Cricket flour as a meal replacement

[Bugmom]

This may sound crazy, but humor me.

I have a 2.5-3" P. irminia that has no fangs. I can clearly see that they broke off, so the result of a bad molt. I just discovered this today, since she was actually out of her web today when I was feeding T's. I had to gut a roach and hand feed her the gross liquidy guts. Poor little thing molted a month ago, so she hasn't ate since then. The good news is that her sucking stomach is intact and functional.

Cricket flour is whole crickets that are baked at 550F before being ground into a powder. It's not a true "flour," and it doesn't dissolve in water. It's meant as a protein powder, much like peanut or soy powder that you add to smoothies/shakes.

What do you all think of using cricket flour as a meal replacement for this irminia? It's literally powdered, whole crickets. Just add water. I bought some anyway, because it's the sort of novelty "under $10" thing I'd buy, and also maybe I'll prank my kid with it.

 

[REEFSPIDER]

I'm pretty sure the 550f probably took away most if not all of what your t would get from a cricket.

 

[Ryuti]

Most of the nutritional value is removed during the dehydration process. It's why it's not recommended to feed to reptiles.

Although I suppose it's better than it not being able to eat anything.

Have you tried just squeezing out the guts of crickets and feeding them that way instead?
Although I suppose that poses the issue of how are they going to further liquify the guts if they have no fangs.

 

[Trenor]

I would just use a small cap like you would for water and put some finely chopped or mashed up food in it. Take it out the next morning, rinse and repeat as needed. I would also try to up the feeding in hopes of giving it what it needs to speed to the next molt.

 

[Sana]

Mashed sounds like the right word.

 

[captmarga]

I had a little T that lost four legs and both palps in a molt. I fed him for months on "cricket soup" by mashing up a cricket and some water in a bottle cap. He not only recovered, but molted, normally, and later matured. Just straightforward cricket goosh.

 

[Bugmom]

The cricket "flour" is pure protein, so I'm going to use it like a supplement. I'll add it to the bug stew I'll make for her: Roach guts, cricket flour, and water.

 

[REEFSPIDER]

This will sound gross and Imo I would buy a hand pistil and mortar and throw some fresh large crickets in there mash it up of course you could use a food processor too. Fill up a baby medicine apparatus (the mini turkey baster kind) with the resulting cricket emulsion. And use that to feed the t the best you can. And I hope your T recovers.

 

[johnny quango]

Make cricket soup and drop little bits from something like a pipette on to the mouth parts