptivite didn't cost $12 but since I don't use it much at all, I guess it's worth it Plus that chicken feed should have extra calcium and nutrients in it since it's for laying chickens. Might be helpful. I love feed stores

On a creepy note, my frog, Murphy, is staring at me... I think he's still hungry. I already gave him about 7-8 mealies... Goofy lil' bugger. His tummy is touching the floor, but yet he's still got that "mom, feed me darnit" look on his face.

[Tigergenesis]

LOL. What do you mean they are a waste of money exactly? I mean, I know the other ways to gutload (as you mentioned) and some may think that's easier/cheaper. But what I'm really asking is if anyone has an opinion either way as to whether or not it's sufficient to feed the cricket diet alone (not necessarily what do others do to gutload-while I do find that helpful I'm more interested in if the Cricket Diet is okay to use)? I ask because I found it on sale for a dollar one day and picked a bottle up. I started using it on the remaining crickets I have and they eat it and are growing pretty quick. Before feeding these crickets to my gecko I want to make sure they've not been deprived of anything by just giving them the diet lately. And if their Leopard Gecko Dust Insect Cricket Balancer is a good dust (because that was only a dollar as well and I picked a bottle up).

Here's info: http://www.sandfiredragonranch.com/products/index.html

Thanks!

[RobertCoombs]

I think what she meant by " waste of money" is flukers gut load diet = 8-16OZ for $1(sorry dont know the size you found for a dollar) but laying mash is 50 pounds for about 3-5$ compare the labels I still think fresh vegetables should be made available at all times even if useing a diet or mash

[Marla]

For what it's worth, I don't think there's anything wrong with using the convenience diets -- after all folks, it's not like she's feeding them oreos and gummy worms -- but it seems to me that everything in the cricket meal is contained within the leopard dust, and since you're not feeding leopard geckos, I wouldn't buy the leopard dust. The most valuable parts of the feed should be passed along to the predator. The two problems I have here are that I'm not a zoologist or animal nutritionist and I don't know what an optimum diet is for crickets, nor do I know optimum vitamin and mineral needs for cresties versus leos.

My best guess would be to use the cricket diet but vary it a bit with a chunk of carrot or apple or potato for water and fresh, unprocessed food, and skip the dust in favor of the simpler plain calcium with D3 and the herptavite or similar (or use the dust in place of the herptavite).

[Tigergenesis]

Thanks Marla. I think that I will continue to feed the cricket diet and providing oranges (sometimes apples) for water. But I think I'll also give them a bit of leftover skink salad a couple times a week. I'll nix the idea of using the Leopard Gecko dust (I wasn't too sure it was a good idea anyway) and stick with dusting with the suppplemnts you mentioned (already have them on hand so that's no problem).

[mlededee]

I wish Herptivite didn't cost $12 but since I don't use it much at all, I guess it's worth it

i get my herptivite from lllreptile for $6.99. it's a good deal if you have other stuff you can order from them as well to so that you aren't paying shipping just for the one thing.

[Marla]

Sounds like a good plan to me.