Forgot to refrigerate...

[Gecko977]

I use the orange cube cricket food. I bought the container about 3 weeks ago and after all this time of them being opened,I forgot to refrigerate them as it says on the back... The cap has been on tight and they don't smell spoiled or anything.Do you think it's still okay?

 

[blueappal]

It should be ok... this is up to you though. Personally... I never refrigerate mine, but it's kept around 70 degrees in dry place. If your house jumps around from the 60s to the 80s... then I would probably buy a fresh one.

 

[SDCowboy]

I wouldn't imagine it would matter on cricket food but if you're concerned then get a new jar.

 

[blueappal]

I wouldn't imagine it would matter on cricket food but if you're concerned then get a new jar.

I agree... crickets will eat anything. Eating bad orange cube is still better than eating their dead friends. With that said... I still wouldn't want to do anything that would harm the gecko.

 

[TokayKeeper]

I wouldn't imagine it would matter on cricket food but if you're concerned then get a new jar.

Oh, but it would. Our very own Golden Gate Geckos has unfortunate real-life experience when it comes to feeding prey items to geckos that fed on spoiled foods. Back in the early 2000s Marcia lost geckos due to mycotoxin from crickets that were raised/kept on moldy chicken mash. There was a HUGE big to do about it over at the once popular leopard gecko forum at the ever controlling kingsnake.com forum community.

To quote Marcia recently (6/17/2011):

Thank you, David. I have a moderate B. dubia colony, but have not really pushed them on my Aussies because the roaches burrow into the substrate. I will now actively try and get them all switched over. After the mycotoxic poisoning that killed 21 of my geckos many years ago from the crickets, and the potential for parasites and bacterial infections, I am done with crickets.

I would not feed these cubes any longer and either go get new ones or read the numerous gutloading threads out there. I personally make my own gutload.

 

[Tico]

I use the orange cube cricket food. I bought the container about 3 weeks ago and after all this time of them being opened,I forgot to refrigerate them as it says on the back... The cap has been on tight and they don't smell spoiled or anything.Do you think it's still okay?

You talking about the the little gels looking things if so i put mine in a dish in the cricket bin..and after it looks gone i use a the sink metal drainer to wash the little things back out and they go back to there org. size ...its just is a water gel they drink the water and they shrink. add water they come back to life

 

[blueappal]

Oh, but it would. Our very own Golden Gate Geckos has unfortunate real-life experience when it comes to feeding prey items to geckos that fed on spoiled foods. Back in the early 2000s Marcia lost geckos due to mycotoxin from crickets that were raised/kept on moldy chicken mash. There was a HUGE big to do about it over at the once popular leopard gecko forum at the ever controlling kingsnake.com forum community.

To quote Marcia recently (6/17/2011):



I would not feed these cubes any longer and either go get new ones or read the numerous gutloading threads out there. I personally make my own gutload.

I took his statement as just referring to the crickets... not actual gut loading for a gecko. Now that you mention it... perhaps you did the right thing in clearing it up.

 

[Gecko977]

The house stays at about 65 or 70 all day. So should I get new ones?

 

[blueappal]

The house stays at about 65 or 70 all day. So should I get new ones?

Some people may disagree with me, but I say no. If your lid's on tight and its in a cool/dry place... then it's ok. It may not last as long as one that is continually refrigerated, but it should be fine. Some people like to refrigerate their jam... some don't. Some may refrigerate their peanut butter... and some don't. I think a smell test should be sufficient. Again... none of this is based on anything other than personal observation and it's mos def not absolute.

 

[Gecko977]

It smells like fresh cut oranges...

 

[acharpenter]

I would replace it. Better safe than sorry - its not all that expensive to replace...

 

[PaladinGirl]

I did the same thing with my orange cubes when I first got my leo because I made the mistake of not reading the label good enough. I got paranoid and got a new jar. Every so often, I will leave them out overnight but our house is pretty cool so I don't worry too much. I also use the yellow water gel things, and the label says to keep them in a "cool, dry place". So I left them sitting in the room for a couple months until I noticed that they were starting to smell funky, so I got new ones and I keep those in the fridge as well.

 

[Gecko977]

I have the cubes in the fridge now. There is no discoloration or signs of it being spoiled. It just smells like fresh cut oranges.