# Fluker's Orange Cube cricket feed



## fiveohatch (Jul 9, 2005)

has anyone tried this stuff?

i usually use the Fluker's Cricket Quencher and Cricket Feed but saw some of this at Petco today and decided to try it out. 

it basically replaces both of those and it says it's got all kinds of good stuff in it.

the crickets are all over it and seem to like it more.  

i'm just wondering what people think about this stuff.


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## Buspirone (Jul 9, 2005)

IMO, Its over priced and not necessary for feeding prey for other invertebrates. 

For moisture, you can just buy quanities of polyacrylamide copolymer for much less to use as a moisture source. Its sold in most garden centers as "Soil Moist" water crystals or order it online from places like http://www.watersorb.com/index.htm . For food, you can use unmedicated chicken feed or dry dog food.  If you want a food and moisture source in one then you can make your own with agar agar. The recipe can be found here http://www.polliwog-design.com/moisturemunchies.html .


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## TRowe (Jul 9, 2005)

I've used it for a couple of months, and it's Ok.  It seems to dry out really quickly, which makes it less cost effective.  Also, mine smells kind of funky.  Almost like spoiled orange juice.  I didn't know if that was normal, or maybe mine had gone bad before I purchased it...?  In the end, the crickets seem to like it, so that's good enough for me.  

Tim


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## darkeye (Jul 9, 2005)

I attended the ATS conference last month, and got to see a presentation by Darrin Vernier on fang loss in T.blondi and A.geniculata tarantulas.  It seems that his theory is that too much calcium is being fed to these animals (in the form of mice) and causing fang loss during molts.  It seems that the calcium displaces the required minerals in the spider's body, and the result is the possible loss of fangs during molts.  

I am waaaaaay oversimplifying this, and the whole story can be read over in the ATS Listserver (or contact Darrin directly from his goldenphoenix exotica website).

However, I also agree that gut-loading crix and other invert prey with calcium-enriched foods designed for reptiles will not help the T at all.  I am permanently OFF the Fluker's gut-loads, and I am converting to home-grown roaches for all my needs (all my local pet shops seem to feed Gut-load as well for their reptile-owning customers).  Tarantulas live on raw, unadulterated inverts in the wild, why not in my house, too????  I know, "Some larger T's will feed on mice and lizards... blah blah blah"  Ever see an adult T.apophysis take down a full grown Hisser?  Looks a lot more appetizing than a mouse, believe me!

So...  :evil: DOWN WITH REPTILE PRODUCTS FOR OUR TARANTULAS!!!!

Ja Ne!
Martin

PS
Copolymer crystals can be had at Home Depot for under $8 for 12 ounces!  I like them for my roaches!

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## fiveohatch (Jul 10, 2005)

Buspirone said:
			
		

> If you want a food and moisture source in one then you can make your own with agar agar. The recipe can be found here http://www.polliwog-design.com/moisturemunchies.html .



it seems like kind of a pain to me. i'd raher just go Deathco and spend $7 than go around lookng for "ingredients" and making my own. doing that just means i have to wash more dishes as well.


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## Buspirone (Jul 10, 2005)

fiveohatch said:
			
		

> it seems like kind of a pain to me. i'd raher just go Deathco and spend $7 than go around lookng for "ingredients" and making my own. doing that just means i have to wash more dishes as well.


I was only offering alternatives. You are certainly free to waste your money any way you'd like.


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## Lorgakor (Jul 11, 2005)

I have the cubes and regular Flukers cricket chow, and the crickets never seemed to eat the cubes. And yeah, they dry out really fast. Waste of money IMO.


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## nomad85 (Jul 11, 2005)

I've heard bad things about the orange cubes, I also have heard bad things about flukers in general. Its easy to get water cystals www.wormman.com is really cheap and you dont have to buy in bulk. and crushed dog food with some fruits or veggies if you want. Thats what I do for my crickets and roaches.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ocdave67 (Oct 9, 2005)

*Orange cube is OK..*

I have used the Orange Cubes for a secondary feeding source for several months with OK results. I first tried to use the cubes as the only source for food and water and had huge cricket deaths. I then went to using three dishes in my cricket keeper. One dish had water gel, second dish I keep a mixture of Flukers high calcium cricket feed with NatureZone Cricket bites (I bought the Flukers High Calcium by mistake and have heard that high calicum diets are really not a good thing). And the third dish I keep some chunks of the Orange Cube diet. I would have to agree that the cubes do dry out fast but have found when first introduced to the container the crickets will chomp on that before eating the dry food mix. My crickets live a very long time and I very rarely have any deaths of any kind. So I guess I am giving the cubes a thumbs up as a substitue for using fresh fruit but would not make it the staple diet of my crickets.


