Allie's Lost Interest in Her Crickets

[Noella]

For three days, Allie hasn't shown any interest in her crickets. She ate two on Monday, and after that, she hasn't shown any interest in eating anymore of the crickets. Especially gut-loaded. I gut-loaded the crickets for over 72 hours now.

She eats her greens well so I guess now that she's two, she's still a little pistol and monkey.

And the moment I wrote this she became a pistol and wanted her crickets.

 

[alexonti]

Have you tried with dubias?

 

[Noella]

No. Not allowed in the house.

 

[alexonti]

Why? They are friendly lol

 

[Noella]

I can handle the crickets. Touching roaches is a bit of a 'ichy subject for me'. Plus, I had an experience with the wild roaches infesting a client's house I worked for. They were infested and seeing how fast they breed, it's a huge no no. I'm sure they make better feeders than crickets by their meat to shell ratio. Plus, my Mom who I take care of says she doesn't want any in here because they'll get out.

 

[mish13]

No. Not allowed in the house.

Agreed ! Never allowed in

 

[gilliesexotics]

Hi, you could try horn worms, silk worms, butter worms, phoenix worms, etc...

Honestly dubia are nothing like the american or german roaches that infest homes and apartments. I was hesitant at first too but boy am i glad i took the plunge.

 

[Noella]

I was thinking about going to horn worms, silk worms, and even butter worms. Butter worms as a treat, not as a staple.

I understand the Dubias are nothing like those pests and are probably disease free and easier to take care of than crickets. (I keep my cricket tanks clean and they're not dying like the other breeders' crickets I bought from last month. With them, they began dying each day even without any humidity in the house.)

The Dubias are a great choice to an alternative feeder, but some of us aren't able to handle the roaches because of either the history of pest roaches and how they multiply and spread. And some of us aren't 'open' to use dubias. Some states are have also banned Dubias. (I'm not sure Georgia's one of those states in the US. I think they're banned in FLA, but I'm not sure so to stay safe. Better to be safe than sorry.)

Right now, Allie's shown interest in her crickets. She might not have been herself because she was on a trial food I got from Josh. (It didn't work out very well while Allie ate her collards. I'm going to see if she'll eat some on her turnip greens and baby food butternut squash.) She's been a picky eater since trying the food. (I read up on the pellet food and it's supposed to be an emergency supply if you ran out of crickets and need to use it in place of them until you can get some.) I was also waiting for the crickets I got from flukers to grow up a little bit more. (So in three days, she started eating them because they're bigger.) I suppose her crickets were too small and she didn't like them because she couldn't see them.

 

[PatsyB]

We went through a similar issue with Dexter a few weeks ago. She went from eating 12-18 crickets a meal to eating 3. It was stressful because she also didn't want to touch any greens either. We made a few adjustments and eventually she got back on track and is now eating again. Just give Allie some time, it's probably just a phase.

 

[Noella]

We went through a similar issue with Dexter a few weeks ago. She went from eating 12-18 crickets a meal to eating 3. It was stressful because she also didn't want to touch any greens either. We made a few adjustments and eventually she got back on track and is now eating again. Just give Allie some time, it's probably just a phase.

Yep. The 'I don't want to eat what's given to me.' phase. (She eventually started eating her greens. Turns out the collards may have been ready to go or she was just tired of them all. She's eaten five crickets this morning and nearly the whole saucer of turnip greens. I even put some of the Mazuri Insectivore diet pellets inside her greens to see if she'd eat them. She pushed them aside and wouldn't eat them. (Guess she doesn't like them and isn't showing any interest in eating them.) Hmm. Time to go review.

 

[Germ]

At her age Allie should only be eating live prey 2-3 times a week anyway. As far as the Insectivore Pellets, she may leave them aside & eat around them simply because they are 'Brown' . I feed Repcal Bearded Dragon Food to mine, invariably they leave & eat around the red & brown ones, eating only the green ones.

 

[Noella]

Symbolizing green as a good food while all others aren't so good. Brown pellets, red and brown ones aren't so appetizing.

For about three days, she hadn't eaten any crickets. Today and yesterday she had 15 crickets. 10 Yesterday, 5 Today.

 

[Noella]

No interest in her crickets again. Instead, she was running all over my room. Hmm. No digging yet and she did calm down after a while. Must be the time of the month where these lovely beardies are in the mood. She's really attracted to her reflection and making a lot of noise every morning. This would be day three of her activity of glass dancing and tramping through her greens. And making a mess as usual.

No signs of any excessive digging. The lay bin's ready, but not warm.

Speaking of lay bins, should I try it again tomorrow? Or wait until she's excessively digging?