Crickets and Mealworms!!

[aquarles]

I am wanting to order a bulk amount, an order of 500, of mealworms. I have heard to keep them in the fridge to preserve the ones that aren't being used that day. They said to just let them warm up for a bit before giving them to my leopard gecko. Sound good?

Also, I want to do the same for the crickets. I know I don't put them in the fridge so how would I keep a large amount of crickets at the house (so I can have them on hand when I need them instead of running to the pet store). What do I keep them in and what do I feed them other than gutloading them before feeding them to my gecko?

 

[Seibar]

ok, mealworms; I've never bought bulk - but I store mine in the fridge. They "wake-up" and start moving again once you take them out. BUT, they can still go bad in the fridge, ie turn dark crusty and die. Takes a month or more but it happens... So you may not want to buy bulk unless you have several animals eating them. I have a turtle that could own an entire cup of mealies if I had extra, but you may not!
sidenote; The mealworms I buy say to keep them at 45-55F, but my fridge is clearly much colder then that!

Crickets; I have kept crickets in a separate glass tank with a heavy screen lid for several months easily. All they require is a 6$ bottle of orange cubes (google flukers orange cube cricket diet) - it looks and moves like jell-o and these give the crickets both water and food, lasts FORever. Crickets easily drown themselves, so water bowls are not usually a good idea.
Issues with keeping crickets; as they grow the males develop wings and "sing" some like the noise, some HATE it. They also have an odd odor, but I did not find it particularly offensive. Crickets can live in any substrate, I had reptile mulch but I am sure power towels would work fine. Give them a cave to hide in and some cardboard from eggs. A heat pad they seem to like also, mine would always "line up" where that was at night lol.

Hope this helps! Crickets are pretty cool to watch close-up, they are more interesting then you'd think

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Hey Mods- can this be moved to the feeder section so more members will see it and respond?

 

[aquarles]

Thank you so much for your response, that helped a lot I would have no problem with it being moved to the feeder section, sorry I didn't see that before. I'm new to this site.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

No problem, Amy This site is so big that it does take a bit to see all the different sections. Welcome to GF

As far as storing mealworms in the fridge, it's a good idea to take them out once a week for 24 hours to let them feed and hydrate. I use carrot chunks, then take them out before putting back in the fridge. The leftover carrot can be tossed in with the feeders you are using if you take out a few feedings worth at a time.

 

[clemsonguy1125]

I order 1000 at a time for my 1 gecko a couple times a year. They stay in the fridge in a plastic container with holes in the top. The bedding is ground oats and I toss carrots in every other week and leave them out for a couple days. I order from grubco.com.

 

[Russ S]

Hey Mods- can this be moved to the feeder section so more members will see it and respond?

Done.