does it work?

[soopa1]

i cant think of the name now,but does that power feed stuff u give to crix work? if so whicj is better the gel or pellets?

 

[Code Monkey]

Does it work, sure, but probably no better than high quality dog food which is much, much cheaper. The gel stuff is a rip off. First, added nutrients in the "gel" isn't such a great idea - it's mold and bacterial resistant, but that's still not a guarantee. Besides, it's 98% water and can be purchased in its dry form for hundreds of times less than the hyrated form sold for inverts. (e.g. www.watersorb.com)

 

[soopa1]

Originally posted by Code Monkey
Does it work, sure, but probably no better than high quality dog food which is much, much cheaper. The gel stuff is a rip off. First, added nutrients in the "gel" isn't such a great idea - it's mold and bacterial resistant, but that's still not a guarantee. Besides, it's 98% water and can be purchased in its dry form for hundreds of times less than the hyrated form sold for inverts. (e.g. www.watersorb.com)

canned or dry dog food? ive been feeding my crix fishfood and veggies.

 

[Code Monkey]

Always use dry. Canned will mold and spoil. I keep my crickets with dog food pellets and lid of water gel on a thin layer of vermiculite substrate. Very low mortality this way.
Fishfood/veggies is fine, too, for gutloading as most fish foods are close to 50% protein. The real advantage of dog food is that it's much cheaper in the long run (although in my case it's free since I've got a dog and crickets don't eat much) and you can skip the veggies since there's plenty of carbs. Another super cheap food is unmedicated chick mash if you've got a feed store anywhere near you.

Never waste money on "cricket food", too many perfectly good alternatives.

 

[looseyfur]

molting and calcium

alot fo that gut load is calcium rich...
is that a really good idea for T's? wouldnt that make their molts harder??

now I am as paranoid as rookie


looseyfur
e.

 

[Code Monkey]

No one knows if extra calcium is beneficial, neutral, or harmful for Ts. My instincts say it's not beneficial. Calcium is a major component in bone, which is why reptiles need more of it than an insect without bone has in their body normally. Tarantulas, however, are also inverts, and the primary hard element of their exoskeletons is chitin which is made up of nothing more than C, H, O, & N, not a calcium atom to be found in it.

Given that it is highly unlikely to be of benefit, why risk screwing something else up by feeding them an unnatural balance of minerals.

 

[Lycanthrope]

ive been feeding my crix fishfood and veggies.

i used to feed my crix fishfood, and they were dropping like flies. i switched to a powder cricket food from superworm farm, and my crix lasted 3 weeks longer than with the fishfood, meaning most of them actually got eaten. anyone else had a high mortality rate with fishfood?

 

[atavuss]

Originally posted by Lycanthrope
i used to feed my crix fishfood, and they were dropping like flies. i switched to a powder cricket food from superworm farm, and my crix lasted 3 weeks longer than with the fishfood, meaning most of them actually got eaten. anyone else had a high mortality rate with fishfood?

I have been using the cheapest fish food I can find for some time now. the only time I have a lot of crickets die off is when the garage where the crickets are kept gets up to or over 100 degrees in the summer. they seem to do ok in the garage in the winter, they slow down and don't eat or grow much. I use the polymers to water them, I got them from www.watersorb.com I bought 5 lbs. of it and it will last me for years at the rate I am using it now.
Ed