Re: Free Roaming Crickets (long)

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Posted by Mic on October 13, 2002 at 19:11:59:

In Reply to: Free Roaming Crickets posted by KimH on October 13, 2002 at 14:06:04:

I'll share a few of my own experiences and maybe you'll get an idea.
I've found that some cresteds will eagerly accept crickets from an open, opaque, container and some will only free feed. I have a couple enclosures with hardware cloth, large wire mesh, for one side and the crickets could easily escape. On one enclosure I have modified the lower portion of the side of hardware cloth to prevent escaping. It is my preference to try the geckos with "cup feeding" before I modify anything, though. I do have one guy that has made the connection with the dish and the crickets and hovers just above iin the evening. It did take him a little while to find the crickets for the first week or so. For the dish I use the bottom of a small butter tub that is app. an inch and a half high. I have this lightweight dish attached with velcro to the side of the enclosure at the bottom, so it doesn't tip over. I always pinch the hind legs of the crickets to prevent their escape. The pros to using this method are that you know how many have been taken and the crickets don't have anywhere to hide which makes them very accessible. I think that a low edge helps to make them more visible. Like I said, sometimes this is undesirable for the geckos, but it's probably worth a try.

Here's another, I have one crested that, until recently, wouldn't eat baby food to save his life! He wouldn't even take it from my finger. I know that my problem was the reverse of your problem now, but the solution could be similar. To introduce him to the baby food in a positive manner, I entrapped live crickets in the baby food. The first night of my experiment he took a couple crickets, which meant that he had to consume some of the baby food, but he made no noticeable dent in it. The next night, he made a little dent which made me happy. The third night, he ate around the cricket to get to the baby food which made me ecstatic! Now, he eats his fruit like a champ! It only took three nights of this for truely superior results! I can't believe it took me over four months to think of it! Maybe your gecko(s) would notice the crickets if they were standing in the way of what the gecko(s) covet? Good Luck! :)

:It seems that when I drop crickets into the Crested's enclosure I can do a *head count* two days later and still find the same amount in there :( I am also offering baby food. Do any of you put the crickets in some kind of open container inside the enclosure to make sure the crickets stay in one place?
:Sorry for the newbie question..I am used to my snakes grabbing prey as soon as they smell it :) These cuties are so incredibly different..I am hooked :)

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