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## Niloticus (Oct 9, 2005)

darkeye said:
			
		

> I attended the ATS conference last month, and got to see a presentation by Darrin Vernier on fang loss in T.blondi and A.geniculata tarantulas.  It seems that his theory is that too much calcium is being fed to these animals (in the form of mice) and causing fang loss during molts.  It seems that the calcium displaces the required minerals in the spider's body, and the result is the possible loss of fangs during molts.
> 
> I am waaaaaay oversimplifying this, and the whole story can be read over in the ATS Listserver (or contact Darrin directly from his goldenphoenix exotica website).
> 
> ...


Very interesting. I have a few tarantulas that have lost their fangs in a molt. I had no idea this could happen as a result of too much calcium. However, I do not feed my tarantulas mice. I wonder what the deal is? 

Niloticus  :?


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## darkeye (Oct 9, 2005)

Niloticus said:
			
		

> Very interesting. I have a few tarantulas that have lost their fangs in a molt. I had no idea this could happen as a result of too much calcium. However, I do not feed my tarantulas mice. I wonder what the deal is?
> 
> Niloticus  :?


Do you have a cricket or roach colony of your own?  I'd be curious to do a little project on that, but I don't have the heart to do it...  

<sigh>

I really hope that RIESM keeps cooking, and the calcium project gets finished and solved!


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## xgrafcorex (Oct 9, 2005)

*..*

so far ive used just the orange cubes.  they do dry out a bit fast..i tried putting a little water in the bottom to maintain moisture but results were insignificant.  when i first get a lot of medium crickets i have two dishes of the orange cubes and pretty much have to put a new cube in each day in both dishes.  but once the population has thinned out, i find myself throwing out dried cubes somewhat regularly.  im interested in finding another source of food that will last longer, especially hearing this calcium od talk.


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## ocdave67 (Oct 10, 2005)

*Cricket food..*

I would try the dry brands of food. Not all of the commercial brands have the high calcium in them. I would try the Flukers regular cricket chow or the NatureZone Standard Cricket bites. I do not have to keep that many crickets at once so the store bought brands work just fine for me. If I had alot of crickets to keep I would probably try the dog food and other ideas you see posted in these forums. I hear fish flakes quite often but dont think that is really a cheap way to go either.
My question would be is how long can I expect these dry brands to stay good in their jars. I use so little to feed my crickets it is looking like my two jars would take a year or more to use. Anyone know how long of shelf life I can expect out of these dry foods??


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## luther (Oct 10, 2005)

I only feed crickets I buy occasionaly, since they are used up quite fast.  I just drop in a piece of real orange or apple and a couple of dog/cat biscuits.  Sometimes I might bother to dust them with calcium powder from my reps, but mostly not.

I did keep a colony of roaches for a while.  They were a much better idea while they lasted and they ate anything offered without producing a nasty smell.  The adults were big enough to give my terrestrials a decent challenge.  My only problem with them was that I have a small house and my wife HATED them.  I didn't have enough room to hide them anywhere and in the end I just ran the colony down and went back to crickets.


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## sunnymarcie (Oct 10, 2005)

Feeding crickets  hmm ...

Why is this such a complicated issue?

Mositure/water = any leaf lettuce or random veggie or fruit 

Food = dry cat food  (and)  or  grain type dry cereal


Why spend extra money if you already have something suitable at home ? :?


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## AnonymousFish (Dec 29, 2019)

TRowe said:


> I've used it for a couple of months, and it's Ok.  It seems to dry out really quickly, which makes it less cost effective.  Also, mine smells kind of funky.  Almost like spoiled orange juice.  I didn't know if that was normal, or maybe mine had gone bad before I purchased it...?  In the end, the crickets seem to like it, so that's good enough for me.
> 
> Tim


have you been refrigerating the jar after opening? That's what you're supposed to do. Mine smells nice, like fresh oranges.


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