Hi, I have a 4 month old firewater leo and I was told to feed small live crickets after gutloading and dusting. The problem is that no matter what I keep the stupid things in they get out ( I found one in my bath tub the other day and that was the last straw) so a friend who has an older leo recommended I switch to feeding canned crickets and small mealworms and still dusting both. So today I got my leo (pumpkin) some of both and she ate them just fine. I'm worried though that because she is still young I may be cutting corners nutritionally. Is this the case? I'm also unsure how to gutload the mealworms. Any suggestions? Thanks!
I would pitch those canned bugs, I'm honestly very surprised she even accepted them. God knows what could be in them, be it preservatives or whether or not the bugs were even healthy or gutloaded upon being killed. It's much safer and nutritionally beneficial to buy live insects. It's also going to encourage a more natural feeding response. Heck, in some cases its even cheaper to go live. You have many options with a leo, they tend not to be picky eaters, and they will readily accept most worms and the livier insects. Crickets are probably the most annoying feeder to keep, so your definitely in luck with options =) One recommendation I have is feeder roaches. Leo's can handle any size turkistan roach (blatta laterallis), and lobster roach. They can also be fed nymphs of blaptica dubia roached and discoid roaches. The benefit to roaches is they have a better meat to shell ratio than crickets, and they are visually stimulating being an active bug. Also, they dont jump, they dont make noise, and they dont smell! They also cannot infest your home...the species we are dealing with are all tropical (only about 1% of roaches in the entire world are actually pests ) Problem with roaches is initial cost. They tend to be pricey (although laterallis and lobster roaches are on the cheaper end) and you will have to give them some time to get established before feeding heavily out of the colony. Also, all of these roaches are non-climbing or flying EXCEPT the lobster roaches. You will need to put a layer of vaseline or bug stop on the rim of lobster roach containers because they can climb glass. The reason they are pricey is due to the fact that you will be breeding them and once you get started may never have to buy another primary feeder ever again. If roaches aren't your thing or you are grossed out by them, other options include silkworms, phoenix worms, superworms, and mealworms. All of these can be fed to leo's as staples. Silkworms are nutritionally the best feeder out there, but they are most definitely the most expensive too (closely followed by phoenix worms). I'm going to go ahead and link you to this thread for reading, otherwise I will be typing another novel =) http://www.reptilerooms.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=65777 Scroll down a bit, I have posted in the responses nutritional info about feeders toward the end. There you can find safe and good feeder insects and nutritional comparisons of each. Also, mealworms and superworms are gutloaded by the bedding they are in and by fresh vegetables that you should feed for water. Most insects do not require a water source, but get their hydration from eating vegetables and some fruits. Try offering dark leafy greens (not lettuce), and other various vegetables and drier fruits (ones that wont make the bedding damp to promote mold growth). Avoid spinach, avocado, and rhubarb
Jeff- I went ahead and tossed the nasty canned crickets. In the meantime pumpkin is getting mealworms that are being fed carrots for gutload at the moment. The pet stores I have nearby carry live mealies, crickets, and superworms and they have silkworms but they're canned soooo that's questionable. That's about the extent of it. I'm not really afraid of roaches, but as I'm a college student that lives in a 200 sq foot studio apartment, I really don't have the space to breed roaches, or any other food. Also because pumpkin has albino genes I think she has some vision problems ( her pupils are often dialated or two different sizes) or is just a really poor hunter. The cricket can be right in front of her face and she won't know it's there to pounce on it. The mealworms and worms in general seem to be a better prey for her. Silkworms sound like a good idea but the way mail here works is by p.o. box and the silkworms won't ship here because of it. I may just order bulk to my house when I go back for holiday breaks and feed her mealworms in between when I run out of silkworms. Do you have any idea how long silkworms keep for if they're fed properly? Thanks so much for your help!, -Alex
Silkworms tend to go through their life cycle VERY quickly, they go from egg to full grown silkie ready to pupate in about a months time. Lowering temps a bit and feeding less often can slow their growing process down, but otherwise you may need to order batches every couple of weeks in the smaller sizes. A leo can handle a full grown silkworm, but you will come to find that a lot will end up going to waste because only 1 or two may fill him up compared to a few little ones. You can purchase bulk amounts of silkworm eggs and refrigerate them, then take them out as needed. For example, you could get 500-1000 eggs and just remove 50-100 every week or two as needed and cycle them out to feed (they usually provide a spoon for counting). The problem with this is it is not always fool proof...I tried this method and it ended up being epic fail and none of my eggs hatched. Although I have heard of many people having great luck with this so that would be up to you if you want to try and risk it. Silkworms are delicate and require very specific care...I guess thats the price you have to pay for the nutritional benefits read up as much as you can on them before ordering and I would probably consider emailing the supplier if you want to try the egg method and see what they recommend. Perhaps I missed some piece of valuable information when I tried it and thats why it didnt work. Suppliers and information: http://mulberryfarms.com http://coastalsilkworms.com/splash.html http://silkwormshop.com http://shop.silkwormwholesale.com/ I might actually re-consider looking into the egg option myself now; I've just been buying quantities every couple of weeks to make up for some variety in the diet with roaches being my primary feeders. But eggs would be cheaper and i could feed them more often that way. Superworms have an insane shelf life at room temp, you could always buy a load of them online or from a show/store and just keep them fed with some veggies and they will usually keep for months and months. Then you could just feed as necessary, and they will not pupate/breed in the presence of others. Mealworms can be refrigerated to prevent pupation and be kept for long periods of time in the fridge. Or, you can just set a shoebox or sweater box sized sterlite aside and let them breed. It takes no effort to get a colony of mealworms going, and after a short period of time you can have an infinite supply to go back to for your leo as well. But if you don't mind just picking up amounts of mealies and supers at the pet store thats alright too =) buying online is usually cheaper though if you wanted to go with the above options. Then you could just feed those as staples and silkworms and/or phoenix worms occasionally by ordering amounts of them every couple of weeks to provide variety and further nutritional benefits. Or you could do the opposite if you want to go down the silkie route and feed those as staples with mealworms and superworms being bought on occasion to provide variety. It's really up to you =) Also: make sure the superworms at the pet store are not giant mealworms. Giant mealworms are mealworms that have been sprayed with a hormone to prevent pupation and make them bigger which could be unsafe for your leo. Superworms (zophobas morio) are an entirely different species, are naturally larger, cannot be refrigerated, have darker coloring, and are much more lively.
I have an albino as well. She tends to be very picky. Sometimes she'll eat crickets, sometimes she'll want mealworms other times she's content with butterworms. If she's not in the mood for crickets she'll let them crawl all over her til we take them out but there are days where she'll gobble up 6 in a matter of seconds.
Hi atkboo, I can't give you any advice about the nutritional values as I am still a novice. But if you are getting annoyed with crix escaping you may want to consider one of these Cricket Keeper Now, I did read a couple of bad reviews about these as crix were still escaping, there are a couple of holes where the hatches are and holes where the handle passes through the lid, so what I did was usiing milliput (a type of modelling clay that sets hard) I filled in the gaps. It sets rock solid, now, no more escapees.
It's funny that you suggested the cricket keeper because thats what I have and I taped the holes up and even put them in their own cabinet and they still escaped! The ones that escaped were about medium sized and it was just so weird that they managed to get out. For now I've decided on meal worms as a staple with the usual dusting and then every couple weeks I'll mix it up and get silk worms or go through the cricket torment again. She seems to be pleased with mealies and is gaining weight nicely to prove it so as long as I dust them and switch it up every once in a while I think she'll do just fine. =] Thanks for all your help!
